Writer, photographer, investor — and above all,
Om Malik died on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, at Stanford Hospital, after a long journey with his heart. He was 59. The world learned the next morning from a note his family posted to om.co, the blog that had carried his voice for a quarter century.
In the days that followed, over a thousand people took to the internet to mourn him publicly and to share what knowing him had been like. This remembrance is built entirely from those posts, arranged into the shapes his love took. Every word belongs to the person who wrote it. Even the title is theirs: of all the words people reached for — writer, pioneer, mentor, legend — the one they used most was friend.
Before the obituaries, people went looking for their text threads. What they found was a man who answered cold emails from nobodies, sent condolences that people kept for years, and whose last message was usually a question about you.
When my dad died, @om sent me this beautiful message. Today, his words feel prescient.
“His life was a gift… I hope you will find his memories and his lessons as a guiding light for the future.”
Here’s the to carrying Om’s light forward. ✨🙏❤️
Katie Jacobs Stanton@KatieS on X
I scrolled through old emails with @om today, and came across this thread.
I reached out to Om for feedback on a rough blog post. He is a busy guy. He runs a media company. He gets a lot of email.
But he responds right away. Not just with feedback, but an offer to edit it for me.
And he does, in detail, going back and forth with me over several days to help polish it.
Just one of a million generous things Om did that the world never knew.
“Stay true to who you are.” - @Om
it seems everyone has a story abour @om to share.
This is the email I received by Om when I joined BlackBerry. He knew how challenging my new adventure would have been.
RIP.
I looked up to @Om as a true visionary. He was always happy to lend an ear and send a message of support. Generous to so many people.
What a gem.
RIP @om, a true legend in our industry and one of the first people who really inspired me. also, one who replied to my cold emails graciously and helpfully over the years.
his writing always showed how well he understood the world. 20 years ago, he immediately understood the magic of this app:
The world of tech is poorer for the passing of @Om.
The OG tech blogger.
He influenced a generation of tech journalists, including me.
I've followed his writing, listened to him on countless episodes of This Week in Tech h/t @leolaporte.
His first heart attack hit at 41 and yet he kept going, kept writing, kept seeing things others missed.
I wrote to him (cold email) back in the day asking how to contact Steve Wozniak (wild story, but for later) and he was quick to respond.
Om Shanti. Go well Om.
My friend Om Malik died yesterday. From Porto to Paris to Napa to San Francisco we always found time to hang out. The last time I saw you, we sat on a bench in South Park and had coffee. You were never one to hold back on what you had to say, but you had a big heart. A few weeks ago you told me you couldn’t see me, but you never told me why. You said you’d reach back out when you were better. I will miss you my friend. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye.
it seems everyone has a story about Om Malik to share.
This is the email I received by Om when I joined BlackBerry. He knew how challenging my new adventure would have been.
RIP my friend.
So saddened to hear about @om. His writing was one of the reasons I went into tech journalism. Right out of college, I was working at a PR agency and started reading his site. It inspired me to start blogging.
Years later, he tried to recruit me. Even after I went elsewhere, he’d send me notes telling me how proud he was of my work. He’d often review my reviews, so here’s mine of him:
Generous with his time. Honest with his feedback. And endlessly encouraging to those coming up behind him. Thank you, Om, for showing so many of us what great, independent tech journalism could be.
I didn’t know @om well but there were a few times he emailed or called me out of the blue to say encouraging and insightful things and that is a rare and beautiful breed of person.
I’m seeing others say similar. A reminder to be more like that myself.
What a guy. RIP.
Incredible human being, I remember messaging him on Facebook, and how kind he was replying to a young kid, and sharing his thoughts on my work. RIP @om 💔
I am so terribly sad to hear of the passing of my friend @om. The way we met was one of those crazy internet stories, where one day I got a ton of new subscribers to my newsletter and discovered, to my astonishment, that he had quoted a recent post on his own blog.
I spent my early career doing tech PR, and having a giant in tech media give my personal essays a shoutout was surreal, particularly after I'd been pitching him stories about clients for years. I think he'd just stumbled across my writing in the wild.
We became text pals and I got to meet up with him a couple times in person in San Francisco, where we talked about writing, travel, and our philosophies for work and life. He was a real one in a town full of hucksters and bullshit, and while his writing was always insightful, I was especially enjoying his output in recent years, which was growing ever more philosophical and direct about the ethics of Silicon Valley.
Sending love out to all those who knew him. Legacy is a weird thing to contemplate given we're all a speck of dust in the cosmos, but he leaves an incredible one, and I'm grateful I got to know him even for a short time.
Rest easy, my friend. I bet you're taking the best pictures of the beyond.
So very sorry to hear about @om , I read his tech commentary for years and one day after he retweeted something I had written I reached out to say thank you. His kind reply complimenting my analysis touched me but did not surprise me as I had only witnessed his kindness and generosity with others. He will be missed.
Devastated reading about @om’s passing. Absolutely loved his writing, and was one of the kindest and most thoughtful people I’ve met. He had no reason to be so kind to me, but he always replied to my DMs/emails and was generous with his time at every turn. What a lovely man.
@Benioff @om Am sorry for your loss. I didn’t get to know him as well you did, but every word you say rings true.
He was also very kind, e.g., writing to me randomly just a few weeks ago to say he liked my World Science Festival interview.
@kevinrose @om ❤️❤️ one of the few established ppl to reply to my cold DMs back in the day, always open and kind. Such a good dude.
just shocking to learn that @om is no more. we communicated on email when he was looking for digital artist in Delhi and I knew one. such a humble and grounded guy. gone too soon.
When Covid and lockdowns started there was a game on twitter where your designated lockdown buddy was the third person when you type @ - mine was @om. We didn’t know each other before this, but he immediately followed me, and we stayed in touch over the years.
Genuinely a kind soul ❤️💔
Rest in peace, @om
Hearing about Om's passing at 59 is heartbreaking. Our interactions since 2006 over email and Twitter were special. His work at @gigaom inspired and touched many lives including mine.
The sad news of Om Malik’s passing caused me to review the scores of emails i exchanged with him. I met @om in NYC during the 90s right at the cusp of the Internet era. He was a bon vivant, an insightful technology journalist, and a friend. I pitched many ideas to him and he was generous to keep taking my calls even though he rose far above me. His light will continue to shine.
@trueventures @om Was just going through old texts with Om. He always had a way of greeting you like a long lost friend. He saw people. Listened. Slowed things down. A special human.
RIP @om. Om was such a kind, warm, thoughtful person. I first met Om in 2008 in SF. I was in college at the time, and had driven to SF for an iPhone developer event. Afterward, he invited me and some friends to join him at a dinner. This was before Uber, so I offered to give him a ride and I drove us around SF that night in my 1998 Toyota Camry. He was a great photographer, dressed well, and was a friend and mentor to so many. His last two messages to me were a congratulations on the birth of my daughter, and a note: "Keep me posted on interesting people I should have a conversation with. That is what matters to me. Lovely." I'll miss him. ❤️
Absolutely crushed to hear about the passing of @om. He was so kind and helpful to me over the years. I remember when Eric was diagnosed with cancer he reached out to help in a big way. I lost touch with him recently and now it’s too late. May his memory be a blessing.
The algorithm has worked. This weekend has been all @om in my feed.
So many great stories celebrating who he was and how he’s impacted their lives. Connecting with mutual friends, “Oh, you knew Om too? Of course you did.”
Like many, I’ve gone back through old DM’s and emails with Om; he was always inspiring…his final message to me was just that, something I’ll hold dear.
Thank you, @om, your memory is a blessing to all who knew you.
@Jason @om He was like a brother to me and texted me a couple of months ago to meet up, and I couldn't make it. The worst feeling ever.
In 2007 in San Francisco for a Wordcamp I was feeling pretty poorly. I was chatting with @om and he could tell I wasn’t feeling well. He said “Go get some rest buddy.” And I was very grateful to him.
Today I say to him, go get some rest buddy. See you soon.
I’ve looked more than once or twice at the last text messages we exchanged with each other. At the same time, it was enough and not enough.
I’m grateful that Om was not alone during his last moments and the impression that he gave me was that he felt complete, sufficient, and satisfied with what he had done in his lifetime. He did not go into the spirit realm with regret or loss as top of mind. Just a little tired.
I did not know Om Malik well. He and I only met twice in person. In 2021, we had lunch and mostly talked about watches and photography, topics special to us both. This past January, we had coffee. It was clear he was ailing. We talked about watches, AI, and life. Indeed, not death, but life. I told him that I loved his recent writing. He urged me to write more, which I am doing, not in prose but code. I take away that time for all of us is short, and therefore precious. Farewell @om.
Like many others, I was saddened to hear of Om Malik’s passing.
One of the first media pitches I made after moving to the U.S. was for Apple on the G4 Cube. Om covered the launch and took the time to call back a young communications person who was just finding his footing.
Over the years we’d reconnect from time to time. Every conversation reminded me that it’s possible to be deeply knowledgeable without making other people feel small. Om had strong opinions, but he also had genuine warmth and generosity.
If you never had the chance to meet him, I’d recommend this Hodinkee podcast interview with Stephen Pulvirent and Benjamin Clymer from 2018. It’s about watches, photography, and journalism. What comes through is his curiosity, humility, and unmistakable voice. It’s a wonderful introduction to the person behind the byline.
Thank you, Om. Rest in peace.
Om Malik was the first person I wanted to meet from tech media back in 2007 when I just arrived in Silicon Valley.
I loved reading him because he was covering the telecom industry and I had a vested interest to report back to Bouygues Telecom because his opinion really mattered.
He was so kind to me the first time we met and gave me the sound advice to always look for the outliers and to keep trusting the next wave.
He was not a friend per se, but our episodic encounters always felt like he was caring about what I would report on and what I would pursue staying here.
It’s like losing a caring uncle you did not get to see as much as you would have wanted to.
Heartfelt thoughts and condolences to his family and those for whom he changed the perspective.
When I ran siliconindia in the early 2000s, Om Malik was already a legend in the South Asian journalists circle. Forbes, Red Herring, Business 2.0.
He would always ask me: is this story going to help the reader or the person you are writing about? Sensationalism is for rags, not for business. And yes, be kind.
That's the kind of mentorship that honed my writing, my interviewing, and my view of journalism and content.
It is absolutely shattering to hear of another giant who's gone to his maker. This is how I always remember Om: a bit flamboyant, deeply inquisitive, and funny.
You left too soon, Om Malik.
He founded GigaOm in 2001 and taught Silicon Valley to read itself. But the piece everyone re-shared this week was a 2015 conversation with an Italian clothier about the soul — and some of his finest writing came from a hospital bed.
My favorite thing @om wrote was actually an interview with Brunello Cucinelli in 2015. And to this day, I think it’s the single best thing you can read on running a business. Better than any book, better than any article.
Jason Fried@jasonfried on X
Om was a true pioneer in tech journalism and a kind and generous soul. Even more important, he had a conscience. We had a very good relationship. May his memory be a blessing.
I never thought I’d be lucky enough to work with Om Malik. I met him 25 years ago when his office was next to mine at B2.0/Fortune. He was an inspiration, posting to GigaOM in the early am before coming to work. He quit B2.0 to do GigaOm full time a couple years later when very very few journalists took risks like that. At GigaOm’s peak, he had 80+ people working with him and 10s of millions in revenue. Crazy Stupid Tech grew out of a friendly argument we had three years ago about Wired’s tech coverage. While we debated - on a bench in South Park of course - we realized we agreed about the future way more than we disagreed. I’ve rarely had more fun and learned so much doing something as I’ve had working with Om the last couple of years. He was a true pioneer, and one of the most generous people walking - a busy guy who never seemed like he was in a hurry and always had time for you. I’m gutted. He’d been secretly battling heart failure for more than a year. But he was a heart transplant candidate at Stanford. They do a lot of those. We all thought it was going to be fine. Until it wasn’t. RIP brother.
I hope that Om Malik’s On My Om blog stays up forever, and that people will continue to revisit it, as I will. Tech blogging is barely a thing anymore, but he was doing transcendent work. It’s going to be weird wondering what his take is on future news and realizing we’ll never know. om.co
Rest in peace, my friend. I am very sorry to hear of Om Malik's passing. I remember competing with Om Malik when I was at the Wall Street Journal. We both wrote about semiconductor chips. In 1997, I was writing a story about the acquisition of chip design firm Cyrix, which was a small startup but a strategic competitor to Intel. But another publication beat me to the story, and in the WSJ, we always credited the other publication that beat us when we wrote a story. The writer who got the scoop on the Cyrix deal was Om Malik. I think he was writing for Forbes.
Some years later, I joined the Red Herring magazine, where I met Om. We became friends and he told me that when the WSJ credited his scoop in print, he got a raise. He chuckled and thanked me for crediting him. I enjoyed talking to him because he had a sharp mind and often had interesting takes on things. He started writing blog posts on the internet on the side, and he suggested that I do so as well. Yet I was consumed with my day job and with a project writing a book about the making of Microsoft's Xbox. He was a fine writer and storyteller, but I often found him too cynical. Yet cynicism served him well, and his unique point of view enabled him to write a story of the con artists of the broadband era, Broadbandits.
I was very focused on games and the tech side of semiconductors. That blend of tech and games served me well over the years. But he had good financial expertise, and I remembered inviting Om along to an interview I had with a couple of chips analysts who were starting a hedge fund. That was one meeting where I realized he knew more than I did about finance.
We rode the Red Herring bubble up and down and went different ways when it collapsed along with the internet bubble. He went off to start GigaOm, something born from years of experience blogging. I didn't join the blogosphere until later, and I did so by joining Matt Marshall at VentureBeat. That seemed a safer bet at the time than going off on my own like Om did. He had a rocky time with the ups and downs of the business, and I remember talking to him about how he was scaling back after his heart attack. He extended his life by doing so. I didn't wind up owning my own media publication until roughly 25 years later. Had I listened to Om, I might have started that path much earlier.
While he was not the kind of person I would immediately agree with when I heard his take, he always had a reasoned point of view and reporting to back it up. But I enjoyed engaging with him and hearing his strong opinions. Decades later, I can still remember some of those conversations. And so some part of who I am was shaped by his wisdom. We should all be lucky to have such people in our lives, and I'm glad I knew Om. I felt close to him, but my condolences to his family and those who knew him so much better. [Photo credit: Christopher P. Michel] lnkd.in/gYctEWnp
Heartbreaking to hear that Om Malik has passed away. I can hardly believe it. Even just this year, it felt like he was doing some of his best writing. Very thankful for the time he gave us at Micro Camp 2023… I was so excited to talk to him. Rest in peace.
Om Malik passed away today. He was one of my favorite writers. His pieces on the chaos and self-inflicted pains of Silicon Valley were truly novel. I will miss hearing his thoughts.
If you haven't read this New Yorker piece, I highly recommend it. Lots we can still learn from.
Aww, man. What a terrible loss to our community.
From the day I stepped foot in the valley, there were three writers we all looked up to: Arrington, @karaswisher and Om.
All three have a bullshit detector that great journalists possess. Man, this is so... Ugh.
Here's @om with @arrington at the first TechCrunch shindig. You're missed, Om.
One of my favorite @om memories, of many, was we were sitting together at WWDC and someone asked him how he got to write for the New Yorker. Om looked the guy straight in the face and, with a smile, simply said, "Because I'm good." He sure was. One of the best.
@om was 1 of 1, and I loved him. Please read what he wrote: as much wisdom in the spaces between the words, as in the words themselves.
GigaOm was by turns inspiring, informative, entertaining, and essential—qualities I always associated with its founder, Om Malik, even though I never met him. It takes a rare talent to convey that much in writing.
I worked with @om for many years at Red Herring, back in the day, the goddamn day. He was a wonderful writer: clear, honest, and original. I hired him out of Forbes—one of the first established names at the publication—and he helped make Red Herring what it was at its best. I remember with particular pleasure a profile he wrote of @vkhosla. Om was also a genuinely nice man: kind, funny, sly, and wise. I’ll miss him a lot.
Pouring one out for @om.
I was his editor for many projects at Business 2.0 mag, and I always appreciated the depth of his knowledge and the strength of his opinions. That never changed. Plus it cracked me up when he’d drop Yiddish slang into a conversation. Thanks, old friend
I remember reading articles by @om in the Red Herring and other tech publications in the early 90’s. In a pre-Internet era it was those articles that kept me informed and continued to build my interest in technology and startups.
When I was a young pup reading those articles I used to wonder who the person was behind them. And then years later when I moved to Palo Alto, I actually got to meet Om. He was a true gentleman. Always kind and witty in his remarks.
The last time I saw Om was in South Park while I was up there for a meeting. We sat on the bench and chatted for a few minutes after having just accidentally bumped into each other.
Om was clearly one of the good guys. The outpouring of messages about Om just show the level of impact he had and the friendship and respect he earned from so many. 🙏🏽 🙇🏽♂️
I met @om 25 years ago when his office was next to mine at B2.0/Fortune. He was an inspiration, posting to GigaOM in the early am before coming to work. A true pioneer. Never thought I’d be lucky enough to work with him. I’ve rarely had more fun. RIP brother.
I still remember how I fell in love with @om as a writer for Business 2.0, my favorite magazine for trying to understand the world of tech when I was still in college (I still have this on my bookshelf).
When I finally moved to Silicon Valley, I remember being star struck when @jaredkim and @hnshah invited me to a meal with @om. I couldn't believe I was meeting the legend himself.
What stood out was how the man always spoke his mind. Probably the most authentic person I've ever met.
RIP
@om was a friend of mine. A real loss for all that knew him and worked with him. I met Om in 1998 when he was working for Forbes. We remained friends for the next 28 years. That same year, he authored an article on Lexicon and the development of Intel's Pentium.
Om was a writer, a thinker, and a philosopher. Even more important, he was kind, wise, and supportive. Somehow, he could always see the future. Like me, I know many will miss him.
And while this next statement is often spoken as a cliché, in Om's case, it is not: with his passing, the world is all the less.
Rest in peace, my friend.
Deeply saddened to hear that a dear friend, @om, has passed away.
Om was a remarkable journalist, an incredible writer, and an exceptional photographer. He touched many hearts with his writings and art.
His wisdom and advice had a profound impact on me, and I will miss him so dearly.
Rest in peace, my friend.
Here are few photographs I took of him through out the years.
The godfather of tech blogging has passed away.
@Om Malik pioneered independent tech journalism and was among the first to warn that the telecom infrastructure buildout of the late 1990s was a bubble. RIP
Like many others I first met @om through his writing. I still consider Broadbandits the best written account of the 90s telecom bubble.
As a kid growing up on the east coast Om helped me connect to the tech scene on the west coast (I was a Red Herring nerd in high school).
Later I would move to the bay and get a chance to meet and know the man. Always a bit star struck having spent so much time reading his writing (I still have clippings!)
You’re gone too soon Om! Your gift with words and ability to see the bigger picture will be sorely missed.
But your unique eye for great products, great art and great people, lives on in many of us!
RIP, my friend.
Absolutely gutted, hearing of @om's passing.
Om was a giant in our industry. He never chased breaking news and was often a day late—but when he hit "publish," his insights were mind-blowing. He swam against the dot-com tide when needed, fearless in challenging euphoria and hubris. He possessed a keen understanding of enterprise budgets and the real pace of innovation adoption, across the heartland, frequently calling out Silicon Valley.
He was a fearless technologist, thinker and writer who never hesitated to highlight what truly mattered.
Om and I first connected over shared intellectual interests. While I wasn’t nearly as prolific a writer and had a day job outside of blogging, our focus on enterprise performance and Business 2.0 frequently converged. We occasionally riffed on each other’s blog posts until we finally decided to meet, sparking a friendship (and a no-holds-barred backchannel).
I will deeply miss his magnanimous spirit and his brilliant intellect. They truly broke the mold.
RIP, brother.
I had great respect for @om. We had many deep conversations in the early days of Cloud Computing, on stage as well as in private. The most fond memories I have was how he hard pushed @gregmatter and me in public, and we had so much fun with it.
His writings were filled with superb insights, which will be dearly missed. RIP Om 💔
In an age where everyone went mobile app crazy and just took telecom for granted, @om was one of the few pundits to take that backbone seriously, and his analysis and insights were very appreciated by us folks straddling both. He will be missed.
I never met @om personally but will always remember how honestly and intensely he covered us at @Rackspace back in the day. He saw our greatness but also knew we had challenges ahead… he got it, the good and the bad. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
I didn't know Om Malik, I met him a few times through @hnshah and @krutal . What I did do, like so many people, is read or watch him speak on technology for most of my adult life. He wrote this in July of 2014 and it could be published tomorrow and still be relevant, perhaps more so. RIP.
"You should presume that someday, we will be able to make machines that can reason, think and do things better than we can,” Google co-founder Sergey Brin said"
"To paraphrase Peter “Spiderman” Parker’s Uncle Ben — with big data, comes big responsibility. The question is will the gatekeepers of the future rise to the challenge?"
Om Malik, 1966-2026: Om Malik was a great tech blogger in the times when tech was fun. "Blogging is not about opinion but it is about viewing the world in a certain way and sharing it with others how you look at things," he once wrote, celebrating a decade at the console. —…
RIP Om Malik. Someone who gave so much to us as to the net. Om’s article on blogging was the impetus for my company by which we have had the opportunity to help so many. Thank you and God Bless.
Heartbroken to hear Om Malik is gone.
GigaOm was one of the first blogs I followed regularly, and then I continued to enjoy his writing on his personal blog. His writing made you think differently about tech, about the internet, about what any of it actually meant. In fact, he's one of the reasons I got into blogging, back in 2007-08.
In 2009, I had the chance to meet him at the first WordCamp India alongside @photomatt. Brief encounter, but those things stay with you.
Rest well, @Om. Your words shaped more careers than you probably knew.
Om Shanti. 🙏🏼
Before I knew @om, he was a true titan in the industry. As someone who started my career in journalism, he was someone I admired deeply and who paved the way for others to think with an entrepreneurial mindset. I feel fortunate to have later known him. We will miss you.
This conversation that @om had with Cucinelli really shows how Om always had a prescience and was comfortable simply as a vehicle for revealing values essential to humanity. From 2015 and far more resonant in the face of today's lazy excesses.
I'm not big on luxury goods, but purchsed a Brunello Cucinelli after reading this interview by Om after I understood the story behind the brand and the man.
This is one of the few examples of how incredible of a writer Om Malik was.
Crushed knowing we will no longer hear from @om. But also grateful to have read and seen the stuff he put out for many, many years.
His phenomenal piece with Brunello Cucinelli (which I go back to every now and then to remind myself how a business owner should think and operate) got me addicted to Om’s view of the world and his writing.
Did I know Om personally? Did we meet each other? No, and no. But his curiosity and love for technology, photography and life in general rubbed off on me. You will always be loved, Om. Shine on you, crazy diamond… 💔 💐
One of @om's last pieces about AI and the bubble we're in was a banger. As he and I often discussed, we've seen this movie before:
Exactly one month back, on May 26th @om published 'The Copy and the Guru', exploring digital twins. All we are now left with is the copy, the digital twin of his thinking!
Here is an excerpt from that post:
Look around and all you can see are gurus under their proverbial banyan trees, who make nothing but impart wisdom. They listen to the same podcast, and then regurgitate. They marvel at humanist manifestos. Some even read the Stoics. This is found wisdom, not earned wisdom. The twin is only possible once you have stopped being accountable to reality.
His June columns, 'The Myth, the Mythos and the Man' on June 7, 2026 and 'Silicon Valley’s Biggest Payday. Yet' on June 4, 2026 are great reads as well!
I wrote a tribute to @om on my blog, not here, coz Om spent two decades arguing you should publish on your own platform, own your own words. That's how we got to know each other in the first place. I should've picked up the phone & stayed in touch...
My friend @om is no more.
A brilliant, kind soul, a big man with an even bigger heart, has left us. Far too early. I cannot believe it.
Om and I met at my friend @Padmasree's many years ago, I think 2007 (Padma you may remember) and became good friends. In a time of incessant fakery, he was a rare and authentic voice, in some ways a reminder of what Silicon Valley used to be like and can still be. He had a great love for life, and while his health episodes had slowed him down, he used to love his photographs and especially his writing. And boy could he write. My last interaction with him was when he wrote his masterful Myth/Man/Mythos piece. One read and you could tell that every word was authentic, from the heart or even deeper, and stemming from lived experiences. And he was always generous with his advice, his pov, even when he delivered a bitter pill. His perspective always helped, always expanded your horizons, your options.
I cannot believe he is gone.
I had a busy day yesterday, with the launch of my company etc. And I was wondering why I didn't hear from him. And then the news came. It was numbing to hear it. A reminder of life's ephemerality. Sigh. He went too soon.
When someone passes away it is typical to say "Om Shanti" where I (and Om) come from. He would get a kick out of learning that today we are saying this about him... RIP big man. You touched so many of us. And we are missing you.
“He did not mince words” and “Everyone loved him” do not usually apply to the same person. They did with Om.
What a beautiful obituary for Om Malik:
RIP @om, fitting he wrote all the way till the end and his last post was letting everyone know he would be away for a bit. A true legend.
Goodnight sweetheart is what @om said as @gigaom shut down.. 💔💔
Om Malik was not only a writer, technologist, pioneer, or photographer, but he was also a friend for the past 12 years. He passed away yesterday in Palo Alto.
His guidance touched me profoundly both in the early days of building Darkroom and in the process of planning and writing my book documenting the Syrian Refugee Crisis in 2015.
In a world full of transactional relationships, he always offered a human, thoughtful, and generous relationship that valued family, friends, experiences, cultural diversity, food, beauty, and intellectual honesty.
He will be deeply missed.
Om Malik 1966-2026
Some memories of meeting Om Malik and of how I spent five great years working with him at Gigaom -- rest in peace, my friend
mathewingram.com/work/2026/06/25/om-malik-1966-2026/...um=jetpack_social
Man, this one was hard to write. :( runtimewire.com/article/om-malik-taught-silicon-valley-to-read-itself
Sad to hear about the passing of former Business 2.0 colleague Om Malik who was a font of many ideas at the magazine and who spun his writing off into an early blog empire. He was interested in a new Nokia phone (6600?) my wife had got at a conference (that wouldn’t work with our carrier) and used it for a while. Always creepy to see obits with your own birth year in them. Safe travels Om! www.nytimes.com/2026/06/26/technology/om-malik-dead....nytcore-ios-share
Sad news: long-time tech journalist, blogger, and entrepreneur Om Malik passed away yesterday aged 59.
I had great respect for @om Malik. We had many deep conversations in the early days of Cloud Computing, on stage as well as in private. The most fond memories I have was how hard he pushed Greg Papadopoulos and me in public, and we had so much fun with it.
His writings were filled with superb insights, which will be dearly missed. RIP Om 💔
Moved by such thoughtful posts from @gruber, @joannastern, @anildash, @technologizer, @gaberivera, and so many others about @om malik's passing this week, I decided to share my most inspiring Om story.
He struggled mightily to get his big break in tech journalism. He once told me "For three years, it was every day a rejection." Here's how he broke through.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-om-malik-finally-got-his-...787T5PH5qrw%3D%3D
Om Malik - Not a pioneer in technology blogs but I think one of the early persons to start a blog and establish it as a contemporary genre of writing deep, insightful viewpoints, yet keeping it informal.
In his passing we lost a prolific contemporary technology author and analyst.
Saddened by the loss of Om Malik. He was a hell of a good tech writer. This guy has written for everyone whos anyone who covered tech. Terrible loss.
Oh my. What a thoughtful and heartfelt human that really adored covering the industry. Every chance I had to speak with him left me with warmth and a smile. Wish I had another chance to talk to him.
Om Malik set the standard and tone for how tech should be covered.
He was smart. He was curious. He asked tough questions and rejected bullshit answers. He sought the truth and pushed all of us to be better.
Every time you worked with him, you walked away having learned something new.
Rest well, Om.
I’ve been thinking about Om Malik since hearing the news of his passing.
I didn't realize that reading his book, Broadbandits, would have such a big impact on my life.
In 2003, I was a technology reporter with one of Canada's national newspapers.
Om's book was inspiring, educational, and gave me a taste of how a journalist could jump into the book-writing world.
I liked the book so much that I reached out to Om and much to my surprise, he warmly responded.
It led to a professional relationship, and then in 2005, a bunch of us decided to organize mesh, a digital technology conference in Toronto.
It was a big undertaking for people who had never organized a conference. But we were excited about the internet and its possibilities.
One of the first people we reached out to was Om, who lived in California.
Om embraced our invitation and became one of the stars of the show.
In fact, we invited him back to mesh because he was so smart, a lovely person to be around, and someone who epitomized the value of community.
When you look back at the people who make an impact on your life, many of them arrived unexpectedly.
Some people enter your life through a book and become part of your story.
Got the news this week that friend Om Malik passed a few days ago. Om and I go way back to our Red Herring days when we worked for the coolest tech meets money magazine in the world!
In 2007 he hired me as his first salesperson at GigaOm. The journey would go to 2015. Om was king of figuring out what the " next next" was in those days. In 2007 he pushed the urgency of cloud computing and big data as we launched the very very successful Structure events series from SF to Amsterdam. He essembled many of the best writers in the business to feed the day to day editorial excellence that GigaOm was for many years. TechCrunch would write for the general masses but GigaOm wrote as Om would say " For an audience that already get's it".
But what I will remember most are the things like. Om taking the team out to hidden gem restaurants in NYC. Not the most popular places but places where the food thrived. Or Om and I having a 15 year fun battle about my hatred for the Yankees and his hatred for the Red Sox. God I loved those discussions. And lastly the proudness in Om at the end of every major event we hosted. Like a proud parent!
Rest in peace Mr. Malik, You made a major impact here and many of us are better people for having that time with you!
Om Malik was truly one of a kind. Sharing a few memories in your honor. ❤️
Working at GigaOM remains one of the most memorable chapters of my career. I have so many great memories of learning, growing, lauging, traveling, networking and being surrounded by incredibly talented people, all thanks to Om’s vision.
From Times Square and the NASDAQ to conferences around the world and our San Francisco office, these are a few moments I’ll always treasure.
Thank you, Om, for building something so special and for the impact you had on so many of us. You will be deeply missed 💗
Great Om Malik tribute by Anil Dash 👇🏼
Another Om story: I once watched two cocky tech bros try to pitch their startup to him at the GigaOM office.
After spouting a bunch of buzzwords, Om growled, “This sounds like bullshit”. The panic in their eyes was glorious.
I later learned Om was one of the few tech reporters not to tolerate hype, and challenge flimflammers to their face.
Imagine how many horrific business and humanitarian disasters could have been prevented in tech if more of them were like Om. We're amidst several right now!
Saddened to hear of the recent passing of Om Malik. Like many who’ve spent time in tech over the past 30ish years, I had the pleasure of meeting him, conversing, and sharing some laughs on more than one occasion.
His interview of Brunello Cucinelli is one of my favorite pieces that he wrote. It provides more education on management and life choices than you’ll get from most MBA programs.
RIP.
🕊️ 🥀 𝐑𝐈𝐏 𝐎𝐦 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐤 🙏 🤍
I am very sad to hear of the passing of a legend 😞 While I never directly worked with him, I heard great stories about Om Malik when I was at Gigaom, my first analyst gig. More importantly, even though it had been years since he left Gigaom, people used to remark, “Oh, you are from Om Malik’s company.” This speaks volumes about the impact he made with customer executives. I used to read his writing with interest - he used to write multiple thought leadership blog posts per week (sometimes one per day!) without pitching or promoting anything — as a pure analyst. When I became an analyst, his work was among the first I read to learn how to be neutral on topics while analyzing them in depth.
I also heard stories about people he had helped to jump-start without expecting or taking anything in return. People used to mention he was a great soul. May that great soul rest in peace. 🙏
If you haven’t read his blog, I highly recommend you check out om.co
A few days ago the technology world lost one of its most important voices.
I first came to know Om Malik more than two decades ago. He wasn't simply a technology journalist he helped Silicon Valley learn how to think. Through his fearless reporting, intellectual honesty, and remarkable ability to see around corners, Om challenged founders, investors, and an entire industry to look beyond hype and focus on what truly mattered.
His writing was always clear, insightful, and refreshingly independent. He could be tough to a fault, often with a dry sense of humor, but he earned enormous respect because his opinions were grounded in knowledge, integrity, and curiosity.
Through GigaOM and later his own work, Om became required reading for many of the world's smartest technologists, entrepreneurs, executives, and investors. He also became a respected venture capitalist, startup advisor, and trusted mentor whose guidance helped many young companies navigate both innovation and reality.
I was struck that only weeks ago he was still doing what he loved—writing thoughtful stories before noting he was taking a few days off. None of us imagined those would be among his final words to his readers.
Om leaves behind far more than articles. He leaves behind a standard for thoughtful journalism, independent thinking, and intellectual courage that influenced an entire generation of technology leaders. He was a good man, and friend.
Thank you, Om, for helping all of us see technology and the future a little more clearly.
Rest in peace, my friend.
Deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Om Malik. Om was an absolute giant in technology journalism, but more importantly, he was a rare visionary whose storytelling actively shaped the trajectory of the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem.
We first met back in 2007. At the time, I was running an accelerator at Sun Microsystems. Om had just left Business 2.0—where his telecom coverage was legendary—and was building GigaOm into a powerhouse. Back then, the tech world was transitioning rapidly, and Om’s sharp, analytical voice was the one everyone trusted to make sense of it all.
From those early days, Om had an unmatched gift for community and curation. His conferences were not just industry events; they were sought-after, must-attend gatherings for startup founders looking for direction. I still vividly remember watching his fireside chats with Marc Benioff. This was back when Marc had self-funded Salesforce and was aggressively reshaping the software landscape. Om knew exactly how to draw out the most human, impactful, and prophetic insights from tech’s heaviest hitters.
December 2007 brought a moment that would define the second half of Om’s life. He suffered a major heart attack—a moment that became a legendary testament to his grit when he famously walked himself right into the hospital for treatment. He survived, and with typical Om directness, used it as a massive wake-up call to change his life entirely. He called every subsequent December 28th his "re-birthday."
That turning point eventually led him to step back from the 24/7 grind of news blogging and transition into venture capital. As a partner at True Ventures, he brought that same sharp journalistic radar to investing, continuing to champion founders and innovation from the other side of the table.
Om didn't just cover technology as a business story; he covered it as something happening to humanity. The tech world feels smaller and significantly less grounded without his voice, his humor, and his incredible heart.
Om loved photography and here are some of his amazing pictures
lnkd.in/gk9uPh83
Rest in peace, buddy. You left an undeniable mark on all of us.
CC Sanjay Sharma Juan Carlos Soto Laura Ventura Arjun Chopra Matt Marshall
#OmMalik #SiliconValley #TechHistory #RestInPeace #TrueVentures
Om Malik's death a few days ago leaves tech journalism poorer in ways that are easy to overlook at first.
His pieces always carried a steadier hand than most, the kind that sorted through new tools and companies to show what actually changed for people using them, rather than just repeating whatever press release landed first.
He built GigaOM into more than a blog by bringing on writers and giving them room to develop their own clear voices, which quietly raised the standard for independent tech coverage during the Web 2.0 years and beyond.
One detail most people have never heard is that, back in 2005 on his own site, he was already writing about ideas around shared computing resources and data handling that would later be labelled cloud computing, giving early readers a clearer frame for shifts that would reshape entire industries.
Without that kind of patient, grounded thinking, the field ends up with fewer anchors when hype cycles spin faster than ever.
You will be missed Om.
Om Malik had a wonderful ability to balance a boy-wonder enthusiasm of new technology with an appreciation of its broader impacts to society. I’ll miss his old-man-on-the-hill perspective on the latest trend and his talent in explaining complex technology in a way we could all understand.
A few more thoughts on Om Malik and what he meant to me.
The world is quieter today.
Om Malik was a legend in technology because he understood more than the technology itself. He understood markets, timing, conviction, and whether a vision had the strength to become something real.
Om could cut through the noise quickly. He was a journalist and analyst with the insight to see the business reality behind the positioning, and the human intent behind the strategy.
For companies, that made him someone you wanted in the room. Not because his approval was easily given, but because his view mattered. It was thoughtful, direct, and grounded.
But what made Om unforgettable was that spending time with him was genuinely wonderful. You will hear that over and over. It was absolutely true.
Every interaction I had with him was memorable, thoughtful, and entirely his own. I can still picture him challenging me on market strategy while drinking an espresso so thick it was almost syrupy. I also remember our first lunch, when he tried to convince me, a vegetarian, that cracking a quail egg over tuna tartare might be the thing that finally changed my eating habits.
I didn’t know Om as a photographer, but it is no surprise. He had the ability to stop, watch, and listen. That gave him a rare perspective in his work, and I am sure it gave him a unique lens for his photographs.
In a world where people are often racing to the next meeting, Om stopped long enough to enjoy the human moment. Maybe that is what gave him such insight. Maybe it simply made him a great human. Most likely, it was both.
He was a fantastic writer, journalist, and technology pioneer. He was also warm, witty, and present.
We are all better for the time he spent with us.
I am saddened to hear about the recent passing of Om Malik. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been a contributing writer for his WebWorkerDaily blog for nearly three years, from 2008-2011.
It was a transformative experience for me as it fully entrenched me in to the world of technology, remote working, SaaS, productivity applications and more. These were all things that fascinated me, and as a writer there I had the opportunity to learn about, meet and talk to the people who were building these things, and then write about them to an engaged and enthusiastic reading audience.
I was part of a wonderful crew, led first by Judi and then Simon in the editor role. I worked with Aliza, Darrell, Charlie, Meryl, Thursday, Celine, Mike, and many other talented and interesting writers who shared my passion for these new and exciting tools and services.
I had the opportunity to meet and talk to so many industry professionals, owners, developers, designers, and PR pros. I enjoyed chatting with Buzz and Jeff and Amy, Pamela and Michelle, and so many others. I learned so much from each of them, it truly was a blessing to have such opportunities.
I got first looks at innovative and helpful software and services, and I watched as a whole industry exploded with growth and possibility, and I was right there in the middle of it.
I go back and read some of my writing there from time to time on the wayback machine and I just marvel at what a truly exciting time it was to be covering this rapidly evolving way of distributed working and the people who were making it possible. I recall when one of my articles was selected to be syndicated to The New York Times, I mean, that was pretty cool. I am very proud of the work I did there and credit goes to a philosophy of allowing us writers to tackle interesting and complex topics, and to largely influence the shape of what was published. We were, in effect, the freelance, remote, hard working, often also entrepreneurs, that the blog was catering to. It was perfect synergy.
Many of the services I covered back then have long ceased to exist while others have grown from small startups to Enterprise behemoths.
I have been fortunate enough to be able to continue to work in the technology field as part of some brilliant companies and as an independent consultant. I feel that my time at WebWorkerDaily played an important role in that.
In many ways, the internet is a different, and lesser, place now without the likes of visionaries like Om Malik, and sites like his WebWorkerDaily. I never got the chance to meet Om, but I am deeply grateful to him for building what he built, and for taking me along on the ride.
So many people have shared their memories of Om Malik over the past few days. I really didn’t know what to say or add. His passing is hard to comprehend. He has been a cornerstone of the tech industry for my whole career. He was a tough but fair journalist. And he always held the morality bar high for leaders and products. I felt like he was one of the few really challenging founders to contemplate the human impact and consequences of their products.
But I really got to know Om on a personal level a few years ago when my neighbor, one of Om’s long time closest friends, passed away suddenly. Om stepped up for the family. He was a constant presence and support for them as they navigated the loss of a husband and father. He was a genuinely kind and generous human and an extraordinary friend.
I just wanted to recognize what a special person he was, both as a tech reporter and investor, but more importantly as a friend and compassionate human. He left an impression on me that I will never forget.
My condolences to his family, friends and all who were privileged to know him.
I was sad to learn that @Om Malik passed away this week. Back in the dawn of podcasting (January 2005) I interviewed Om on my original podcast, G'Day World, as part of our original "On The Pod" series. One of our first guests and, therefore, one of the first people to ever appear as a guest on any podcast - ever. Because I was one of the first people (if not the very first) to interview people on podcasts. Historic moment. He was the Senior Writer with Business 2.0 at the time.
I'm very sad to hear of the passing of Om Malik. We occupied slightly different strata, so our paths crossed only infrequently, but he was always spoken well of, and GigaOM occupied a savvy, informed and agile space in the shadow of the analyst giants.
If you are relatively new to the creator world, you have probably never heard of Om Malik.
If you are making a living in the creator economy; believe me when I say you are standing on Om's shoulders. He was a pioneer and a visionary in this world. He paved the way for so many creators who followed, and he took lots of arrows.
Devastated to hear the shocking news about Om Malik's passing.
I remember working with him throughout his career, first at Forbes and later at Red Herring, before he went on to found GigaOm.
Such a tragic loss. He will be missed.
Well, some very sad news to pass on. Om Malik has passed, and this will certainly resonate with any tech blogger, among other things. He was in my orbit when starting out as an indie analyst, and was always the go-to guy for what was happening in #telecom, #voip, #broadband and everything around that.
Andy Abramson was much closer to Om as a friend and colleague, and his remembrance here is really great and heartfelt. I'll urge you to give it a read and comment for yourself in the thread.
Om Malik was a friend of mine. He died on June 24th at Stanford Hospital. A real loss for all that new him and worked with him. I met Om in 1998 when he was working for Forbes. We remained friends for the next 28 years. That same year, he authored an article on Lexicon and the development of Intel's Pentium.
Om was a writer, a thinker, and a philosopher. Even more important, he was kind, wise, and supportive. Somehow, he could always see the future. Like me, I know many will miss him. And while this next statement is often spoken as a cliché, in Om's case, it is not: with his passing, the world is all the less.
Rest in peace, my friend.
Om Malik has touched many lives, sometimes you learn that only after they leave.
Many posted tributes that shed light on the great soul he really was
I'll add to the literature. He was a steady hand helping budding journalists make their mark.
He was the cofounder of South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) in the 1990s.
Most prominent South Asian journalists since then have been associated with SAJA in some form.
I've been a direct and indirect beneficiary -- just a few times -- of his journalism genius over many years. I am thankful to this day.
Many journalists will carry and pass on his lessons for generations.
Rest in peace, Om Malik.
Many people knew Om as the founder of GigaOM, one of the most influential technology blogs of the early internet era. To many of us in Silicon Valley, his writing was more than journalism. It was a masterclass in how to think clearly about technology.
For me, the connection was personal, even though he may never have known it.
Not many people know that my own transition from engineering to marketing started with a blog I used to write back in 2007. I was a systems engineer at Atheros Communications then, but on the side I was writing about wireless companies, markets, and strategy. I guest-wrote on Sramana Mitra’s blog and also wrote my own, called Wireless Industry Analyst.
That blog forced me to teach myself valuation, sharpen my understanding of companies, and, most importantly, learn how to make analysis useful. Clever. Opinionated. Useful.
Om’s writing was one of my north stars.
His posts had a certain discipline to them: the analysis had to be straight, the insight had to be original, and the writing had to respect the reader’s intelligence. I tried, in my own early way, to learn from that.
That little blog eventually helped me move from engineering into product management and marketing. The executive team at Broadcom read it. A door opened. A career changed.
In that sense, Om had an impact on me that he likely never knew about. I suspect there are many such stories across Silicon Valley. Many who read him, learned from him, borrowed from his clarity, and quietly changed their own trajectories.
That is a remarkable legacy.
Rest in peace, Om. And thank you.
My newsletter on the most interesting things to read this weekend: a moving, redemptive essay on losing a marriage and a close friendship in the same night; the mysterious woman who blew up the Nord Stream pipeline; and a tribute to my dear friend Om Malik.
I am deeply saddened and shocked to learn of Om Malik's passing.
I had the privilege of interacting with Om while I was running my startup, and later had the opportunity to collaborate with him (way back in 2012) on an article for GigaOm titled "Conferences are All About Networking." Like so many entrepreneurs, journalists, and technologists, I admired his ability to see beyond the hype and focus on what truly mattered.
Om's curiosity, integrity, and generosity left an indelible mark on the technology ecosystem. He will be greatly missed.
My heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and the countless people whose lives and careers he touched.
One lesson that struck me from Om Malik's untimely passing is that no matter how busy we become chasing the next technological breakthrough, building companies, or advancing our careers, we cannot afford to neglect our health.
Deadlines, product launches, funding rounds, and conferences will always be there. Our health may not. Proper nutrition, regular exercise, adequate sleep, and periodic health checkups are not distractions from success - they are what make sustained success possible.
Perhaps the greatest innovation we can invest in is our own well-being. It's a reminder worth taking to heart.
Rest in peace, Om.
I've embraced my recent tendency to be the angriest person on LinkedIn, and wrote a remembrance of Om Malik that covers a bit more of why I admired him, with one story in particular — when he went to bat calling out Marc Andreessen on a global stage, a decade ago: www.linkedin.com/posts/anilda...
RIP Om Malik, you inventive, generous, amazing man and journalist.
om.co/2026/06/24/1...
man, rest in peace to Om Malik, one of the most grounded, human, thoughtful people in Silicon Valley. some may know him for helping to break the Stephen Glass story; others may know him as pioneering blogger and microblogger; others may know him as investor. a remarkable man om.co/2026/06/24/1...
Brutal news. Om was a real trailblazer. GigaOm was one of the best tech news sites of its era, helping make the niche parts of tech more approachable. It was one of my favorite sites and fostered some great reporters.
RIP.
om.co/2026/06/24/1...
An early example of a journalist betting on himself, too. He left a traditional media job to do GigaOm full time way back in 2006.
Saddened to lear that @om.co passed away yesterday. He was a giant in tech journalism, later an investor and VC. Also a helluva of a photographer. RIP, Om. om.co/2026/06/24/1...
Om Shanti Om Malik. You made this world a better place through your thoughtfulness, sincerity and fierce, edgy journalism that offered insights and directions to many of us in the Silicon Valley. You made OM cool. And GigaOm as the first destination for all news tech. Om Shanti.
Some terrible news, @om Malik has passed.
Remember him by resding his essay on Brunello Cucinelli, one of the finest pieces of journalism out there, that I have quoted many, many times and sent to hundreds of people over the years. Om never really stopped writing about technology but later became a partner of True Ventures.
Om on Brunello:
Such sad news. Middle of last week I walked past a Brunello Cucinelli store in Chicago and told my wife how I'd read the most amazing essay on him years ago. I made a note to dig it out because it still sticks with me.
If you've never read it, please celebrate @om with a read:
Every time I pass by a Brunello Cucinelli store, all I can think about is @om
i was one of them who used to read articles written by @om , the one on Brunello just made me think a lot.
he had it. he really knew.
RIP.
(One of) this week’s @colossusmag recommendations: @om talking to Brunello Cucinelli - a wonderful window into both the interviewer and the interviewee…
The true way to nurture your soul is philosophy. The true malaise of the human being — no matter whether Italian, American, Chinese — is the malaise of your soul, the uneasiness of your soul. RIP @om
Whereas I myself, I’m an industrialist. I don’t know anything about finance. If you invest in me, you invest in an industry. I like it even better if you call it an artisanal industry. # via @om
“I never met anyone who after being paid a compliment did not feel better.” via @om
always compliment the pretty girls
“You should go with the flow of mankind, you should live as if it was the last day of your life, plan as if you were to live forever,” via @om
Há uns 3 anos li essa entrevista. É realmente muito boa e inspiradora, principalmente hoje na era das “AI Supernovas”.
RIP @om
My words don’t suffice, but if you take the time to click through and read @om’s, you’ll be better for it.
One of the wisest voices in tech (and one of the OG bloggers) @om is gone.
To the uninitiated, I've recommended his piece on velocity many times this year:
"It is time for our industry to pause and take a moment to think... Otherwise, come 2020, Silicon Valley will have become an even bigger villain in the popular imagination, much like its East Coast counterpart, Wall Street." -@om
The Myth, the Mythos, and the Man. That's the title of the last post by Om Malik that I read. Like his writing in general, it was profound.
May his soul rest in well deserved eternal peace.
Anthropic exists because someone needs to tell the truth about what is being built - @om on June 7, 2026
I always looked forward to new @om essays in my RSS reader. This has been one of my favorites, reminding us to simply remain human in the face of incentive systems pushing us away from that goal:
/1
I always looked forward to new @om essays in my RSS reader.
This has been one of my favorites, reminding us to simply remain human in the face of incentive systems pushing us away from that goal:
/1
Happiness is knowing that the present is reality and the future is a gift.
Happiness is not about negative emotions. Happiness is about feeling a sense of gratitude. It is not about smiling all the time, instead it is about not being angry, resentful, spiteful or jealous.
—@om 1966-2026 (📷 @chrismichel)
You select which truths to surface and in what order, so the listener constructs a picture that serves you without you having to falsify anything directly. Every individual claim is defensible. The composite portrait is manufactured. # via @om
His chief financial officer Sullivan at his side, put up a graph showing WorldCom's share price headed up, and smugly ask : ANY QUESTIONS?"
Om Malik
-Broadbandits
"By the late 2010s, he had established himself as a singular figure in the tech industry: an investor, an adviser, a writer and, above all, a moral compass on issues like privacy and the power of big tech." #OmMalik #Gigaom #SiliconValley #Tech
“The emergence of opinionated writers like #OmMalik, @karaswisher and Jason Kottke helped define the next iteration of technology journalism.”
You can “hear” @om’s writing and expression in his about page of two decades ago.
RIP Om Malik. Would love a thread of people’s favorite @om blog posts.
Living in Pinocchio’s World and other stories.
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.
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Farewell @OM 🕊️🕊️🕊️
TIUL (Today I Unfortunately Learned)
Siri AI is pretty incredible at finding and even summarizing old emails. Wish I could’ve read @om’s take on it this fall 😢
Thank you @om for enriching our lives. I cannot forget you told us about a language of the future like a newsreader beaming out from Cyber Cafes
I just came across this interview between @benthompson and @om and shows why he was a legend.
It shows the 2nd and 3rd order thinking that is lacking in the fast paced tech media of today and should be compulsory reading for every one @TechCabal, @thecondia @bigtechthisweek @TechpointAfrica etc.
I hope the publishers take note.
I too have taken note, cos of I did, when the world was going crazy for NVIDIA stocks, I should have been asking who theor suppliers were and would have bet everything on Micorn et al.
Peering through the veil of time and ignorance, and seeing 24 months ahead via grasping the current deep state of the tech stack: Om Malik as analyst reading the detailed state of chips, networks, and bubbles as a guide to our medium-term future. Om Malik grew up walking... 1/
...half a mile to make a single phone call and ended up reading the global tech stack from the chip level up:
**CROSSPOST: BEN THOMPSON: An Interview with Om Malik About Tech’s History & Future**
<
2026-06-27 2/END
Imagine how many horrific business and humanitarian disasters in tech could have been prevented if more reporters were like Om Malik! We are amidst several now!
Умер Ом Малик — пионер техноблогинга и первый, кто написал про Твиттер
Основателю GigaOm и партнёру True Ventures было всего 59. Подвело сердце.
24 июня в Стэнфордской больнице умер Ом @om Малик — одна из основополагающих фигур техноблогинга. Семья написала о «долгом пути с проблемами сердца»: первый инфаркт он перенёс ещё в 41 год, потом жил с диабетом второго типа. До круглой даты он не дожил пары месяцев.
Широкой публике имя Малика мало что говорит, но для отрасли это фигура знаковая. Родился в Дели, выучился на химика, ушёл в журналистику — Лондон, Нью-Йорк, затем Кремниевая долина и первый состав редакции сайта Forbes, Red Herring, Business 2.0.
В 2001 году он запустил GigaOm — один из определяющих техноблогов эпохи: сотни тысяч читателей в месяц, верхушка рейтингов Technorati. По сути Малик был из тех, кто придумал технологическое медиа как самостоятельный бизнес, а не как рубрику в газете.
Мой любимый эпизод его биографии — про скромность и про Твиттер, конечно же. В июле 2006-го, через четыре месяца после запуска Twttr, Малику рассказал о проекте Ноа @noah Гласс, один из его ныне забытых сооснователей.
Малик написал, вероятно, первый в техноблогах пост про эту новую платформу, которая в то время пыталась скрестить веб и SMS-рассылки. И ошибся почти во всём: сервис показался ему раздражающим, его бесили ночные SMS от незнакомых людей, ему не нравилась идея с сайтом, где их все можно почитать, а спасением он считал уход в закрытые «микрогруппы»
Спустя годы Малик сам сослался на тот текст как на «урок смирения и напоминание, что будущее не знает никто». В этом он весь: не делать вид, что всегда прав. Это был 2013 год, Twitter выходил на IPO, все обсуждали перспективность компании как бизнеса, и Малик уже тогда предсказывал, что ничего путного из попыток выдоить деньги с проектам не получится, если идти по пути капиталистов c Уолл-стрит — слишком уж ДНК проекта отличался от всего остального.
«В отсутствие явного продуктового лидера, возможно, руководству Twitter и Уолл-стрит лучше всего воспользоваться тем, что я усвоил давным-давно: вы должны позволить Твиттеру быть просто Твиттером, идеей, которая развивается и трансформируется в соответствии со временем и для тех, кому это нравится».
GigaOm закрылся в 2015, не расплатившись с кредиторами. Малик ушёл в венчур. В True Ventures он был первым фаундером, которого фонд вообще профинансировал (тем самым GigaOm), а потом сам стал там партнёром.
Малик был самодостаточной машиной: редакция, платформа, носитель репутации и сеть контактов в одном человеке. Один из самых сдержанных, проницательных, точных и визионерских авторов на стыке журналистики, продукта и инвестиций.
Таких очень мало, и теперь будет на одного меньше.
В комментариях к некрологу вспомнили его же правило из редакции GigaOm: «Не трать время читателя». И он не тратил.
The technology community lost a giant this week. Om Malik was among the first journalists to see the potential of cloud computing and helped an entire industry understand what it could become. He challenged us all to think more deeply about where technology was headed and what it meant for people. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and the many lives he touched.
Very sad to learn about the passing of Om Malik. He was a towering presence in the analyst space; he set the aspirational standard to which I hold myself. Godspeed, Om.
Om Malik passed away this week.
He was one of the greats - smart, thoughtful, and kind. Always willing to engage on an interesting idea or a hard question, but he took his time and thought deeply before weighing in. That combination is rare.
Om Malik loved technology and the Internet, including its blemishes, which he wasn't afraid to call out.
For those of a certain age (cough) @om was a sage voice in a world of bubbles and BS. I always read what he wrote , and we had some fun now and then talking notebooks. R.I.P.
RIP, @om . Always curious, open to discussing ideas, but fearless to question what didn't make sense. A big loss. 🙏
Sad news about @om.
I've been following his writing for many years.
One of the few tech writers that genuinely gave @farcaster_xyz a try.
RIP @om 💔
As a (teen) tech blogger in the 2005-2011 era, Om was one of my childhood heroes.
His long form writing was the absolute benchmark, and a backlink from GigaOm meant the world to me in those days.
He was kind and so very thoughtful.
Gone way too soon.
Sad to learn that @om passed away today. In the early days of blogging he was one of my favorite writers. I modeled writing on my original blog on his.
Rest in peace friend
what a loss. @om was a huge inspiration. a great reporter and writer, bold pioneer of DIY publishing and a warm, generous soul. RIP
Very sad to hear of the passing of Om Malik (@om), one of the OG tech bloggers. Even when our blogs were rivals, he was among the kindest, wisest and most generous people I met in Silicon Valley. RIP Om — one of tech’s original minds.
I started my career in Silicon Valley reading @om and seeing him at the big tech events with the other prominent journalists during my Mashable days.
We have lost a legend and a very good man.
Life is short. Spend time with the people and things that matter.
I just learned the news.. Rest in peace @Om.
We interacted a few times back in the Web 2.0 back when I’d write for ReadWriteWeb.
You were one of the sharpest writers in the scene. You understood product, builders. You had empathy, and so much less ego than everyone.
I always looked up to your insights. I knew that you took the time and care to think. Thanks for sharing all that.
back when tech blogs were a thing, Gigaom was the place.
Om made technology feel human.
RIP @om
Om Malik was a good guy. Part of the wonderful early blogging community.
Om Malik was particularly popular and prolific in the 2000-2010 tech blogosphere. An example of how blogging democratized information curation and broke news, and for people like Om, even made money.
Om Malik passed away. That hit unexpectedly. I haven't followed him in a long time, but he was one of the pioneers in the heyday of blogging and the years immediately after the dotcom bust.
In the early days of being a tech journalist, I loved checking out GigaOm and Om Malik made the site what it was. RIP to a legend.
When I started blogging @VendorAlley back in 2007 I had many influences and your non-technical vibe talking about tech was one of them. RIP @om
Rest in peace, Om Malik.
Many of us are in tech just because of you.
Sad. @om—legend of sorts in the tech blogging scene back then, OGiest among the OGs—is no more. Thanks for telling the stories and shaping our thoughts. Om Shanti. 🙏🏾
RIP @om
Om Malik was one of the early voices who helped many of us understand technology before tech became loud and crowded
#GigaOm was more than a blog.
It was a window into the future, written with clarity, curiosity and respect for the reader.
Thank you, Om, for widening our world.
RIP @om - the journalist in tech who taught us how to report on technology with the enthusiasm of a geek, but in the language of the layman. Certainly a pillar at par with the innovators, movers and shakers of the Silicon Valley and the NYC tech world.
I didn’t know Om Malik @om personally; however, I do remember Om launching Gigaom blog in 2001. His blog was not only amazing with engaging technology content but also set the new high standard of blogging. Om touched so many people in Silicon Valley and beyond… Om Shanti 🙏🏽🙏🏿
Om Malik - Not a pioneer in technology blogs but I think one of the early persons to start a blog and establish it as a contemporary genre of writing deep, insightful viewpoints, yet keeping it informal.
In his passing we lost a prolific contemporary technology author and analyst.
Don't remember how much I have read him. Also had the opportunity of exchanging notes with him.
❤️
We almost crossed paths there (2009–2010; I built GigaOm Pro and their GigaOm network cross-posting system, etc. I remember your blog!)
A well designed life passes away. Thank you @om for all the smallfolk tech journalism - when I started reading tech, you translated the fancy words into something understandable.
Rest in peace.
RIP Om Malik. @om One of the original and greatest internet mavericks. Just a few weeks ago I was reading one of their insightful columns. 🙏🏽
Oh no. Was strangely think about him 2 days ago. He was such an important voice in the tech ecosystem, especially in the dotcom era. I learnt a lot from his thoughtful writing and perspective.
The strange thought i was having was... how well orchestrated his parents were in naming him.. 'OM' - also the first letters of his full name Om Malik - that also resonated with the chant 'om'.
Thank you for everything @om
In absolute shock over @om's passing. The world has lost a great one.
Thank you for helping me embrace and grow my love of tech when I was young. It was such an honor to get to know you many years later.
Damn.... This really hurts. 💔
Oh wow, just reading of @om’s passing… a literal pioneer in the kind of tech journalism I enjoyed covering and reading.
Such a wonderful perspective, and not afraid to stand for the vision of how this connected space should do to help us all forward.
My condolences & prayers
The passing of Om Malik: His reporting and analyses were always on target, and his kindness and generosity were always appreciated. When a reporter at Forbes, he graciously participated in a panel on VC investing trends I hosted for my employer The Deal. He will be missed.
Farewell to Om Malik, one of the great tech writers of our time. A kind and generous soul, passionate and insightful. We were having a lively email exchange when I suddenly heard the news. I will miss him, and his presence.
Just so sad to hear about @om.
Thinking of all our exchanges and his ability to always connect the dots and explain things in simple words.
Read and highlighted this when I was 17 🥰 showed this to @om years later and we had a good chuckle about it 🥹
Дуже крутим був @om Малік. Зустрічався з ним особисто в 2006-7, та пізніше перетинались на конференціях. Читав його з задоволенням. Він дійсно мав вплив на розвіток інлустрії в 2000х. RIP :(
Today I want to remember @om
One of the first bloggers I followed back in the days, probably 2004 or so. Had the pleasure to meet him in person a few times in San Francisco, great journalist and tech writer.
Will be missed.
RIP 😔
RIP Om Malik.
Thanks for the GigaOm articles and the appearances on Cranky Geeks.
I will miss hearing from @om.
He was one of the kindest, most incisive writers in his space. I always looked forward to any perspective he offered on basically any subject. He always broadened my views, in a world which feels more and more narrow.
Rest in peace.
❤️ @om wrote from the soul
Will sorely miss @om's unadulterated and clear thinking! He has been a constant in reading and seeing his work since the dot com days
Om Malik was one of my favorite writers (and thinkers)
Hope he enjoys his simple pleasures like his fondness to fountain pens to eternity!!
Om Malik helped a generation of builders understand that technology is ultimately a human story. That clarity of voice — thoughtful, curious, honest — is what the internet keeps losing and needs most.
Some people do great work; some people leave behind great works. We know them by the capacity of their witness. RIP @om
Sad to hear about the passing of @om, a uniquely kind & optimistic member of the tech community. He was a gifted writer, always offering unique insight and a human touch.
May his memory be a blessing. 🙏
RIP @om . You will be missed. I'm glad you came back to writing recently, and I had hoped that we would meet again, on my next trip to SF. Thank you for bringing optimism and humanity to tech. You live on in your writing and the gorgeous photographs you took.
The internet, the tech community and the world lost a legend today. I will miss his beautiful deep and incisive writing and eerily peaceful photography. RIP @om
Sad to hear about @om passing away. 💔
I always enjoyed his thoughtful perspectives on technology, startups, and enterprises. His photographs reflected the same curiosity and eye for detail that defined his writing.
ॐ Shanthi. 🙏🏽
A beautiful writer, artist, thinker, and human being who showed us what a life well lived looks like. @om you will be missed.
. @om passed away on Wednesday .. horrible news .. just horrid .. he was a truly gifted writer and always willing to share, to help, to lift people up ..
The world is darker with him gone ..
Horrible news!!! It was the best of times in tech when you got to read the best takes from @om on GigaOm. He was so generous with his time and a genuinely wonderful soul.
Om was a legend. I always enjoyed how he wrote, his observations and his influence.
Most of all I loved how he saw the world.
🕊️rest in peace @om.
Sad for the loss of prolific tech influencer @om. A true pioneer who always shaped an engaging, positive narrative on things brewing in tech. I hope his legacy will live on through others. Rest in peace.
So saddened to hear of the passing of @om. I have always admired his writing and the tremendous contributions he made to the technology community.
One thing I know for sure, he was deeply loved by his many friends. The outpouring of tributes is a testament not only to his influence, but to his kindness, generosity, and the impact he had on so many lives.
My heartfelt condolences to his family and to the many friends who are mourning his loss. He will be deeply missed.
Today taught me I am still alive and OM Malik is not. R.I.P. Om. Such a good writer.
Sad news. @om's writing was second to none. He will be missed.
One of the greatest tech writers over the decades. Om Malik, RIP.
Sad to hear about @om . One of the best in technology reporting in Silicon Valley. May his soul rejoin with the almighty. Om shanti .
.@om was one of the original tech bloggers. He was super smart, took no BS and was such a great writer. Another reminder that our time here is short and we should make the most of it. RIP.
OMG. Everyone's followed Om's take on technology in Bay area for the last couple of decades.He went way too early. RIP Om. 🙏 @om
Just found out @om passed away.
Thanks for your writings for all these years, Om, your voice will be sorely missed
RIP Om Malik. One of the best writers of our times! You’ll be missed sir
RIP @om . Will miss his writings and great insights.
This is very sad, @om 's writing was always a pleasure to read.
Very sad to hear about @om's passing. A sharp-minded writer and keen photographer. May his memory be a blessing.
I'm sorry to hear that Om Malik passed away recently. He was an incredibly talented and thoughtful writer, and the world of technology will miss him.
Sad to hear that Om Malik passed away today at 60.
A true legend in tech journalism, founder of GigaOm, thoughtful writer, sharp observer of Silicon Valley, and a beautiful photographer. His voice and perspective will be deeply missed.
Rest in peace, Om.
Om Malik was a phenomenal writer.
RIP @om - 😔 sad to read this news today. He was a very thoughtful writer, investor, and photographer. Will miss his blogs
A huge loss... will miss @om's missives
RIP @om - a true OG of tech blogging and emeritus partner at @trueventures - a deep thinker. May his memory forever be a blessing.
God bless @om, we are losing a needed observer of society
There was no one quite like @om — his depth, his writing, his taste. We will miss him.
Farewell to Om Malik. His work sparked conversations and connections across tech. A reminder to value thoughtful critique and community dialogue in every launch and every setback. #OmMalik #TechJournalism #RIP
Might be the last tech journalist has passed away. RIP @om
Om Malik · A tribute · The Weekly Chai editorial
Om Malik came from New Delhi to write about technology at a time when that was not yet a serious thing to do. He built GigaOm into required reading for a generation of founders and investors, then crossed the aisle to back the next generation himself. He died June 24 at Stanford. He was 60. This is what he built, and why it mattered to us.
New post on Daring Fireball: ★ Om
Om Malik was a force in tech journalism and a radiant friend. This post remembers his warmth, honesty, and sharp insight, from long chats at WWDC to the stories he shared about chasing excellenc…
The New York Times: ‘Om Malik, Whose Blog Shaped How Silicon Valley Saw Itself, Dies at 59’
New post on Daring Fireball: The New York Times: ‘Om Malik, Whose Blog Shaped How Silicon Valley Saw Itself, Dies at 59’
Honoring a Silicon Valley beacon. The New York Times profiles Om Malik, the blogger whose sharp observations…
Om Malik, a tech journalist and investor whose blog, Gigaom, which he founded in 2001, established him as one of the most important voices in Silicon Valley and helped signal a shift in how the media covered the tech industry, died on Wednesday in Palo Alto, Calif. He was 59.
Om Malik helped shape tech blogging by treating blogging as a lens on how we view the world, not just opinion. This Boing Boing piece honors his perspective and impact on the early era of tech journalism. Read the tribute and reflections on his 1966–2026 journey.
Malik started his blog just as the dot-com bubble burst, leading to a recession that also took down many of the journalism startups that wrote about tech.
Om Malik, the veteran technology journalist, entrepreneur and founder of GigaOm, has died at the age of 59. According to a statement on his personal website, Malik passed away on June 24, 2026, at Stanford Hospital after a prolonged heart-related illness.
Tech industry veteran Om Malik passed away at 59 after a long health journey. He was a prominent writer, founder of Gigaom, and partner at True Ventures.
Om Malik, a longtime technology writer, founder of Gigaom, and a partner at True Ventures, died on Wednesday at 59
🚨💀 Om Malik (59) : Indian-American technology journalist and founder of influential tech blog Gigaom; longtime commentator on startups, broadband, and Internet industry trends. 💀🚨
It feels like everyone from a certain (magical) era in tech has an @om story (or twenty). Most of my interactions with him were professional, in the context of leading PR for Box. Whenever I saw him IRL he’d accuse me of ghostwriting @levie’s tweets, and wouldn’t hear otherwise. I took the compliment, however undeserved.
I’ll also never forget his very human take in the wake of Box’s S-1 drop. There was a deluge of commentary—much of it critical, most of it fair (although it all felt deeply personal at the time). I can’t find the original article, but this snippet from NYT Dealbook gives you a sense. Om was discerning but be never dunked or took the cheap shot. He cared deeply about tech and even more about the people behind it. We could use more of his spirit in this current era. RIP.
We lost the wonderful soul that was @Om Malik earlier this week. I had been an admirer of him for years and I remember that day I bumped into him in SOMA. We spoke about fashion and I shared how deeply moved I was about his article on Brunello Cucinelli.
I hope you enjoy it too
He was the first founder True Ventures ever funded — and then he spent twenty years being that first believer for everyone else: the first check, the first writeup, the first person to say you were capable of better.
It is with profound sadness that we share the news of Om Malik’s passing.
It’s difficult to state the impact that @om had on all of our lives at True.
Om was the first Founder we funded when we started True. In our Presidio office, Om discussed his idea for a new type of media company. That idea would later become GigaOm.
Om was a brilliant Founder, an amazing teammate and Partner at True, a prolific writer, a gifted photographer, and a sage and valuable advisor to so many in the technology ecosystem.
Om was brilliant, thoughtful, humorous, profoundly kind, and deeply curious. He was also relentless when he had an idea or story. Om was brave - he never shied away from sharing his views or pushing for the truth.
We were very, very lucky to call Om our Partner and friend at True for these last many years.
For today, we simply encourage you to take a moment to remember this beautiful soul and great thinker who was in our midst. He would ask us to slow down a bit. Om would want us to think deeper, express our love for one another a lot more.
Above all else, Om wanted us all to retain our humanity and care for each other in our brilliant quest to rebuild the world.
We love you Om.
Team True
True Ventures@trueventures on X
Photo Credit. @chris_michel - Whenever I doubted myself, Om somehow knew…..I first met Om Malik in 2003 while he was writing a story about Oddpost.
As we waited for the elevator after the photo shoot, I asked him one question: “What should I know about?”
He casually mentioned an open source blogging project started by a young founder named @photomatt / Matt Mullenweg. That conversation led me to WordPress, and ultimately changed the course of my career.
A few months later, Om came to our home for dinner. Before he left, I told him that if he didn’t have plans, he should join us for Christmas Eve.
He did.
For the next 22 years, Om spent every Christmas Eve with my family—including this past year, when he made an extraordinary effort to be there despite his declining health.
To the world, Om was an extraordinary journalist, investor, and storyteller. To me, he was something even more precious: a brother, a trusted friend.
Whenever I doubted myself, Om somehow knew. He would remind me to trust my instincts, to believe in myself, and to simply be who I was. He had a rare gift for making people feel seen, capable, and hopeful.
I owe him more than I can ever repay—not just for the opportunities he created, but for the person he helped me become.
I’ll miss our conversations. I’ll miss his wisdom. I’ll miss our bimonthly coffee dates. And, I’ll miss seeing him at our Christmas table.
Most of all, I’ll miss my brother, my beautiful friend.
Thank you, Om.
It was February of 2005, and Om Malik was standing in our living room with a glass of wine, watching the Oscars. @lisapopsugar was talking, the way she always talked that year, about the It bag and what to TiVo and which actress wore which dress and why it mattered. Om listened for a while. Then he turned to me and said that if we built a blog network like his, but pointed it at women, we could be the next Time Inc. or Condé Nast.
He did not say it like a pitch. He said it like a gift he had already wrapped.
The next morning I downloaded an early build of WordPress and started building. So did Lisa, who had always wanted to write. Within a year there was a company. Katie was born two weeks early, on the first day of editor training. A couple of years later there were hundreds of people, offices in five cities, a Sequoia and NBC investment, and Michael Moritz on the board. None of it was on a plan. All of it started with a sentence Om handed us at a party.
That was the thing about him. He gave away his best ideas and was glad when other people built them. He was the godfather of early tech blogging, and he spent that position lifting people up. He linked to writers nobody had heard of. He emailed strangers with feedback, and they remembered it for twenty years. He praised the good work and called the bullshit what it was. He could be relentless when he got hold of a story, and would not let it go until he had it right. He did not have a gram of resentment in him, which is the rarest thing in this town. The Valley talks a lot about paying it forward. Om actually did it.
After his heart nearly stopped at 41, he slowed down and took up photography, thousands of frames of fog and light and the ordinary things most of us walk past. The man who saw everyone’s future taught himself to see the present.
Om died Wednesday, in Palo Alto, at 59. Far too young, for a man who saw the rest of us before we saw ourselves.
May his memory be a blessing. 💙
Om Malik. 1966-2026.
"You can F-Off, Acquire looked like trash. I did this for selfish reasons."
Om was never one to hold back. I was sitting in his living room last year, attempting to thank him for coming to our rescue and with the biggest sh-t eating grin you have ever seen, he responded in jest, and then immediately pivoted to showing me his prized collection of Jacques Marie Mage glasses, quickly brushing off any ounce of appreciation for the supernova-sized favor he pulled off for me.
Back in March of last year, we were given notice that our network was terminating our contract and wanted us to quickly find a new home. This was a Herculean task and something I simply didn't have the bandwidth for at the time. If it weren't for Om, I don't think Acquire would exist today.
I won't bore you with the whole story here, but long story short, Om reached out to a close friend at Wordpress and just a few months later the kind folks at Automattic Special Projects got us back on our feet and stronger than ever.
I still remember the day that I first met Om. It was 2012 and @benclymer had introduced us after a Hodinkee pop-up at Taylor Stitch in San Francisco. Remember those days Ben? 🤣
Om was very kind and immediately mentioned how he had been a fan of the site and from then on it kicked off a 14-year friendship that I will cherish forever. He also became sort of a mentor to me (and many others as you can imagine) even though I never took any of his advice. He always thought that was hilarious.
I'm probably starting to ramble here and to be completely honest I am writing this while attempting to piece together a very broken heart. I can't tell you how much his friendship meant to me. And the kindness, care, and warmth he brought to all of us.
Thank you for everything, Om.
Love you brother.
-Bernard
I’m deeply saddened by Om Malik’s passing.
Om was a close friend for nearly a decade. He was also an investor in System Inc. from day one and a board member for many years until his health started to decline.
He was incredibly special to me. Over countless long walks and coffees and dinners, I got to know an incredibly kind, thoughtful, curious, and wise man who cherished his friends and cared deeply about the world. Om was one of a kind. A humanist among technologists. A poet, artist, thinker, and gentleman. A man with no ego, unlimited time for those he cared about, and an inner light that radiated warmth and goodness through his big childlike smile. You could feel it when Om was around.
A few years ago, Om asked me if I’d share a new picture of my newborn son with everyone at the end of a board meeting. It was an unexpected, playful injection of humanity into work. It changed the vibe — and has remained a tradition, even after Om left our board. That's Om.
As an investor and board member, Om cared more about my nervous system than our balance sheet. He believed in founders. He championed founders. He listened. He understood so deeply what it means to be one, the sacrifices and emotional weight. And he centered his counsel first and foremost on keeping me connected — or at times reconnecting me — to what motivated me to start a company in the first place. His empathy and capacity to hear and inspire ran deep.
Om lived intentionally. He surrounded himself with people, ideas, and objects that all carried meaning. He appreciated and loved discovering beautiful craftsmanship. He loved his rare fountain pens. His notebooks. (And would take notes in meetings using both.) Seeking the next best coffee. Discovering a perfectly cut garment in a beautiful fabric. He approached technology with the same lens: meaning and beauty. It’s no wonder his photography and his cameras were so important to him.
Om believed in System's purpose and mission to his core and always inspired me to stay true to it, especially in the hardest moments. He left a profound mark on me and on System. I will miss him dearly.
My condolences to his family, his many close friends, and everyone at True Ventures.
(This photo was taken at our first board meeting. Om is wearing a pin we made that reads, "Why haven't we seen it all connected yet?' as an homage to Stewart Brand's "Why haven't we seen a photograph of the whole Earth yet?")
When I started as True's first in-house writer (well, designated content strategist – there are many great writers here), I met with a series of team members who were vetting whether I'd be a good fit. Each one said, "Oh, and you've gotta meet Om." I was a young buck and interpreted that casually. I hadn't realized how much what Om thought of my skill would matter to the firm's take on me.
We met, got to know each other. He gave feedback on my work when I asked, and it was so often about why the story — any given story — should matter to the world. "Why should the reader care? How does this news affect people in the world? That's the story." I can hear him saying it with the gentle rasp of his very particular Om voice.
Over time he had less feedback. His trust in me grew. Now I get the real weight of that. Many years later when he became Partner Emeritus, we started sharing creative writing with one another. Brief texts: "What are you working on right now?" with simple screenshots of unpolished drafts, a shared poem. Small check-ins keeping the fire to write, in all directions, alive.
I know he was this for so many people and I wonder how he was able to do that for so many in one lifetime. Such is the magic of Om Malik. He'd hate that line and say that "magic" isn't the right word and I should rethink my word choice. But I'd push back. And he'd have liked that I did that.
To your words always ringing true, Om. You will be greatly missed.
Om contacted me 21 years ago to design his website, which at the time was one of the most popular tech blogs out there
After the project was done he told the world how much he loved it and it genuinely launched my career as a designer
@om was one of the greatest guys ever
🖤
Rest in Peace @om . He and @trueventures funded @dittolive several years ago when we were just months old, delicate, to pay ours first few engineers to become the titan it is today. And from Om, he has always reached out, asked to grab food, coffee, and how I met so many of my friends almost 10 years later.
He was an phenomenal person, and this is a true loss of a good friend.
I cold emailed @om in 2013 with an idea for an article I had no authority to write. Him liking the idea gave me the authority to do some awesome interviews that I’ll never forget
RIP, @om. Thanks for taking a chance on me. Gigaom was my first tech job, and how I wound up where I am today.
Sad to hear about @om today.
My first time meeting Om I was doing a VC pitch and he was on the other end of the table. I fumbled here and there, but he kept building my confidence through it. That’s the kind of person he was. The world will miss his kindness & humor.
Remember when @Om unofficially introduced Twttr to the tech world?
“Glass, says that it started off as a conversation between him and Jack Dorsey, in a car parked on Valencia and 14 in san francisco after a night of Vodka drinking”
RIP friend. You will be missed by many.
Very sad to hear about @om’s passing.
Early in my career, when I was running comms for @parallels, Om was one of the first bloggers to cover us. He was a big deal, I was a nobody (and a kid). But he treated me like a pro.
We’ll miss you, Om. Thanks for everything.
I was very sad to hear that Om Malik has passed away.
I first met Om in 2011. He co-led Academia’s series A.
Om was kind, thoughtful, and supportive. He sat on Academia’s Board, and would often end up identifying the heart of an issue in discussion.
In conversation, Om would seek to encourage and also to challenge.
Om was generous with his time. He would always make time to meet. I will miss him greatly.
Back in 2011 I was invited to the iPad 2 launch at the SF Apple Store to demo our app. Om Malik sensed the starstruck young man and put me at ease. Told me he was writing about how Hipstamatic had inspired Instagram. He made a nervous kid feel like he belonged.
Farewell @om
🕉️
Sad to hear about the passing of @om. He was one of the first people I had coffee with for advice when I started @theinformation and he was good at giving it. He advised me to be authentic and I’ve tried to stay true to that. I will ways think of @om as fearless. He said the true thing even if it wasn’t popular. So sorry for his passing.
I met @om some 20 years ago through a little blog network called 9rules.
I had TheAppleBlog and he had GigaOm.
GigaOm was growing like crazy and eventually acquired TheAppleBlog where I stayed on board for a couple of years in what turned out to be the only “real” job I ever had.
Over the years after I moved on from TheAppleBlog/GigaOm, whenever I was in SF we’d grab coffee and catch up and the thing that always stood out to me was his calm optimism about everything.
I left every chat with a new perspective but never unnecessary urgency…which was/is so atypical in the tech world.
What a great and universally loved guy.
Miss you buddy.
@trueventures @om I’m deeply saddened to learn this. I was quite junior when I worked with Om at Gigaom, and he always took me seriously, always treated me with respect. He was kind and generous, and I’ve never forgotten that.
So bummed to hear about passing of @om.
Firebrand, original thinker, intellectually honest, good egg.
My segue into tech in early 90s was fueled by his excellence at Red Herring.
I wrote a bunch of articles for GigaOm & can still hear his nudgings on “voice.”
Such a loss.
I got into Digital Marketing & started taking Blogging seriously after I met @om & @photomatt at India's first WordCamp. I shit bricks as it was my first ever interview for @blogadda, but he made me feel so comfortable.
Thank you, @om, for inspiring millions like me.
Om Malik, (@Om) 1966 to 2026
The friend who was the catalyst of PopSugar.
'I’ve been thinking about all the great moments I got with @om since hearing of his passing. It's surreal to me, he was such a youthful spirit and such a great mentor and supporter.
I have some great memories but a few that I recall fondly was speaking at Structure Conference 2011, taking my first Uber (black town car Uber!) with Om when we went for dinner, too many brunches and coffees talking about tech, life and what I wanted to do with mine, being there for me when I moved to Silicon Valley and telling me it was going to be ok, listening to my first pitch when I started Nexme.
Om, you'll be missed. I hope you know how much you impacted so many people in your life and I know your legacy will live on.
I first met @om outside at Kresge auditorium. I think it was a vlab event.
He enjoyed 555 special filters and offered me one as I approached him. It was socially acceptable to smoke back then. I think he quit many years later.
When I was raising Fund 1 for an accelerator, he spent a few hrs advising me on skype, and he was the reason our fund raise got coverage in WSJ.
It feels like many of us grew up reading his writing and started blogging because of him.
Thanks for everything.
RIP Om. 🕉️
Om Malik made me feel like tech was worth paying attention to. I remember reading @gigaom in preparation for my interviews at Facebook in 2008. Many years later, I was lucky enough to call him a colleague at True, and co-hosting a founder dinner with him was one of my first acts as a venture partner at the firm. I felt 24 again.
I am grateful for his contributions to technology, for every word he wrote, and for his friendship. Rest in peace, @om 🤍
Om Malik gave me my start in tech media and journalism nearly 20 years ago and it changed my life completely and very much for the better.
He was extremely intelligent, supportive and perceptive, and I ascribe much of my success, as well as my continued love of learning and curiosity to him, all these many years later.
I was lucky enough to get to see him last year in person in SF, a random encounter and a chance to catch up I’m very glad I got to have.
Thank you for everything Om, rest in peace.
Every tech OG has at least one story about @om helping them. I have too many to recount.
He was a real pay it forward guy, old school, warm spirit, kind heart, and calming presence.
We used to meet up for coffee very regularly and developed a close relationship over the years.
Here’s a post he wrote after one of our chats back in 2013
Guys like me are “wired hot” and Om was one of the people I’d always turn to for his calming presence and levelheadedness — he’d always help steer me to a more zen vibe and cool collected decisions. We’d meet up sometimes when I was super angry and about to go full scorched earth nuclear on something, and I’d always leave with a way more reasonable and rational mindset.
He was one of the first journalists to cover my company Prismatic and always maintained a fair balance -- he'd be supportive where he felt it was right to do so, and he'd be fiercely and productively critical where he thought it was deserved. He had a way of shooting straight from a place of love -- he'd roast you about something he felt nobody wants, and you'd somehow walk away feeling hyped up.
Like many people are saying today, Om was one of the silicon valley OGs who embodied the values and vibes that we're all about, and he helped to transplant those stem cells into so many of us.
Om, my dear brother, your time might be up, but your stem cells are multiplying exponentially, and we can see that by the vast number of heartfelt eulogies on X today on the news of your passing. We will guard this DNA with our lives, and guarantee that we pass in along all over the world, ensuring that that magical old school silicon valley legacy lives on.
Deeply saddened to learn of the passing of @om, one of the kindest and most insightful people in the tech & media world. He saw around corners better than most, especially as a pioneering blogger, and cheerfully avoided conventional wisdom about people & the world. He wasn't feeling great when we sat on a South Park bench a year or so ago to talk about the book I was writing, but his exceptional generosity of spirit and sharp thinking were all there. He will be greatly missed.
I'm sorry to hear about the passing of Om Malik. I didn't know him well, but he was kind to me when I had just moved to San Francisco with zero money for my first startup job at Automattic in 2008. You really do remember people for how they make you feel.
A small Om Malik story.
We had been emailing for a while, and finally got coffee in person in San Francisco’s South Park one warm summer day in 2024.
I was in a dark place mentally and feeling intensely shaky about my career and my move to the US to work in journalism.
Even though we had never met before, I poured my heart out to Om. He listened patiently and shared lessons from his life, and his own journey from New Delhi to the US. “For people like us, there is always a glass ceiling in American media,” he told me.
But he told me to hang in there and keep going. And at the end of our conversation, he gifted me some reporters’ notebooks.
A few hours after that meeting, I got a call from @BusinessInsider offering me the Meta Correspondent job. I haven’t looked back since.
You will be missed, @om.
I’m heartbroken by the passing of Om Malik.
Om came into my life through his writing but later his interest in cameras and telecom networks intersected with callstats. He invested and served on our board, but those titles do not capture what he became to me: a mentor, a guide, and a true friend. He always responded to my text, almost immediately. And was there when I needed him.
As a journalist, Om had a rare gift. He could draw out the details between technology, its consequences, and its impact on the broader community. He asked important questions, hard questions, and human questions. He cared about what technology could do, but what it meant for us as users, as builders.
He loved photography and writing, but also the instruments of those crafts: the cameras, the fountain pens, the tools and systems that made creation possible.
Om’s mentorship had a profound and material impact on my life. It is not an understatement to say that he changed my life. And I know I am not alone. Many people will say the same in their own way. His loss will be felt broadly.
Rest in peace, @Om. Thank you for your friendship, your generosity, and your belief.
RIP Om Malik
A legend of our industry, one of the kindest people I ever met, gone far too soon 💔
I owe Om so much and am so grateful for his mentorship and friendship
RIP @om. You were my competitor, my mentor, and most importantly my friend. We wanted nothing from each other which made it so easy to spend so much time together. You will be remembered as the fierce journalist and thinker that you truly were. Gone way too soon.
# A short ode to @Om
It's kind of sad that you learn what great impact a friend had on other people's lives, but only after they're gone.
Om was like a big tree with branches extending in a lot of different places and was sort of a human web wiring them all together.
Matt's "All roads lead to Om" is simple and beautiful. It wasn't clear to me how much of Automattic was put together with Om's guidance. Now things make more sense. More to think about.
Regrets.. We should have all gotten together a long time ago. I feel that way every time someone I love dies. We should have done more together.
These are the notes I jotted down after my first meeting with @om during my first week at True Ventures.
He always encouraged me to write more, so here goes…
Om Malik was not only a writer, technologist, pioneer, or photographer, but he was also a friend for the past 12 years. He passed away yesterday in Palo Alto.
His guidance touched me profoundly both in the early days of building Darkroom and in the process of planning and writing my book documenting the Syrian Refugee Crisis in 2015.
Om Malik, 1966 to 2026
The friend who was the catalyst of PopSugar.
I am so sorry to hear this. I first met Om in early 2000’s when I was at Knight Ridder Digital. Then four years ago I joined a Board that included Om. We will miss his incisive comments, wisdom, kindness and humor! R.I.P. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/26/technology/om-malik-dead....nytcore-ios-share
My entrepreneurial journey started with a Twitter DM from Om Malik 17 years ago.
I was mulling starting a company, and Jasper Malcolmson, my ex-manager and a new True Ventures founder mentioned me to him.
Om and I met at the GigaOM office on Pier 38, and he was ever so kind and complimentary. I eventually got a term sheet from True Ventures, probably one of his first deals there. Sorry Bipul Sinha, I know you wanted me to take your Blumberg Capital termsheet, but Om is Om.
That first adventure led to another, and now the 8 DragonfruitAI.Ventures running in parallel.
None of it could have happened if Om hadn't believed in me when I first got started. What an enormous privilege to have worked with him.
Shanti om.
When I started my career in Venture Capital, I was always shocked by how accessible the giants who created our industry were. Confused by the NVCA model term sheet? Just ask ♾ John Backus (National Venture Capital Association, NAV.VC, and @PROOF). Why was VC in Texas different? JOHN THORNTON (Austin Ventures and Elsewhere Partners) would explain why. How do you build a multi-sector multi-stage fund? Dick Kramlich (founder of New Enterprise Associates (NEA)) loved to opine about it. We lost a lot of giants over the past year.
♾ John Backus: lnkd.in/gWtbcUnN
JOHN THORNTON: lnkd.in/gXks2-WY
Dick Kramlich: lnkd.in/gUb77AY2
Ugh, this month has been a gut punch. We lost colleagues from our generation; Om Malik, Joshua Baer, and S. Somasegar. Each uniquely tragic, each way too soon, each at the height of their powers.
Om Malik had just written this essay about Mythos: lnkd.in/gkMrv8sj
Joshua Baer had just organized a Claude Code meetup: lnkd.in/grcf_qsi
S. Somasegar had just been named to the Seed 100: lnkd.in/gEjhWxqN
All 3 were living their best lives at the highest possible level. I'm reminded to live every day with no regrets and to focus on what matters with the people that matter most.
إِنَّا لِلَّٰهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
You don’t go from being a small-town kid who didn’t graduate college to working in startups and media without finding people to model yourself after along the way.
I learned yesterday that Om Malik passed away. I did not know him personally, but in the early days of Twitter, when Alex Wilhelm and I were basically still kids, we'd interact. And he'd link or (manually!) RT some of the stuff I wrote.
I dreamed a bit bigger because of his writing and presence. And I am heartened that the first comment on Hacker News was someone else with a similar story. RIP.
I just keep thinking about Om Malik, and how he went to work on the investor side and never lost his heart or his voice or his principles or his sense of humor and humanity, and just how rare that is. He was an enthusiast for many things, but he was never a hype man.
Oh no. I really respect True Ventures and from everything I read from him, Om seemed like such a good dude. This is so sad.
I never worked with Om Malik but he was always kind to me, invited me to his conferences as press even if I didn’t have a particular outlet to cover them for, and was thoughtful and engaging long past the point when many seasoned tech and media folks crawl up inside themselves
This is a very hard day. Om gave us all so much, and I loved every minute I had with him. Today he would want us to slow down a bit, be just a bit kinder to one another, and with his mischievous smile, encourage you to be even bolder in who you are and think deeper about why we are here. He was an immense gift in my life. I feel so lucky, and also so sad.
Om was introduced to me in 2012 by a friend who described him privately as, "the nicest human on the planet."
We got coffee and, sure enough, after one meeting, a wave of generosity and help soon followed.
It was help that came when I really needed it. But he also offered it in a way that changed the way I thought of tech in general. Less zero-sum, more collaborative and expansive.
If you search @om on twitter right now, you'll get a sense of how normal this was for him. And how many people he reached.
Forever grateful to Om and his takes through so many eras of the internet.
RIP.
❤️ This is all so beautifully written, Stacey.
> unimpressed by bullshit or sloppy thinking, but he fundamentally believed in people
Absolutely. He never pulled punches, but it didn’t seem cruel even when his judgments were sharp. It felt like it came from a place of him believing you were capable of better.
And when you did better he was the first to see it and say so.
Om Malik was one of the first people in Silicon Valley to treat me with encouragement and respect. He made it easier to be an optimist.
i was a precocious 25 year old investor and @om taking time to listen to me, break bread with me, and validate my presence meant the world to me a decade ago
we lost touch, and i can’t say we were ever particularly close - but his ability to sit and take in someone’s whole person was singular. RIP
inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un
Tech just lost a facet of its wisdom, and I just lost a friend and true mentor Love you @om
So sad to see the news about @om. As he was with so many other people, he was so good to me. Generous. Kind. Helpful. Always willing to chat, offer advice - and make a brutally funny point. What an incredible human. Hope there’s is a cigar waiting somewhere for you buddy
Arg, Om Malik passing away is hitting me as hard as it did when we lost Ted Rheingold.
Both were way kinder than they needed to be an early 20s kid from PEI who just showed up in Silicon Valley.
It sucks to lose great people.
Rest in peace @om He was one of the first and kindest people I met when I moved to San Francisco back in 2005 w/@mecolalu
Just a quick homage to the late, great Om Malik @om, a journalist who many moons ago made a young PR guy feel like he belonged. He was generous with his time when he had no reason to be. I'll never forget that.
my dear friend @om was thoughtful, kind, and obsessed with music. he told stories as a service for humankind and was the first journalist in my early tech pr days to take a coffee meeting. you never forget the real ones on your journey. rest easy, friend.
i met @om in south park on my first solo trip up to sf while in college
an incredibly kind soul that was gracious with his time. inspired me to read more, write more, and think bigger
rest in peace om 🙏
Read this by @om
I wish I knew him better. I spoke to Om twice, and both were among the most memorable conversations I've had in the past decade. He couldn't have been nicer, or more generous with his time and advice to some kid on the other end of the screen.
Om Malik died? RIP @om
Damn that's a loss. I had the pleasure of sit downs with him a dozen times over the years and he was always such a pleasure to talk too. A thorough gentlemen and so knowledgeable.
His advice helped in so many ways back in the 2010s.
You will be missed.
Sadden by the news about @om
A stalwart that always made time to listen to what I was tinkering with.
You will be missed friend. They don’t make many like you these days.
When I was 23 and living in SF, running a startup that didn’t go very far, @hnshah introduced me to @om who was very generous with his time and advice.
Always loved his writing and his photography too.
May he Rest in Peace.
Rest in peace @om
I only met him twice, but like many, both were times when he was generously helping me out; a great role model, gone from this place far too soon, but surely still blogging up there.
Damn. @om was one of the first reporters I got to know back in 2008 when I was a total nobody who’d just launched an app. He was so kind and thoughtful, even in the briefest of emails. And his mentions of my apps over the years helped open so many doors.
Another legend lost. RIP
When I started writing about telecom, with an audience of almost zero, @om shared some of my articles around. Meant a lot that someone like him saw potential in what I was doing
Striking how many similar stories I'm seeing. He showed so many people kindness with no expectations
This is the kind of person that @om was, just a naturally good guy and a huge supporter of startups in areas that he cared deeply about. RIP. ->
RIP @om - a kind guy who was good to me early in my career. Lots of respect to him as one of the pioneers in technology journalism. Rest in Peace.
There are readers that I’m proud to have, but scared to talk about, because I’m worried I might lose them. @om was one of those readers. A shocking loss for us all today.
Om was one of my first bosses and he really set the bar high. Thanks for giving me a shot. Rest in peace @om.
One of the top tech journalists and a really kind man. @om, has passed away.
Rest in peace, friend.
Om helped me big time in the beginning of my career when he invited me to be a writer for @gigaom. It was a huge milestone for me.
I’ll miss him.
Here’s the interview I did with him back in 2011.
Very sad to hear of the death of Om Malik.
I was brought into @gigaom as a writer, by my friend @surj in the late 2010s; an exhilarating time in our industry and for me, a career highlight was seeing my work at @gigaom syndicated to @nytimes.
Thanks Om…
oh no. rest in peace @om
Om was so thoughtful, both in how he analyzed tech, and more, how he cared for and treated others.
Om gave me so many opportunities in the early days of Gigaom and the Structure conference and more.
Forever grateful and thankful
I've met @om online around 2007 when I started writing for Found+Read - a blog about Entrepreneurship and part of the @gigaom network. Then later we met several time in SF and TLV.
Om was extremely generous with him time and connections, especially when I came to the bay area as a founder with no real network - hoping to pitch investors.
I'll always remember his support and his big heart. This is a sad day.
Will miss you my friend
Thanks for giving me all those breaks all those years ago
Love ya @om
RIP @om 1966-2026 💔
My life definitely changed because @om GigaOm came to NYC and I volunteered and met a ton of cool folks from SF
Structure in March 2011
In a pier on the west side
Loved reading his blog his love of photography his pens his Leica his insights . So sad.
Ah this was a bummer. I worked for @om for a short minute before @furrier tapped me to cofound SiliconANGLE.
Didn't know him well, but he was a giant.
Shocked and sad to hear of @om ‘s passing he was a good friend and mentor and was instrumental in the early days of @startupiceland - Rest in peace my friend
When I heard the news of @om's passing, I immediately reached out to one of my closest friends who entered #WordPress by working on Gigaom's site.
The indirect way one human inspires another should never be undervalued.
RIP Om Malik, who was a huge believer in @photomatt and what he built with WordPress.
Om Malik was one of WordPress's earliest users and a pivotal connector in the project's formative years. In a tribute, Matt Mullenweg called him "my best friend and brother from another mother."
🔗
Om Malik, One of WordPress’s Earliest Adopters and the Connector Behind Automattic, Has Died at 59 - The Repository
remembering Om Malik
his legacy is the countless young founders, journalists, designers and investors he advised along the way.
In Loving Memory Of Om Malik, Friend, Writer, Venture Capitalist, And Ever The Believer
Fog, the edge where land meets sea, black and white. After his first heart attack he picked up a camera, and the second act became inseparable from the first: the same patience, the same eye, the same honesty.
This is the @om I’ll always remember: A camera. Good friends. A minimalist landscape. The freedom to wander. And coffee waiting somewhere just down the road.
Christopher Michel@chrismichel on X
For Om Malik..
There are photographers whose images inspire us. And then there are those who quietly change the way we see. I only knew Om through @try.glass but one thought of his has stayed with me:
“What we create is merely a reflection of what is within us and who we are.”
The longer I photograph, the more I understand what he meant.
Thank you and rest easy, Om 🖤
#OmMalik #StreetPhotography #tryglass #photography #spi_shadows
A photo from the Highlands of #Iceland, taken on a trip in Sept 2023 with my friend Om Malik. I’ll be sharing some more photos of my trips with him.
//
#ommalik #highlandsoficeland #sprengisandur #grief
I'm so sad to hear about the passing of Om Malik. He was a wonderful person to be around, and it was a privilege to share this little Valley with him. My inbox won't be the same without his insightful, clear words but his photos were a lens into the beauty he found in life. Here's a favorite shot he took a few years back of the Shipwreck at Point Reyes in Inverness. You are missed. Until we meet again, Om.
When I first moved to SF in 2009, I had three primary interests—photos, writing, and the Internet. So it makes sense that a lot of my first friends in San Francisco ended up being a gangle of Silicon Valley tech journalists who also loved photography.
One of those friends was Om.
Om Malik was one of the original voices of the internet age—a journalist who covered the commercial web from its earliest days. He wrote regularly for The New Yorker, appeared as a technology commentator on the BBC, NPR, and Bloomberg, and was widely regarded as one of the most trusted interpreters of the industry.
Om eventually transitioned from journalism into Venture Capital. He was among the first entrepreneurs backed by True Ventures, and later became a partner there, investing in technology startups while continuing to write.
He was the person that everyone in Silicon Valley wanted access to—and one of the few who used that access to make other people bigger rather than himself. Om used his position of power in Silicon Valley to lift other people up and celebrate their work, including myself.
I had the opportunity to collaborate with Om in many ways. As friends, we drank a lot of good coffee and photographed much of Northern California together. I occasionally photographed him for magazines, and my 2016 interview with him for Techies was an opportunity to honor his life story on the deepest level—so much so that it was just referenced in his NYTimes obituary. He introduced me to many wonderful people who would later become my clients and future investors.
I always felt honored to have his time—and yet he often treated me like a teacher and mentor, with a respect and reverence that I still appreciate to this day.
I’ve been catching up with many old friends lately. Sometimes years have passed since we last saw each other, and we both get to see how the time has changed us, and what we share in common now. I’m sad I lost my chance to have that conversation with Om. But I’ll always treasure the time we had, and the impact he had on my life while he was here.
In honor of Om, I’m re-sharing the 2016 interview I did with him below.
Shocked indeed to hear about @Om's passing. Perhaps, more than his writing I enjoyed his photography over the years. One thing we shared was our love for capturing moments where the land and the sea meet, with maybe a bird, or a lighthouse in the frame. It is an edge that always changes with time and provides a new perspective in every frame. Much like who he was in every tweet and every essay. He will be missed.
We have lost a legend. One of the kindest, and most thoughtful humans. My camera roll is filled with photos of Om taking photos of absolutely random things. Always beautiful. Always thoughtful. When there wasn’t a camera in his hand, there was a pen.
RIP @om
1966-2026
I had a peri-social relationship with @Om in the 2010s. Letter we were both on the speaker circuit and he was always a delight. My favorite story was once we spoke in Iceland and he rented a helicopter so that he could take better pictures. He was great online, but even better in person. إِنَّا ِلِلَّٰهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
RIP @om
I learned a lot from Om Malik.
And shared a joy in technology bringing out and not suppressing our humanity...
and capturing moments...especially with Leica.
I took this at Lux back in 2018 during a visit after Om convinced me to get the SL (and then the SL2 and SL3...)
a wise, kind, soul who will be missed by many
LEICA CAMERA AG LEICA SL (Typ 601) ƒ/0.9 1/320 50mm ISO50
Saddened to learn of @om’s passing. He always had a twinkle in his eye and an acerbic comment. He was the best dinner party guest - and an incredible photographer and chronicler of life in Silicon Valley (pictured here in action in Kalamazoo in 2018). RIP, Om.
Very sad to hear about the passing of Om Malik, @om. I only met him a couple of times — but on both occasions he was extremely kind, gentle and supportive.
His passion for cameras and photography was impressive and we managed to discuss a lot of details about the industry and where it could go. He gave me invaluable feedback and advice.
We even spoke about cricket and the England vs India test match at Lords 🏏
Om took this photo of my using the Caira camera at the Blue Bottle in South Park—and I took a couple of him. He told me what we were working on was important and we should keep pushing forward to change the camera industry 📸
Thank you 🙏🏾
Shocked by the news of @om's passing. He was undeniably the kindest soul in silicon valley. We would occasionally nerd out about cameras, photography and blogs. Portrait of him here I captured some years back.
Om Malik was a kind man. Bright, engaged and conversant on so many topics. He'd always find time for a chat, and was a kind supporter and source of encouragement for Camo. He loved a contrarian opinion: one of my favourites was him rating the Sigma fp as one of the greatest cameras ever made. He shared fun stories, too: how, for example, he came to invest in Blue Bottle. In both cases, he greatly inspired me, investing in WatchHouse here in the UK, and buying a Sigma of my own. Thanks, Om. You'll be missed.
I will greatly miss @om's subtle and absolutely gorgeous photography.
Om, GigaOm, Om Malik — the world will remember Om for his prolific byline and his lasting mark on technology and media.
But my favorite @om was offline Om: conversations on a bench, over a bite, or on morning coffee walks through South Park. It was in those brief moments that I saw my favorite parts of Om. He’d geek out with his encyclopedic knowledge on camera mechanics and lenses (for a novice photographer interested in wildlife photography, he’d heartily prescribe a Nikon Z7 II plus 24-70 and 70-200 lens with exactly three batteries). He’d then giddily describe an expertly rendered seam on a shirt.
Om simply reveled in the poetry of quiet details—in objects, and in people.
In his presence, you felt the completeness of his attention — his hunger to know, to see, to consider a thing fully. He'd latch onto a single word, turn it over, and show how it illuminated some larger truth about you. And for all his acidic wit and jaded exterior, at his core Om was a softie.
After one of our last coffee walks this year, I expressed regret that our hangs were too far apart, my visits to SF too infrequent. In offline Om fashion, his prose fell somewhere between poetry and philosophy: "If you are here, we are together. If you're not, you are flowing somewhere better. Our moment together might be brief, but precious."
Indeed, brief but precious. Thank you Om.
Anyone who has been to my home has seem @om's work.
Four years ago, I emailed him after seeing this photo on @tryglass, asking if he would sell me a print. True to form, he responded with humility, complimenting my photography and offering to connect me with a printer he liked — charging me nothing for the image itself.
We never met, but his writing and photography — and the dedication to both — have been a constant inspiration. Om found a way to be vulnerable, authentic, and opinionated in a time when too few people are willing to be themselves.
We lost a legend. My heart goes out to all those who knew him.
Crushed to hear the news of @om‘s passing. I was thankfully brought into his world by @chris_michel years ago. I am blessed by the memory of our deep talks on tech and photography, he left such an impact on this world and will be greatly missed.
This photo is how I’ll remember him, surrounded by @chris_michel @dennydenn & @mrdrewscott at a small cafe in Germany, with that big Om smile on his face.
My favorite @om was the Leica photographer. We never met but it felt like we had. RIP my online friend.
For @om.
@sdw @om he had this different pace about him... like most people would pose for a photo like this and i can just see him just watching the horizon for a while...
Dearest Om Malik, gone too soon. A privilege to have known him for only a short time, but long enough to know his generous soul. RIP 💔
Oh dear Om Malik, gone too soon. A privilege to have known him for only a short time, but long enough to know his generous soul. RIP 💔
A few silly selfies and food photos of my times with Om Malik in #Iceland. RIP Om ☺️💔
#ommalik
Memories of my trips to Iceland with Om Malik - this one is from Sept 2023 along the Sprengisandur road in the Highlands. One of a few special days in his company 🥰
Another photo taken on my trip to the Highlands of #Iceland with Om in Sept 2023.
He was a funny guy - had strong opinions about some things and places - he really hated Landmannalaugar, for example! But when he found a place he liked, some kind of peace would come over him and he would just stand there and breathe it all in 🥰
//
#highlands #tungnaá #droneohotography #ommalik
A surreal, minimalist scene. Rauðasandur is a special beach in the Westfjords - miles from anywhere and down a wonderful (scary to some!) mountain road. It’s an absolutely huge wide beach with orange sand and swirling sandbanks along which seals hang out.
I visited with Om in late May 2022 and the surface at the far eastern end was covered in small black pebbles (and some larger rocks) and a little of sea fog hung across it. I was fixated. Om wandered off and instead was fixated by a little pattern of oxidised red water in the sand. We stayed there for hours 🥰
//
#ommalik #iceland #seafog #surreallandscapes #rauðasandur
Serenity is…
A photo taken at the end of the day I first met Om (in person) in late May 2022. I’d driven us up to the far north west of the Westfjords and the weather all day was calm and sunny - not ideal for landscape photography. But then when the sun had disappeared the magic happened.
This is the view from the @djupavik Hotel - one of my favourite places to stay (and has the most delicious lamb I’ve ever eaten!).
A good start to our friendship ☺️
//
#ommalik #fondmemories #iceland #westfjords #djúpavík
Another special dusk at midsummer from my travels with Om 🥰
May 2022
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#ommalik #önundarfjörður #westfjords #iceland #midsummer
So sad to hear the news -- @om malik was a sweet guy and a wonderful photographer. It was my pleasure to hang out with him last summer in Santa Fe - talking about photography and doing some shooting together. I didn’t know him well over my Silicon Valley years beyond his work, essential for our community— but as he developed interest in photography we met and got closer. He was a brilliant guy and became a new friend these past years. Such a tragic loss. 🙏
A few words on the loss of Om Malik, who showed up for so many of us with kindness, encouragement, and curiosity. His presence will be deeply missed by our team and the Glass community.
Very sad to hear about the passing of legendary Silicon Valley investor and photographer, Om Malik, om. I only met him a couple of times — but on both occasions he was extremely kind, gentle and supportive.
His passion for cameras and photography was impressive and we managed to discuss a lot of details about the industry and where it could go. He gave me invaluable feedback and advice.
We even spoke about cricket and the England vs India test match at Lords 🏏
Om took this photo of me using the Caira camera at the Blue Bottle in South Park—and I took a couple of him. He told me what we were working on was important and we should keep pushing forward to change the camera industry 📸
Those little nuggets of inspiration meant a lot. Thank you 🙏🏾
Great that you came in touch with Om Malik. I have just been following him from his tech journalism days to his photography chapters and he inspired from so far away but so close with his works and his world viewpoints and specially his B/w shots.
my dear friend Om. whom helped me to see. gone but will never be forgotten ...
OMG. "Om Malik passed away on June 24, 2026, at Stanford Hospital after a long health journey with his heart. He was surrounded by family and friends."
I will miss his curiosity of the world, not only in tech, but in the photos he produced as he traveled through it. RIP.
I came away from every conversation with Om a bit wiser; the give & take improving every idea.
His photography - the images, as well as the lessons he shared - continue to inspire me.
We are so fortunate to have known Om.
Blessings to his family.
At the Cliffs of Moher today, thinking of @om and how much he loved fog and sea.
Rest in peace Om Malik.
San Francisco original.
Technology tastemaker.
A kind human and who made every newbie like me, feel welcome upon moving to the Bay.
A renaissance man as journalist, investor and photographer.
Here is some of his photography work. Maybe what is he least known for, but what he was most passionate about.
One of my favorite photo essays by @om.
Leica, landscape, and seeing and contemplating.
RIP Om Malik.
Rest in peace to a true original, @om Malik.
He didn't just understand where the internet was going before everyone else; he saw the beauty in the world through his incredible photography.
A brilliant mind and a kind soul. Thinking of his loved ones.
I have always been jealous of the pictures @om was able to take.
The eulogies are positively broadcasting the number of lives he was able to touch and bless.
True wealth.
Nothing else matters.
I could look at photos of @om Malik all day.
Om Shanti 🙏🏽
The camera of the future.
@vishalkumar shows it to me.
It has a bigger imaging chip than your iPhone but uses the iPhone to make AI magic happen.
$1,000. @camera_int Caira Camera.
I bought one.
On this day when Om Malik was taken from us, it's worthy of remembering him as a great photographer. He's the kind of guy who would appreciate a great photo more than anybody, and he made many of them.
I've been reading X for the last few minutes, and it's just post after post after post about what he meant to various people in the community. What a loss.
From New Delhi to selling luggage across from Yankee Stadium to the most trusted byline in technology — he proved you didn't have to be from here to define what 'here' meant, and he never stopped asking the industry to be better.
Just heartbroken to hear of the passing of the incredible Om Malik. @Om was always a pioneer, a deep thinker, and a truly original voice who shaped the soul of Silicon Valley. Om’s curiosity and integrity challenged us all to be better. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones. May the One who brings Peace bring Peace to all.
Marc Benioff@Benioff on X
In the early months of opening Douglas (my cafe and market years back), Om Malik came in with his friend @chris_michel for coffee. While I knew Om from my earlier startup life, here we re-met in a new context - as shopkeeper and guest.
Om sat up at the bar seats in the big windows overlooking Sanchez Street. He looked equally content chatting intently with his friend, and sitting taking in the scene: the flow of folks through the doors, bikes in the street, and dogs on the pavement. Both modes befitting (and benefiting from) a good listener.
We had a warm chat, and I got back to business. One visit became repeats, complete with fortuitous run-ins with friends in the community - which I greatly enjoyed seeing from the sidelines.
When I learned Om had written about us, I was touched by how he bore witness to our space in his narrative — a neighborhood hub that felt truly social and alive, the kind of place another side of Silicon Valley would happily automate out of existence.
Om was a remarkable observer, questioner, writer, and a sentry for this age. His words had the power to reconcile the humanist and the technologist in me - much as he did for San Francisco, as a place and as an idea.
Om, you will be greatly missed 🙏
📸 @chris_michel
Om Malik, 1966-2026. A longtime friend, most generous kind person in Silicon Valley. It's that time of life. Much love to brother. You are already missed. om.co/2026/06/24/1966-2026
Susan Wojcicki, Om Malik - both friends who passed way too early.
Susan almost two years ago. Om just a few days.
see the outpouring of love and respect for them as humans?
see how people can wildly successful but also kind, giving, approachable?
role models in life. and role models ongoing. Against a backdrop of an industry that feels like its moral compass is spinning right now.
This month I had 4 friends who told me they have cancer and I lost 3 friends. Om Malik was the latest.
My heart just breaks as his kindness and care really impacted my life. That's what I remember - not all of his amazing success in business and on stage.
I read every tribute for all of my friends. They all led with the same things: kindness, presence, and the way these people loved the humans around them. No one was remembered for a title or a deal.
It changed how I want to spend my time. Don't delay. Build the legacy now, in the small things.
What matters is family, friends, and the kindness you leave behind.
Remembering my friend Om, as he’s gone. There are many things to say, and so much good work to observe. But the first thing I thought of, on hearing that he’d passed, was that he had chosen to speak up, more than once, to protect the most vulnerable in our communities. … om.co/2026/06/24/1...
@om was a proof that you didn't have to be from here to help define what "here" meant. For those of us who came to Silicon Valley as immigrants and outsiders, he showed us we could be part of the story, and part of telling it.
May he rest in peace
Wow, what a beautiful remembrance by @gruber for Om Malik who sadly shuffled off this mortal coil on Wednesday…
From New Delhi, to selling luggage across the street from Yankee Stadium, to Bernie Williams, to tech journalist at the birth of the web, to original blogging, to GigaOm, to VC, to brilliant no-BS essayist, to soothing photographer.
And always jovial, insightful, kind-hearted, touching, engaging, connecting ideas and colleagues; I’ve enjoyed his writing, podcasts, interviews for over 30 years.
And I never met him.
Yet somehow I feel like I lost one of my close friends. @om
👇🏼
The India-born tech writer Om Malik has died. He was one of the founders of the South Asian Journalists Association. Om had numerous ups and downs in his 59 years. I first noticed his writing in Red Herring and he became a trailblazer in Silicon Valley. …
I'm so sorry for this loss, and my deepest sympathies to Om's family and friends. I met Om for my client briefings in a little "Techspace" co-working space that we shared on E 11th in NYC, about a decade before WeWork existed, while Om was writing for Business 2.0. He was kind, funny and unafraid to push back against my clients at times - all with his great, broad smile. I miss those times and Om will be missed by so many.
Heartbroken to hear about the passing of @Om. He was the sweetest, most welcoming person to me when I moved to Silicon Valley almost 20 years ago and knew no one. The world has lost a gem of a human. May his memory be a blessing for everyone who knew him and his family.
To have known the legendary @om from the start of his career in Delhi was a privilege. His infectious energy surpassed distances even after he moved to the US and became a genuine icon. Our shared passion for photography further deepened our bond.
#Om will always be eternal.
I met @Om Malik in 2004-05, and got to work with him briefly in 2006 as he was launching @GigaOm.
He was funny, genuine, and unnecessarily kind to me when i was naive & early in my career -- yet still told me straight up when i was full of 💩 (which was often).
We shared a drink and a smoke (too) many times, and I will always remember him happy with a great big shit-eating grin on his face, as in the photo below.
miss you much, brother #RIP 💕😿🕊️
very sad to hear about @om’s passing.
seeing the timeline flooded with memories is really bringing me back.
i was lucky to grow up in silicon valley and find my way into tech in middle school.
om helped create a universe that embraced me. i wouldn’t be where i am today without the community he fostered — a community that welcomed a kid who would rather spend his nights at wordpress meetups, techcrunch events, and hanging out with bloggers than with his high school peers.
🕊️
Not known in the valley, but @Om was a founder of the South Asian Journalists Association. He helped provide guidance to South Asians who were fighting the hard battle to get in to journalism over their parents strenuous objections.
It was also a complement to the Asian American Journalists Association. South Asians have overlap, but enough differences. (As indicated by people who do not think India is Asia.)
OMG, I just found out that @om passed away, that is devastating to hear. Om and I were fellow journalists turned entrepreneurs in early aughts, his humanism had a huge impact on my journey. I had fallen out of touch in last decade and I regret it.
Heartbroken to hear about the passing of Om Malik. He was an incredibly talented and thoughtful person who understood technology deeply, and who always saw it through a human lens. He will be missed. 🙏
What a tragedy. Sad news, Om Malik was an original in Silicon Valley when it was full of original individuals.
Will miss you @om
I loved Om's frankness. He just told it like it is, without either kid gloves or venom, a rare trait today in tech. This is my favorite photo of him, from a walk around Lands End, because you can tell in this moment he's lovingly dropping a truth bomb. Great man.
Woah.
Everyone talks techcrunch but the OGs remember GigaOm.
An era is truly over. RIP @OM
RIP to the great @om Malik, who represented the best things about the ‘old guard’ of Silicon Valley:
a gentleman, a scholar, and someone who knew that VC was a service business. You will be missed 🙏
What my notes can’t capture is @om’s presence: the way he lit up a room, his generosity with his time, his incredible taste and style, and his ability to celebrate the best of our industry while never hesitating to call out where it fell short.
He will be deeply missed and I’m forever grateful our paths crossed. 💙
We lost Silicon Valley’s gentlest giant this week.
@om was truly one of one and being in his presence, especially traveling with him, was the kind of experience that rearranged you at a molecular level.
I will miss his unbounded curiosity, his incredible kindness, and the impish sparkle in his eyes right before he bowled you over with his brilliance and wit.
Oh No!!!! This one hurts. I have been following @om for years. He was a clear light in the somewhat brackish water of technology in this late-stage capitalism era.
I will personally miss him. I feel like I have lost a friend and a hero.
Om Malik embodied a Silicon Valley that feels like a fading memory.
Writing that was Insightful, curious, and incisive. Never self-promotional, superficial, or performative.
We grew up waiting for his missives. I miss them already.
Rest in peace Om.
My deepest condolences to @om’s family and friends.
The few interactions I had with Om, he was a kind, brilliant and passionate man. I never got the chance, but I remember wanting to spend more time with him.
I was inspired by his writing, his photography and how he shared his passion with the world.
He gave the aura of a wise sage, a passionate artist and a brilliant technologist all wrapped into a kind thoughtful desi package.
RIP Om 🙏🏽
È morto Om Malik e con lui finisce la Silicon Valley dei blogger
“We have problems (in the world), but we are also on the cusp of breakthroughs that solve these problems. An optimistic view would help explain the complex future and give everyone hope.” - @Om Malik 1966-2026
Outside the industry, few knew of Om Malik, but within the industry (whatever that is), he was everyone’s friend. What a legacy, reading all these messages of love firehosing out of Silicon Valley.
Om's number was 10,000
Dunbar's number is 150, so-named after the researcher who claimed it to be the upper limit of meaningful connections that one human can make.
Om Malik's number was more like 10,000.
For those who were not in that 10,000, it might be surprising to see their timeline dominated by remembrances of Om Malik. But if you were lucky enough to know him, it's not surprising. Om was a gifted, generous, and genuine human. He found a way into so many of our hearts. I'd like to pay tribute to Om by writing about four life lessons I took from him and that will live on.
Make time for deep friendships. While the Silicon Valley crowd may praise "deep work", Om was a master of "deep friendship." Coffee with him meant entering a flow state of discussion, driven by curiosity and empathy. Om preferred one-on-one walks or coffees to happy hours or group events. It's easy to stay superficial in TikTok-length interactions. Om favored long-form conversations that allowed him to deeply connect with those he spent time with. I never felt in a rush with Om. Sitting on a bench with him in South Park, time always seemed to slow down. As a mutual friend wrote to me last night, Om reminded us "to sit still and listen to the universe."
Choose beautiful things. Om found and loved products that were designed for humans and strived for beauty. A Montblanc fountain pen that fit perfectly in the hand, and yielded a flowing script. A Leica camera that, with a satisfying plunk, captured a perfect portrait. His personal website was always gorgeously crafted yet functional, a digital embodiment of his aesthetic. Just as we must live inside walls and beautiful spaces lift us, we live with our things -- so choose things with beauty and you will be a happier human.
Never stop writing. Om wore many hats, but he always came back to writing. He was gifted with words. Few of us can mirror his prose, but we can model his persistence. Om wrote books, New Yorker essays, online articles, and blog posts. His writing sustained him. As a published author and journalist, he could have been an elitist when blogging emerged. Instead, when Matt Mullenweg held his first WordPress meetup, and just seven people showed up, one of them was Om. He encouraged me and so many others to never stop writing. We are all better for it.
Take care of yourself. By every account, his years as an always-on, live-large journalist and media founder took a physical toll. He nearly died of a heart attack in December 2007. (He had started a book about the inventor of the heart stent, which saved his life). I knew Om well after his go-go dot-com days and GigaOm years, when he chose a slower, healthier lifestyle as a writer and investor at True Ventures. Selfishly, I wish he had the knowledge to course-correct earlier. He left us too soon.
@mamoonha @om It feels like only yesterday that we bonded over our time in New Delhi, and shared stories about our humble beginnings.
He made me feel special in a way possibly nobody ever has.
May his soul find peace
Our dear @om was unapologetically himself: brilliant, principled, and generous. I called him the uncle of South Park. He would laugh, and then reminded me that he nearly got me fired in 2008. We’d laugh, and then he’d suggest he stands by his opinion still. In the same moment he would take the time to send desserts to tables of people he didn’t need fanfare from.
May his signature of thoughtfulness wrapped in impeccable taste live on. We lost one of the very best. 🤍
@rhetor @om I had so many wonderful chats with him over coffee, and always looked forward to his insight-filled emails. Just heartbreaking.
Sad to hear that we lost @om.
I got to hang out a bunch with him back in 2006-2010 when I was hosting developer conferences.
He had this kind-but-smart way of going about things that was so nice.
He also seemed to always have time to reply to an email from me.
Damn :(
I’ve known Om Malik for 26 years.
We built companies during the first internet boom. We discovered photography together. We wandered Greenland, Svalbard, Wyoming, Idaho, and plenty of places in between. During COVID, he was part of my tiny bubble. We spent far more time talking about life, art, and philosophy than we ever did talking about technology.
The world knew Om as one of the greatest technology writers of his generation. He had a rare gift for seeing past the headlines and finding what actually mattered. He didn’t just explain what was happening. He explained why it mattered and where it might lead. Ironically, some of his finest writing came from his hospital room during the last two months as he waited for a new heart.
In the end, a heart never came.
There is something painfully unfair about that. Om was one of the biggest hearted people I’ve ever known.
His loss leaves a hole that stretches far beyond technology. It reaches into the lives of friends scattered across the world who laughed with him, traveled with him, argued with him, and came away seeing things a little differently.
I’ll miss his curiosity. His generosity. His perspective.
Most of all, I’ll miss my friend.
This is a small collection of what 26 years of friendship looked like.
Om Malik lives.
His warmth, his humor, his kindness, his curiosity, his incisive questions, his quiet doggedness live on in so many people that he touched in tech and media. More than anyone I know, Om shaped modern tech journalism.
In 2014 and 2015, I had the opportunity to do 3 multi-hour interviews with Om to reflect on his life and his career for a chapter I wrote in the book, Follow the Geeks that I co-authored with Lyndsey Gilpin. I also interviewed people he worked closely with during his career, and oh did they have stories to tell! And of course, so did Om.
I've been so touched by the kind words written over the last few days since Om's passing by John @Gruber, @JoannaStern, @HarryMcCracken, @AnilDash, @LeoLaporte, and so so many others.
The @Om of recent years was legendary, and truly a larger than life figure. But the last few days I've been thinking about how humble he started as a Wall Street wire reporter getting paid pennies and trying to scrap and hustle his way into tech journalism.
No one would hire him.
He once told me, "For three years, it was every day a rejection."
The opening anecdote of my chapter on Om tells the incredible story of how he finally got his big break. So I'm republishing here on X:
x.com/jasonhiner/status/2071033613051678992
For anyone chasing an impossible dream, I don't know how you couldn't be inspired by Om's story. You, too, could be Om Malik.
PDF of the full chapter on Om:
www.jasonhiner.com/s/om-malik-chapter-6-follow-the-geeks.pdf
Oh, no. We've lost a great soul. Om Malik has passed. om.co/2026/06/24/1966-2026
Incredibly sad to learn of Om Malik's passing. One of the few, truly great, truly humans, in the innovation circle-jerk that's become the tech industry. Rest easy, good man.
Rest in peace, Om Malik. What a tremendous loss to every tech journalist, and the world.
Om Malik was too good for Silicon Valley. He was kind, generous with his time, smart as hell, and wise enough not to believe the hype. The news of his passing hits hard. I'm lucky to have known him.
This photo of Om and Mike Arrington ran with an article I wrote a million years ago.
Obit: lnkd.in/gSaCJifq
RIP Om Malik.
I still remember our first coffee, around 2014, when I was still new to SF. I opened up to him about how strange the city felt - I'd never seen so many brilliant minds and so many BS artists living so closely together. Om got it immediately. He'd been watching it for years, and he had a way of naming the absurdity without ever losing his warmth towards the people in it.
That's what I'll remember him for: bringing light to a space that's so often full of noise, and cutting through the BS in an industry that runs on it.
Thank you for the coffees and the candor, Om. You'll be missed.
Last week, Om Malik passed away. Dozens of obits have rightly hailed him as a pioneering tech journalist. He began a blog in 2001, as the dot-com bubble burst, covering the news and weighing in with his takes way before everyone started their Substacks. My connection to Om was through another venture he started, Masala, a digital magazine on South Asians in the U.S. As a grad student in NYC, I freelanced for Masala as a business and tech reporter, occasional book reviewer, and even interviewing Shah Rukh Khan on 9/11 (that's a story for another day). I worked with a wonderful editor who, like Om, both believed in the power of technology as a force for good, and was also a skeptic of founders and startups that thought no end of themselves. Om's philosophy helped shaped the way I viewed and wrote about technology as a journalist. When I moved to the Bay Area last year, I wanted to reach out to Om, and tell him how much he influenced me as a reporter, but life got in the way. And now all I can do is write this post.
Om's passing comes at a time of falling interest and low trust in news, and a drift away from news consumption from direct sites. People increasingly prefer to get their news from social media, online videos, AI chatbots and creators/influencers. It is a tough time to be a journalist and feel hopeful. But I am so glad for the likes of Om who showed how it can be done. RIP.
Read an obit on Om here:
lnkd.in/gwiEB6vA
Read the new Reuters digital news report here:
lnkd.in/gbSzj2CX
I found out about Om Malik's passing yesterday via text and then I watched the tributes flood my feed. It instantly brought back many memories. 😥
In Romanian, the word “Om” means “man” or “person/human.” It couldn't be more fitting. For all his impact on technology, Om always looked at the industry through a deeply human lens.
Thinking back to the early cloud days, it's hard to overstate what he did for our community. Gigaom wasn’t just a publication that brilliantly covered innovators over the years; it was a true cornerstone. So many of the people I value and I am still in touch with today are people I met at all those GigaOm Structure events. I tried finding a good picture from Structure to honor him, but since Om was a phenomenal photographer himself, I figured, why do it? The picture in Rohit Sharma's post captures him beautifully.
I'll always remember when he randomly reached out to me on one of those alternative social networks (maybe Telegram?) back when I was trying to adopt a new platform to move away from Twitter. He just asked how I was doing.
Rest in peace, Om. You were a true "Om" to the very end. 🖤
#OmMalik #GigaOM #SiliconValley #TechLegend
Om Malik passed away, and I find myself thinking of the small things.
I was a New Yorker living in Silicon Valley in those years, which is its own particular kind of displacement. Om was a New Yorker too. He had traveled a long road to get there via London before the pull of the technology story brought him west. Somewhere along that journey, through cricket and then through those New York years, he had landed on the Yankees as his team and also explained cricket to me. In a world of relentless West Coast optimism, two New Yorkers finding each other meant something.
I took Om to baseball games. And somewhere between innings, in the way that only that setting allows, we would have the real conversations. Om talked about what it meant to grow up inside the Silicon Valley tech scene as a person of color, how to punch through, how to find your footing, how to live inside the bubble of that moment without letting it go to your head. He talked about the people the industry was leaving behind, the lives being disrupted by all this tech we were so proud of, the empathy that was missing from the room. He was a north star for me in that way, one of the few people of color then whose developing voice and presence carried weight for me.
I came to Silicon Valley through journalism myself. I was working at Knight Ridder Digital, at the moment when the newspaper giant was finding their footing in digital journalism, and I understood from the inside what it meant that Om had built an independent voice unattached to legacy media and had made it matter anyway. He was conscious of what that meant as a person of color in that space.
I didn't know it then, but he was already working out the argument he would make in a 2016 piece for the New Yorker. That Silicon Valley's greatest failing wasn't its products or its promises, but its distinct lack of empathy for the people whose lives it was upending. I heard that argument first between innings, as a private conversation, years before the rest of the world did.
There was one evening when we had all gone to dinner and came back to find my car had been broken into, windows smashed. Om helped me take stock of the damage, and once we realized nothing had been taken, he got very matter-of-fact about the whole thing. He looked at me and said, "I think they just wanted to hang out."
That was Om. He had a way of making the world feel a little less alarming than it actually was.
When I moved back to New York, we had one of our last conversations. It struck me then, and strikes me now, that we were all just trying to figure out who we were going to become. He became someone the whole industry knew. I'm glad I knew him when it was still just baseball and broken car windows and the kind of advice that stays with you for twenty years.
There will be no shortage of tributes to Om Malik the journalist and the institution-builder. I just wanted to add this one small corner of him.
Om didn’t sell suitcases for long. But I’ll bet while he did, he was pretty fucking good at it. He didn’t wait for his future to arrive. He made it happen. Careers — hell, our entire lives — are like those suitcases. They don’t sell themselves.
He not busy being born is busy dying, wrote Dylan. Om Malik wasn’t busy dying even when he was dying.
This might be the most moving eulogy I have ever read. Deeply personal and full of anecdotes. Om's blog was one of the best in the business. Right up there Daring Fireball, Stratchery, Idle Words and Mj Tsai.
All those blogs are truly old-school in the best sense of the word. Pithy for the most part, but verbose in the best possible way in making an argument or a case for a perspective. And the depth of their perpective, steeped in experience and how well-read the authors are is palpable.
This piece by Om Malik from less than a month ago was simply brilliant:
lnkd.in/gwRXATpw
Just read these lines:
A man who controls one of the most powerful AI companies on earth telling a national television audience he should not have this power. While keeping it.
The confession is doing structural work. If you admit the danger, you establish yourself as the one honest actor. And if you are the one honest actor, your safety claims do not require external verification. You have pre-certified yourself through the performance of self-doubt. The confession is not transparency. It is inoculation against scrutiny.
End of quote
Om's body of work is full of such clarity and amazing insight. I found him through John Gruber. But Om's blog was bookmarked and I'd browse his site every week.
Om's site also holds the distinction of being one of the more classic sites built for a different sensibility or era. No distasteful ads, no unnecessary photos, no optimised for mobile nonsense. Simple typography, tasteful background and a layout that lets the articles do the talking.
Here's Om's site:
om.co
I am grateful that Om did what he did. And he did it so well. And his writing was widely available for folks like me to read, think and learn.
Thank you Om.
We lost a giant this week. Om Malik was a whip-smart writer and investor who saw tech trends long before the rest of us. And just as importantly a kind, hilarious, generous man.
We hear plenty about the bad behavior in Silicon Valley. We don’t celebrate nearly enough the generous people who quietly push us all forward. Om was one of them.
Read the tributes pouring in for him. Then think of one person who helped you on your journey and text them a thanks while they can still smell the flowers.
No one is remembered for a title or a deal. Spend your limited time on this planet building the other kind of legacy. It starts small, with family, friends, and the people you work alongside.
Om Malik was one of a kind. You don’t often come across someone who is human first and business second.
In my 20s, I learned so much about the industry reading his work at GigaOM. His writing was clear, incisive, and free of hype or BS. To me, he was a legend.
When I finally met him while fundraising, he was nothing like I had imagined. Far from being some bombastic, larger-than-life tech personality, he was genuinely warm, grounded, and deeply personable.
As our partner at True Ventures, he was always there for us at the drop of a hat. He never once doubted me or my co-founder. In fact, there were times he believed in us and the startup more than we believed in ourselves. We were lucky to have him.
He had a knack for saying what was on his mind, always with love and respect. But his pen was fearless. He had a rare ability to cut through the noise and see things for what they truly were.
Om had style, panache, warmth, and authenticity — all wrapped into one. A few years ago, we kept trying to meet for lunch, but it never happened. He kept postponing, and I suspect now it may have been because of his health, though he never said so. That too was him — carrying his pain quietly.
I’m grateful our paths crossed. I wish I’d had one last chance to say goodbye.
His passing is another reminder that our lives are but brief flashes of light in an eternal universe.
Rest in peace, Om.
CC True Ventures Arun Santhebennur
He did so when it was risky to his own career and reputation. He did it when so many others didn’t. And he supported those behind the scenes who took risks in standing up. What more can a man be, than a voice that matters. It’s what I will miss most about him.
I really appreciate his honesty & grit in the last half of the last decade. He was decrying how Facebook had changed all of Silicon Valley's culture. Him in 2018 www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/...
not to mention, Om really helped bring more South Asians into American journalism, mentoring so many fantastic writers whom you've likely read. I never met or corresponded with him, alas, but it's hard to imagine I'd even be where I am now without his paving the way saja.org/about
You can make ppl feel seen and appreciated in this life, something Om always did. RIP legend.
Feeling absolutely gutted after learning that @om passed away. One of the first and kindest people I've met after moving to SF so many years ago. He will be missed by many in the early SF tech community.
.@Om was full of love. So kind. I’m so thankful for how he embraced me when I was new to San Francisco and for many years of friendship, conversations and fun. Miss you Om!
It led to this brilliant & compassionate engineer friend being in my life when I was timid and unconfident. I was just beginning my entrance into #DevRel.
A bit like a 🦋 butterfly effect.
RIP @om. Thanks for the culture that supported my friends, who supported me.
Om Malik represented the best of Silicon Valley = entrepreneur, genuine human being, caring, curious, humble = money & fame didn't change him = he was always Om.
#RIP #OmShanti
Damn. Very sad to read this news. Om Malik was the best of Silicon Valley, one of the good guys.
RIP Om Malik
Between losing Josh Baer and now Om Malik, it's been a very sad week for the tech industry...both were the kind of people who operated with the highest integrity and in turn kept others honest.
I only met @om a couple of times in person. His approach to technology was informed by a profound humanism. The outpouring of love for him shows how much he lived this philosophy.
It’s inspiring to see men like @om celebrated for kindness, loyalty, and a life well lived in the Bay Area.
In a city of callousness, Om was a big bright light and made sure kindness and honesty was the end goal.
Heartbroken to hear the passing of @om .. I knew him as someone who always gave. A beautiful soul.
Oh no… ha muerto Om Malik, una de esas personas que siempre te devolvía la fe en la humanidad.
Been feeling choked up with news of @om's passing and the seeing the wonderful outpouring of messages celebrating the incredible person he was.
I think Om wasnt just a great human, he was also the epitome of a great era of Silicon Valley - and I miss both dearly.
rip @om - “A whole life has flown by. But like the eagle I return to the nest. Never the same eagle, but always the same creature. I am different and yet I am not. It all seems so familiar and yet it is not. I am sleeping the same bed I slept as a kid and as a teenager.”
“He had a rare gift for making people feel seen, capable, and hopeful.”
In some of my darkest times, @om gave me light. I know of so many he gave this gift to. Rest in peace sir.
like many, I'm feeling extremely sad upon learning of @om's passing.
He was a wonderful writer and an even better human being. Each of our lives were enriched with every interaction with him.
I'll always remember his lovely smile.
portrait by @chrismichel
Just learned that @om passed yesterday. For anyone of a certain age involved with tech or the internet or SF or web culture, this is an unspeakable loss. One of the genuinely thoughtful and friendly people in this space.
Beyond the byline he was family — the officiant at the weddings, the godfather to the kids, the friend who arrived with a new fountain pen for you to try, and who loved you enough to tell you, kindly, when your shirt was wrong.
Oh @om…
When I first landed in Silicon Valley, Om Malik helped shape the journalist I became. He taught me not just to cover companies, but to understand the people behind them, question the hype, and never lose sight of the bigger picture.
He was a frequent guest on our show, even co-hosting with me at times, and he always brought the spice. You never had to wonder what Om really thought. He was fearless, deeply thoughtful, and never afraid to tell the tech industry hard truths, whether people wanted to hear them or not.
I adored him so much that I brought him home to meet my kids. They knew him as "Uncle Om." And the joy he took in seeing them led me to discover his softer side.
As this AI moment continues to unfold I’ll often wonder what he might have to say about it. One thing I know for certain: he'd have told us exactly what he thought.
We'll miss you, Uncle Om. Thank you for everything.
Emily Chang@emilychangtv on X
I don’t often do remembrance posts but on this occasion I felt compelled to. Yesterday morning at 6:30 in the morning, I said I love you to my wife and set out on a long drive to go to an event I have been excited about for over a year. I stopped in Nashville to pick up my friend John who flew in from London. We had a blast on the drive. John decided he wanted to get a coffee and we stopped at cool spot just about a half hour away from our destination. I sat on the patio with my drink, checked my messages to find several waiting for me. They were from my friends telling me our friend Om Malik had passed away. Om was a Hooligan and a good friend, he will be missed. I’ll return home on Monday and I will go to my shop table where I have the staged blanks for my collectors who have multiple pen projects planned, I will look at the materials he chose for his future pens. I will not put them back into my blank storage. I will eventually make every one of those pens. I don’t care if they ever sell. Until we see each other again.
But I will never forget how very warm his blue stained finger tips were as we sat and held hands.
RIP Om Malik.
Thank you for being my friend, for seeing me and for sharing laughs and scotch and company with me.
Om Malik died last week.
He liked me — or maybe he tolerated me, but he loved several of my good friends. So my heart goes out to each of them as so many people in our industry celebrate his life and share how amazing and influential Om was in their lives.
I learned two things from Om.
The first thing I learned from Om was: document your meetings with photos. He would just suddenly take a picture of me during a coffee or lunch meeting, usually with a ridiculously fancy camera. So I would take one of him with my phone. Like a counterattack. But it really helped me develop a habit to do the same when I'd get a chance to spend time with someone I hadn't seen in years — and might not see again for years.
The second thing I learned was: never put your own name in your company. He created a company with the clever name GigaOm, but years later when he was no longer involved and they sold it, it was weird. Like what would he call his next company? Do people think he's still part of his old company? I think about that as I work at Matt's company Automattic or when I see Craig from Craigslist at the airport. Om and I talked about this once when we both found ourselves no longer in charge of the companies we founded. While it stung, I pointed out that at least mine didn't have my name on it and that part must be rough. He thanked me for noticing that and added:
"Life and business are hard, startups are harder. But I enjoyed every minute of it. I see this as an opportunity for rebirth. The hurt will some day stop hurting and until then, I will look at our great team and what amazing things they will do."
Gracious person. Incredible writer.
Om had a heart attack nearly 20 years ago and it made a lot of people in the blogosphere who were chasing breaking news around the clock take a step back and think about the sacrifices they were making to their health. I got to see Om in one-on-one meetings and frequently at industry events or holiday gatherings at our friends' houses and I never forgot to tell him how glad I was that he was still here with us.
#RIP
I didn't know Om Malik the tech journalist, the GigaOm founder, or the investor. I knew Om the photographer. Om the cricket lover. Om the man who would fast for a full day before coming to dinner at our home — a ritual he described in his usual wry way, holding his heart condition at arm's length, equal parts critic and devotee.
We first connected on Storehouse — Mark Kawano's platform which we both loved. Then in person over a few dinners with my partner Alok. The last time was exactly two years ago. After that, life moved fast for me — Fernwayer launched, grew — and my personal Instagram posts (which was our main place to stay in touch over photography) grew fewer as my entrepreneurial life filled my time. I didn't know his health had turned serious until it was too late. Om passed away on June 24th. He was 59.
Om had opinions on everything, and they were never dull. Brunello Cucinelli. Watches. Cricket. And Leica — god, the Leica conversations. He shot with Leica and chased San Francisco fog like it owed him something. He had detailed, considered views on every camera and lens. Not gear talk. More like a man describing old friends, each with their own character and flaws.
But what I remember most is how he listened. Genuinely. He had this rare quality of being interested in you — your point of view, your life, your stories.
Every time we met, he'd nudge me to start my own blog — not on a VC-funded platform that would disappear someday, he'd say. I'd tell him I'd abandoned mine back in the Tumblr days, when I was still posting under my old pseudonym, VJ Singh. He'd shake his head. Om believed in owning your own platform, your own words, your own corner of the internet. He practiced what he preached, all the way to the end.
He also wrote about our first dinner on his blog — lnkd.in/gE9MdM2M — and said my Storehouse photos of the Faroe Islands were the first step toward finding his visual voice.
What can you say about a person who loved life as much as Om did? He had genuine wonder. He was opinionated. He had lots of friends. He believed in conversation. He was a good man.
Om's fog-laden photos will be missed.
I learned of his passing from my wife, who knew him entirely as one of the sweetest and most generous people on the fountain pen Slack she's in. Just seemed like a full-spectrum mensch.
I will miss @om very very much. I was lucky to have a friend and a mentor at the same time.
I will miss our long walks in Paris and your particular taste in shoes, shirts, and pens. And Most of all, these conversations over coffee.
RIP Om Malik.
Didn’t know him well, but he certainly had a “wise uncle” vibe.
When I last saw him IRL in 2014 at Sightglass, we chatted about chai vs coffee, why emergen-c is bad for you, Buddhism, wisteria, the sutro baths and a whole bunch of other stuff. It occurred to me that he was a true renaissance man. And an optimist.
October, 2005. Ages before the iPhone. I met @om downtown. He had his coffee, the latest phone.
He took a long hit of his cigarette and looked me in the eye.
"Your name is *Narendra*?"
Then he cracked that broad smile.
I loved every minute I spent with you.
Possibly the most Om thing Om Malik taught me: We were grabbing Indian food for lunch in downtown SF, and I suggested tikka masala. Om sneered, "Dude. That's the white man's dish."
I may have experienced sudden enlightenment. Of course he was right; it was invented in Glasgow.
Sad to hear of @om's passing yesterday. We kept in loose touch over nearly two decades. I was fortunate to have a few meals with him and treasured our conversations and his company. Outstanding writer, kind hearted, and very insightful. Loved talking watches with him as well. A wonderful human. Will be missed. ❤️
RIP @om
He loved about the Yankees what I love about the Yankees — that they embody the pursuit of excellence. Not just winning, but winning the right way. The Yankees play in Yankee Stadium, not Shitco Cellular Service & Financial Bank Park. He got angry about the Yankees by what gets me angry about them. Not when they merely lose. That’s baseball. But when they get cheap, or stupid, or both. (You did not want to get Om started on Hal Steinbrenner, who is definitely cheap and possibly stupid.)
The first time I met @om, I'd just joined @trueventures, we met for coffee in Tribeca. I discovered we had a breadth of shared passions that I seldom talk about...I suppose the journalist in him got those out of me. It turned out that we both had a fountain pen blog, we both loved specialty coffee to an incredibly nerdy degree, we both loved specific types of fancy paper.
I usually kept those parts of myself private; it was completely transformative to meet someone I admired who unapologetically loved so many of the same obscure, nerdy things I did. I'd grown up assuming that this world of Silicon Valley and startups unequivocally optimization and efficiency - that there would be no room for these trinkets and trivialities.
But from that day on, I have felt more...myself. I think he did that for many of us in a way that was totally singular. He reminded us that a life can be both ambitious and deeply, joyfully curious.
He gave me the push I needed to start @hey_aristotle. He spent hours trying our @tryruminate reading app when we couldn't get anyone else to. He brought one of his new pens every time we met up so I could try it. I owe him so much.
He left the world a better, brighter, more empathetic, more curious place. I will miss him immensely.
a quote - an instruction, rather - I will keep close:
RIP my dear friend @om
A brilliant mind with one of the biggest hearts who deeply touched so many people. Your curiosity was endless- there was always another perspective to consider or question to ask. You had the rare gift of turning knowledge into wisdom, and wisdom into written words.
But what I’ll miss most are our perfect hangs. Endless cups of coffee, long walks and spicy takes, shopping with your impeccable eye, delicious meals, adventures around the world, a glass of red, your silly camera face, and on the rare occasion- Om on the dance floor.
Love you always and miss you forever
When I met @om in 2009, it was Thanksgiving Dinner at my friends house.
He thought his liberal arts college education made him appreciate products and tech differently than the engineers.
We debated for hours.
If you measure life in great conversations, he lived longest.
Take me back to the halcyon days of @arrington chasing @om around the TC office on his Segway.
Hard to overstate the impact Om had, or the example he set. A rare mix of wisdom, kindness, and courage.
The world is dimmer with @om's passing. He had a huge heart, a great smile and a genuine interest in everyone around him. One of the good guys. One of my favorite Om stories: Om wanted to meet Sean Parker and I arranged a dinner for the three of us. Om takes a picture of Sean.
Crushed to wake up to this news this morning. @Om was one of a kind and the outpouring of reflections here today is no surprise. He will be greatly missed.
Om and I first met over 20 years ago when I visited his SF office to demo a new search product. He almost kicked me out. Not because of the product - he dug it. But because I was using a ThinkPad instead of a Mac. Wouldn’t stop dissing me about it no matter how many times I explained it was company issued. I ditched the ThinkPad.
We had so many great times over the years, especially talking product, publicly and privately. He had artisanal tastes in technology and I always wanted his opinion, even if it was harsh. But every conversation started and ended with us talking about family, friends and life. He was also tied for first place with the late great @blakekrik for his use of the term “dude.” (Not surprisingly they were good friends.)
We tried hard to buy GigaOm for CNET/CBSi back in 2014, but it didn’t work out. We were both bummed. But looking through @chrismichel’s pics you can see how rich of a life he led over the last decade. So probably for the best he wasn’t focused on tech coverage day to day.
Like a lot of you I went back to my Om text string when I saw the news this morning. I’d asked him for his thoughts on something we had just launched. His last text: “How’s your family?”
@om I have chills, just yesterday, I was ironing my shirt from @JeremyArgyle’s that you reccomended many years ago and thinking that I hadn’t run across you in a long time. RIP you broke so many barriers and not just in tech. Will miss you.
love you, brother @om.
decades of unsolicited spicy takes, but the most sage life advice.
the cigars, whiskeys, and contrarian arguments became coffees, walks, and playing with the kids.
asked you to officiate my wedding. you roasted me the whole time. as you said, it would take an old wise hindu to properly marry a buddhist to a catholic. none of us were actually very religious, but you always did love the drama.
a friend for the ages, supporting and betting on many of us when it was least cool, but most needed.
rest in peace now. we will miss you.
What a loss. @om was wicked smart, and you always knew where you stood with him.
He had high standards, and expected the best from everyone. It felt good when he sought your counsel.
People sometimes teasingly called him Rosario because Rosario Dawson played a character based on him in a movie.
He pretended he was going to fire someone at GigaOm because they showed up to the office wearing those foot-glove shoes that show each toe. Honestly, fair.
He once asked me to sit in on an interview with 20 minutes' of notice. When I walked in his office the candidate was there with a GigaOm PM. No Om yet. I asked where I should sit. And the PM said "Om said you should sit there" pointing at Om's chair. (Surprise! You're conducting the interview!)
He told me he didn't like one of my shirts and I don't think I ever wore it again. Not like in a mean way. He didn't think the color worked for me. He was right.
Om noticed everything. Trends. Tech. Journalism. Things about people. Branding details that were ever-so-slightly-wrong. Nothing got past him. He was always trying to make connections between data points and find the vector of where things were going.
Even if you hadn't seen him for years he would smile and greet you with such warmth and then act like you were already in the middle of a conversation and pick your brain about something in the zeitgeist. It felt like "welcome, now let's think deeply about the world".
Farewell Om. I feel honored to have crossed your path.
(Photo from July of 2009, 1:31am, Camel-by-the-Sea)
An outpouring of love for @om is streaming through my online channels since the news of his passing was announced yesterday. He touched so many lives in profound ways, namely through his influence in the tech world.
But I didn’t know Om as the titan of tech that he was. I knew him simply as @naveen’s best bud.
Dating Naveen in 2015 came with a most interesting sidekick in Om. We shared many an early morning coffee, late night dinner, glass of (the finest) red wine, and walk around SoHo. I got to know Om through Naveen, but I also got to know Naveen through Om. Om’s presence and affable nature probably served as a catalyst for our early relationship. For that I am forever grateful.
He was the officiant of our wedding, but we weren’t alone in our request of Om’s blessings. Om cast a wide net and, rightfully, had an orbit wherever he went. I’m grateful to see that his magnitude, his thoughtful writing, his brilliant photography, and his unique impact on so many people will allow his orbit to continue.
June 24, 2026, the world lost an incredible man.
After a long journey with his heart, @om passed away peacefully at Stanford Hospital, surrounded by the family and friends who loved him. I am deeply grateful that I was able to spend time with him during his final week and to be there in his final moments.
It’s hard to put into words what Om meant to me.
He wasn’t just a friend or mentor, he was family. He would introduce me as his son, and that’s exactly how he treated me. He was the first person to truly believe in me, the first to invest in me, and one of the people most responsible for the person I’ve become.
When I met him, I was just 17 or 18 years old. He was the same age then that I am today. It’s strange to realize I’m now standing where he was when he changed the course of my life.
One of my earliest memories of him was his 40th birthday party. It was at a local bar, and since I wasn’t 21, I figured I’d have to stay outside. Instead, Om came out, found me, and made sure I was included. That was who he was, he made everyone feel like they belonged.
When I made the decision not to finish college and instead pursue a career in tech, Om never questioned it. He believed in me completely. More than that, he sat down with my parents and helped them understand that I knew what I was doing, that I was in good hands, and that he would watch over my path. Looking back now, I realize how extraordinary that was. He wasn’t just giving me advice, he was taking responsibility for me. That’s the kind of man he was.
Over the years, he became the first person I called whenever I needed advice. No matter the situation, he always seemed to know exactly what to say. He had a rare gift of seeing 20 steps ahead while explaining things with remarkable simplicity. He gave wisdom freely, never seeking credit, only wanting to help others succeed.
He was also the officiant who married my wife and me, a moment I’ll forever treasure. He wasn’t just present for the milestones in my life; he helped make them possible.
If you knew Om, you knew his love for espressos, photowalks, beautiful pens, and, of course, technology. He was endlessly curious, always learning, always teaching, always thinking about what came next.
For nearly half my life, he has been one of my constants. My sounding board. My mentor. My father figure. My rock.
Thank you, Om, for believing in me before I believed in myself. Thank you for standing beside me when others weren’t sure. Thank you for every conversation, every lesson, every opportunity, and every moment of encouragement.
I will carry your wisdom with me for the rest of my life. I hope to honor you by being for others even a fraction of what you were for me.
I am deeply grateful that I was able to spend one last fathers day with him and to be there in his final moments.
I love you. I’ll miss you more than words can express.
Rest easy, Om.
I’ve known @om for nearly 20 years. He was the realest of the real. A kind, genuine, and beautifully honest soul. To me, he was a true confidant across decades of shared personal and professional life. I’ll deeply miss our serendipitous run-ins in South Park. Love you and miss you, my dear brother.
I met @om Malik because of technology. I became friends with him because of everything else.
He first came to Startup Iceland in 2015 and kept coming back—to speak, to photograph Iceland, and to spend time with friends. Over the years we spoke about startups, India, technology, photography, craftsmanship, and, of course, cricket.
Om had a rare gift. He could see around corners, but he never lost sight of the people behind the story. He asked hard questions, kept everyone honest, and raised the standard for technology journalism.
They don't make journalists like Om anymore.
I'll miss our conversations and, most of all, I'll miss my friend.
Rest in peace, Om.
Om Malik, 1966-2026
There wasn't a more honest and fair reporter in tech ever. His humility was his strongest suit. I was proud to call him my friend. He stood up for me at my wedding. Witnessed my marriage license. Our friendship went from professional to personal. He was my sharpest critic. And for that, I will miss him the most.
Rest in peace @om. A kind and generous soul. I came close to working at GigaOm in 2013 and remain deeply grateful about how he welcomed a Central Valley kid with no qualifications into the world of tech and media with with sage advice, mentorship and friendship. He had nothing to gain by giving his time and by treating me like a colleague right out of the gate but he did it anyway, and always. Forever insightful, direct and with a penchant for slicing through to the heart of a matter — but also always genuinely curious and willing to accept intellectual challenges to his suppositions (as long as they didn’t stink). I’d like to think that wherever he is he is doing this, talking, enjoying the sun in a sharp fit and beautiful pair of shoes.
The last time I met up with @om was outside at a mission coffee shop near the Facet office, the sun was out and we sat side by side and just gabbed for two hours about diffusion models, the “eye”, polarizing filters and whether the latent space had any conception of the decisive moment. Peace, friend.
Still thinking about @om and my feed keeps reminding me of how many lives you can touch with a kind, open heart and the warmest of smiles!
We first met when he reached out in 2012 to grab coffee (I was a random designer 6 months in US). That’s Om in a nutshell. Making friends and staying friends was his superpower.
Over the years we connected over our love for photography and fountain pens.
Every time I asked for some help he would be quick to make the right intros.
His biggest gesture of kindness was helping us out with our Green card application last year.
He wanted to have us over to celebrate and share his Indian cooking. We would never get around to having that one last shared meal.
Rest in peace Om.
You were one of the good ones.
❤️
@Om
and I met as strangers, seated next to each other at a brunch close to twenty years ago. He started asking the realest questions before the coffee even hit the table. The kind most people never think to ask. He was the glue behind countless lifelong friendships, the Omies and beyond, because he showed up. He listened. He cared deeply. He gave it all away like it cost him nothing. For years he hounded me to write. Sent me his drafts like dares. Asked when I was finally going to put something of my own into the world. I never did. So here it is. The first thing I have ever published c/o his best friend @Photomatt
.... and of course its is about him.
That was the whole thing about Om. He had this uncanny way of making you feel like the only person in the room. He saw people. He saw me, even the parts I keep hidden. I don't let people in. I never have. Somewhere along the way I decided that if I let someone really know me, they would leave, or they would die. Om found the door anyway.
@Om , I'm not sure I know how to do this thing called life without you, brother. But I am choosing to believe you are just onto the next chapter. Already curious. Thank you for seeing me.
Om lived many lives and played many roles in his time on this earth.
My favorite one was him being the godfather to my kids. He was so playful and goofy with them and it always brought a smile to our faces.
I'll always be grateful for the love he showed us.
Rest in peace brother @om.
I’m still unpacking how I grieve the loss of my friend Om Malik. @om
Weirdly enough, if I look through my photo archives, I can’t find a single photo of us together. But I have so many memories of us sitting together, laughing, sharing a drink, giggling over something and giving him more than one kiss on the cheek.
I posted a tribute video for Om Malik (om @omlovespens ), who passed away last week. Om was a technology journalist and writer many of you probably knew. He was also a dedicated fountain pen collector and a generous presence in the SF pen community.
I’m lucky I got to know him.
😔 The mighty Om Malik has passed away. A dear friend I will forever miss. ..
My friend @om Malik and i were friends for decades he interviewed me I almost hired him we even were quoted in one of the 1st Epstein articles in 2019
I’ll miss him his intellect and fearlessness, good bye old friend RIP
Om Malik - September 29 - 1966 - June 24 2026 —-Reflecting on our dear and beloved friend’s beautiful spirit, magnificent story telling, photography, kindness and generosity. Sweet moment captured by our friend @chris_michel
Matt: All Roads Lead to Om
Yesterday, my best friend and brother from another mother, Om Malik, passed away. They say that blood is thicker than water, and what we had was way thicker than blood. — Bob Weir Om’s request was for a small family prayer ceremony. In mourning, that will be all there is. In celebration and tribute, I love that everyone is sharing their Om stories online, like the writing and photography Christopher…
Wrote some words about Om and what he has meant to me.
Two days ago, we lost Om Malik. I’m not posting this memorial because he was a well-known and highly regarded technology reporter, investor, and entrepreneur… which he most certainly is. I’m posting it because he was my friend. In so many ways he represented the virtues of Silicon Valley, and few of its flaws. He was my guide to San Francisco (and New York) dives and ethnic cuisine. My ritual meetup whenever I returned. And we have shared our not totally dissimilar health journeys for years. It is a warning to me, in some ways, that his has ended poorly.
I loved Om. If I’d met more folks like him in Silicon Valley I might never have returned to Canada. We could go a year without talking and just slip back into friendship like no time had transpired. He always threatened to come to Vancouver to “get some suits” (??) and hang out with his camera. I always had a plan ready-to-go for when he ultimately made good on that, but he never did.
Our industry has lost one of its most insightful, reflective, and generous souls.
I lost a good buddy.
For those who, like me, are mourning the passing of Om Malik, one of the things Om and I shared was the love of music. Rock. House. Chill. If you want to remember him for his passion, that goes from Desi to good old rock and roll, dive into his Spotify collection. He had the mind of DJ, so expect some very interesting segues, some themes that make sense when you get beyond the names of the songs and the artists. Like everything Om, his playlists were thoughtful, well-researched, and not what everyone else would play.
There you'll find 9 public playlists. Save them to yours. That way, a little part of Om will always be with you.
Saddened to learn of Om Malik's passing.
We met through a mutual friend, Bernard Antolin, about a year ago. I didn’t realize it but Om was as into apparel and design as he was tech.
I found him to be an inspiring thinker. Sharp and considerate in every way. Our chats would jump from custom footwear and emerging brands (many he disliked!) to topics du jour, like why he thought Kapital went downhill post-LVMH.
Though we didn’t know each other for long, he’d message every so often about a brand that caught his eye, or just to say hi and wish me well. What may have seemed like a random check-in was actually Om’s generous, intentional nature.
In one of our last convos we talked a bit about tech. I asked how he thought I should use AI in my work, as always he had the right words: “just stay as human as possible.”
Rest in peace, Om
Rest in peace, Om Malik.
Years ago, I had the privilege of working with Om on a few big stories. I didn't know him well. We weren't friends. The stories had to earn his attention on their merit.
What has stayed with me, though, is that our conversations often began with work and somehow drifted to stories about people he had met, the elements of the perfect espresso, his favorite cashmere sweater. Those were the better stories.
One of my favorite Om posts on Brunello Cucinelli has been making the rounds this week, it's worth a read.
lnkd.in/gZgA9H_8
Three Om Stories
There are three stories I want to share about Om Malik. These have stuck with me because they illustrate what a wonderfully complex person he was.
Om paid attention to details
I don't remember what questions Om asked me during my NewTeeVee interview outside the famed Starbucks he lived by. But I do remember him commenting on the fact that my watch, belt and shoes matched.
Om appreciated style and good sartorial choices, but the way he noticed small details was one of the reasons he was so good at reporting. He didn't get bogged down in the little things, but he saw how they were all connected.
Also, he was not afraid to remark when he thought my shoes ugly. ("Dude. Why did you buy those? Those are hideous, man.")
Om was generous
There was a famous closet in Om's old apartment that was filled with bags he had bought and no longer used. High-end, well-crafted bags. It was not uncommon for him to invite people over to just take one.
He was always giving stuff away.
But his generosity didn't stop with stuff. He was generous with his time and his wisdom. You've heard everyone say this in their remembrances, because it was absolutely true. He would often tap you on the shoulder at work (even if you were on a deadline) and say "Dude, let's go for a walk."
Those walk n' talks were the best because you knew you would end the stroll smarter than when it started.
Om was deep
I hope I am remembering this correctly. But back in the old Howard St. office, he had a small statuette of Ganesh (please forgive me if I'm mis-remembering this exact detail).
We were either clearing out the office for an event or he needed to switch tables, but he asked someone to move the figurine. "But wash your hands first," he instructed.
Om was not overtly religious, at least in my interactions with him. But he was definitely a spiritual person.
BONUS: Om was a Duran Duran fan.
Which made me love him even more.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/three-om-stories-chris-albrecht-ydqhe
Thoughtful posts honoring Om Malik could not be more fitting for the way he knit together community as connector, thinker, encourager, and humble shaper of ideas. I was fortunate to meet Om early in my entrepreneurial journey at Sightglass. Over the course of many conversations, I learned a new way of thinking and interacting with creativity. We weren’t close. There was no angle. But that’s the point. That was what I got to experience, and what those who were close to him celebrate today. Someone who selfishly poured into the ecosystem; whether it was a green founder or seasoned exec. Thankful to have had the pleasure and lasting impact of coffee and chats.
Om Malik, 1966-2026
I met Om Malik when I first started working with Matt Mullenweg in 2017, and I remember his kindness and his direct style so vividly.
I turned off so many newsletters over the years, but Om's was my steady dose of technology news, craft and humanity.
Matt Mullenweg, your words on ma.tt were a beautiful tribute, and OmFest seems like a perfect way to bring his community together.
Keep crafting products that would make Om proud!!
“Nothing gold can stay” 🧡 -Robert Frost
I'm not sure what to say except that I am really sad about the passing of Om Malik. He was my friend. I met him 20 years ago and he inspired me. So kind, funny, curious and authentic. No words for this grief. Life is short. I know we say that but I feel it today. God bless you, Om. Thank you for being so great Om Malik ❤️
I worked with Om briefly when I was at Automattic. He was consistently kind, thoughtful, and a genuine pleasure to work with.
Have a beautiful journey to the beyond @om 🙏🏽 our friend, mentor, thinker.
Coffee at Sightglass. The one to always find and praise a good photo. Your jokes followed by a laugh and grin. Thanks for all the support along the way and for being yourself always. ♥️
I met @om in 2015, at Sightglass on 7th St and I'll never forget the lesson he taught me:
Condolences to his family. Sad loss for the tech world.
Coffees with you were always the best, @om. I miss you
No no no. Cannot believe the news of @om passing. He was one of the most welcoming people in this community and one of the few artists in venture… every lunch would turn into a 2 hour journey about all things art, design, tech, and so much more. Too soon 💔 rest in peace …
Hey @photomatt, I connect with people through the stuff they love. I regret never meeting @om and being a pen guy seems like fun.
What is a good starter pen? How do I begin this journey?
RIP Om Malik... 彼のHodinkee Radioのエピソードは今でも大好きです。グランドセイコー愛用されていたのも印象的。
will miss sharing playlists with you friend @om
bon voyage @om; time with you was invaluable, every time. a short walk by the brannan poolside, run -in by the elevators, or a text exchange on quantum. Will miss and cherish it all🕊️
Very sorry to hear this. @om was an OG and always very kind and helpful and generous. Used to catch up with him at Apple events regularly. RIP and best wishes to his family.
I’m so sorry to hear this. I first met Om in early 2000’s when I was at Knight Ridder Digital. Then four years ago I joined a Board that included Om. We will miss his incisive comments, wisdom, humor! R.I.P.
I was so sad to hear that @om has passed away. I have so many fond memories of spending time chatting about just about everything. So much knowledge, so insightful, and willing to share. I’m miss you!
I got to meet Om Malik, @Om, several times over the years. He was always incredibly kind. One of the OGs of the tech industry.
Long ago, I had the privilege of attending a small private event hosted by @om. I was starstruck, impressed by his knowledge, moreso by his kindness & generosity. Never interacted with him directly again, but that experience always stuck with me. RIP Om, you're remembered fondly.
I don’t know when @om first entered my life.
I do know my observations of him aren’t unique. He was generous and funny. He was kind and wry. Mostly I just remember hanging out with him like he was a regular guy.
But anyone watching this feed over the past few days knows that isn’t true.
A regular guy doesn’t inspire this many people. Doesn’t give of himself so easily and so often. Doesn’t find his way, quietly, humbly, into so many lives.
Om was not a regular guy. And I won’t forget the day he left my life.
Rest in peace, Om.
so sad. @om was one of the *good* humans. he would make you feel that you are super close friends when we would meet only occasionally...not many people have that energy to do that. will miss you deeply, but will not forget your impact
Saddened to hear of your passing, @Om, but smiling as I think back to the good times we shared. Some funny shit, man.
~20 years ago Me, @hnshah @photomatt and the godfather himself @om
SAVE THE DATE: @OM FEST 2026
"Om loved putting on a good conference, and I’d like to celebrate his life with an awesome event on September 29, 2026 (his 60th) in San Francisco, like an OmFest."
Thank you @om for showing us all a live well lived with gratitude and care for so many in the tech community. I am so sad and will miss my birthday buddy. The only comfort is seeing how many people loved you and knowing your legacy will live on 🙏
On a clear day at the edge of the Pacific, friends gathered in a circle and carried flowers out to sea. Online, a thousand strangers made the same quiet promise: give people their flowers early. Be like Om.
Seeing all the tributes to @om is a powerful reminder to give people their flowers early. He meant the world to the valley and the tech community. I hope he always knew it. RIP, my brother.
anand iyer@ai on X
I just got back from the small and intimate Om Malik memorial and perhaps a weird observation to make, but I do feel like it should be said Om
Was pretty remarkable at having extensive and varied platonic relationships with dozens and dozens of smart and kind women.
I told Om Malik I would reciprocate when he bought me a coffee, but I didn't return his kind deed in time. Don't wait to spend time with the people who bring you joy. RIP to a generous soul.
I keep reposting people’s memories of @om because every one of them has a piece of him. He was the one with the words. Now all of us are using ours to feel him here. Rest in peace, Om.
Today we came together to share our love for our dear brother @om and tell endless stories about his beauty.
He brought so many of us together and was the catalyst, and often the glue, behind countless lifelong friendships. It was incredible to witness how deeply he touched so many lives.
Om had this uncanny ability to make you feel special. He saw you as an individual and always found a way to genuinely connect.
Om loved taking photos and being in them. My last photo of him, taken just a few months ago, captures him perfectly, living life to the fullest with a quintessential bite of toro topped with caviar and a sprinkle of gold leaf.
Never seen so many personal, heartfelt and glowing tributes paid to anyone online as I’m seeing for @om. Must have been a fabulous human being who left a mark on every person he interacted with. Very rare in business and technology.
One of the most remarkable things about @om ‘s life is how he made everyone feel special, like they were close or even best friends. I’m struck by many of these tributes to Om talk about how close they felt to him, whether they last saw him a week before passing or years.
You really were one of a kind, @om.
He was deeply caring, kind, and soulful. He listened thoughtfully and generously. He was interested and interesting, capable of finding transcendence and beauty in the extraordinary as well as the ordinary. He captured much of that beauty in his writing, his photography, and his friendships. He was a good man.
Thank you for everything. I'll miss you and carry all the Om-isms with me for life.
.@gruber with the last word on @om.
‘“He did not mince words” and “Everyone loved him” do not usually apply to the same person. They did with Om.’
And the last pic worth a thousand words.
All Roads Lead to @om, remembering my dear friend:
@domcooke @om I don’t think I’ve seen a more universal outpouring since Steve Jobs passed away.
had no idea who @om was before today. now i am weirdly inspired by someone who i didnt know existed 24 hours ago, because so many people who i look up to are gutted to have lost someone they describe as nice, kind, a friend. inspired for a new std for my relationships.
I look at the eulogies for Om Malik on twitter and elsewhere. There are all kinds of wealth but I think the kind of wealthy OM was we must all aspire to be.
I wish to be half as loved by this world as Om Malik was. RIP
RIP @om
All these stories make me wonder how can a person touch so many people in so many positive ways, it’s amazing.
Last time I saw such an outpouring messages was for Bill Campbell.
He was The Coach and you are The Uncle.
RIP @om 🙏💐
I could read @om tribute posts and look at the photos all day. feels like old Twitter is back for a moment
What a beautiful set of posts and memories on @om here on the timeline. Amazing how many people he touched.
Having my feed taken over by reflections of @om is the kind of experience that made Twitter so special.
Everyone sharing and reflecting about him in a way that makes it seem, at least for a moment, like a true town square is a fitting acknowledgement.
You can tell a lot about how someone lived by the stories people tell about them when they passed.
A common thing everyone told me at Om’s Vigil this morning was that they felt seen when talking to him.
There can never be another Om Malik. The world lost a great soul this week.
“Om Malik wasn’t busy dying even when he was dying.” @gruber
it’s heartbreaking that in the post before the one announcing his passing, @om told folks he’d take some time off, read fiction, and urged everyone to be well
RIP :(
Been thinking a lot about this since reading the family update. After he had his first heart attack Om changed his lifestyle, took better care of his health, went deep into photography and just did all of the things that he needed to do after having a heart attack. Of course it seems so unfair that at 60 years old he’s gone and no amount of “life isn’t about fairness”, makes it any more acceptable.
So sorry to see this. @om was a generous soul.
As an OG and critical thinker, he provided a lot of history.
Good reminder: if you’re “meaning to” see someone, see them.
A friend died last year. Happened to be in DC the month before, made time.
Sunday mission: express gratitude for an amazing human in your life — before they’re gone.
Take a break from politics, podcasts and tokenmaxxing.
Take your shoes off and touch some grass or sand, and reflect on the outpouring of love for @om and @JoshuaBaer we witnessed when these two beautiful humans died too young over the past couple of weeks.
Think of a great human in your life you might not have talked to in a bit, and say something extremely honest about them.
Right here, right now… a mini, pre-eulogy that they can enjoy in the human realm.
I’ll start.
Before All In and the Uber lottery ticket, my partner was @brianalvey
One of the smartest, strongest and steadfast men I’ve ever met.
Whose loyalty to me in the arena was unwavering, even when I was completely making it up as we fought to make something — anything — of ourselves.
Two kids from Brooklyn with less than $1,000 between them in our bank accounts at any time… but absurdly rich in enthusiasm, skills and fearlessness.
Nothing to lose, no need for sleep… just a passion to build something.
CyberSurfer, the next D&D, Silicon Alley Reporter, Weblogs Inc, or Meet the Makers — anything that might… work.
A giant of a friend, collaborator, father, husband and futurist.
The fastest wit at the table, with a wry smile and the perfect insight every time I needed it.
Brian Fucking Alvey.
Love you brother
Live In Peace!!!
I completely agree with this. What a special community feeling this has been to celebrate @om. How about every Friday we do this as a tech community for someone we admire who is still with us so they can experience the joy of all who appreciate them. #FridayFriend ??
@zavaindar @om I will try to tell myself all the time: be like Om.
I’ve spent the last 2–3 years thinking a lot about death. I’ve never bought into the whole “leave a legacy” thing.
Once you’re gone, you’re gone.
But every now and then someone breaks that belief.
Reading about @om today, I wasn’t struck by what he built as much as how people remembered him.
But for his generosity, his remarkable style and the calm he carried.
Making kindness so normal around you that people continue the habit long after you’re gone.
What a legend.
sad to hear about both om malik and mitch paone’s passing
may we all live such large lives that strangers are sad to see us gone
my timeline today is filled with posts about @om. it's a reminder of the light he shared with all of us, the person he was, and the little corner of the internet he created. it's up to each of us to carry that light forward. we each have a little piece of him in us.
@om आत्मा की अमरता (भगवद्गीता 2.20)
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्
नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः। अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो
न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे॥The soul is never born, nor does it ever die. It is eternal, everlasting and ancient. The soul is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.
@salimismail @om A good friend told me that his dear friend, who passed away last year, was close at one point and able to communicate from the other side.
So he asked him, what's it like there? And his friend said, it's rivers and meadows of light.
That's where I picture @om now.
goodbye @om - i love you. i will miss you my friend.
Reposting tributes to @om this week. 💔
www.nytimes.com/2026/06/26/technology/om-malik-dead....nytcore-ios-share
Live your life so that your passing results in as many people saying wonderful things about you as Om Malik's has. He was just a really nice guy.
If you’ve seen the outpouring of love over the last couple of days for Om Malik, especially on X, and if you’ve appreciated it like I did, then this little reminder is for you.
Don’t wait for people to depart to let the world know how great they were. Tell the person while they’re still around.
Sincere gratitude, appreciation and goodwill are the universe’s currency. It’s worth a lot more than we care to remember. If there’s a chance the recipient may mistake your gesture for flattery, take the chance anyway and make the payment. Make them whole while you still can.
#latenightmeanderings
RIP Om.
It may sound perverse to say this, but I have truly relished the outpouring of love following the passing of Om Malik.
The response tells you everything you need to know about the man.
Kind. Curious. Creative. Thoughtful. Generous. The kind of person whose success never got in the way of making time for others.
I knew Om, though I can't honestly say we were close. But every interaction was easy. He was quick with a smile, genuinely interested in whoever was in front of him, and he always seemed to have that unmistakable twinkle in his eyes.
Fifty-nine is far too young.
His passing also reminds me of something I miss.
Twenty or thirty years ago, the venture community felt smaller. We knew one another. Conversations weren't performances. We didn't have to polish every opinion or build every interaction into a networking opportunity. We could simply be curious together—share ideas, challenge assumptions, help one another, and celebrate each other's successes.
That spirit was part of what made venture so magical for me.
I still find it today in the ETA/Search Fund world. Not perfectly—it has grown and matured, as every ecosystem does—but the entrepreneurial spirit of generosity, curiosity, and lifting others up is still remarkably strong.
If someone early in their career asked me where to go, my advice wouldn't start with compensation or prestige.
Go where people genuinely want to hear your ideas.
Go where curiosity is rewarded.
Go where people celebrate your wins as much as their own.
Go where community is more than a LinkedIn buzzword.
Those places shape careers—and lives.
Thank you, Om. You helped create one of those communities and ultimately helped change the world. You made it warmer, smarter, and more human. I suspect that's why so many people feel like they've lost a friend this week, whether they knew you well or simply had the privilege of crossing paths with you.
Rest easy.
I've been sitting with Jessi Hempel's piece about Om Malik's passing, unable to shake it.
I didn't know Om personally. But I know the feeling Jessi is describing: that specific grief for a way of showing up in the world that feels increasingly rare. The kind that puts people at the center. The kind that asks whether we actually want to go where the current is taking us, not just how fast we can get there.
I work in GTM technology. The pace of AI-driven change in my field right now is unlike anything I've experienced in 15+ years of doing this work. Every quarter rewrites the playbook. Every month surfaces a new capability that demands immediate adoption. Every week, I'm expected to have a fully formed opinion about something I'm still learning how to hold.
And somewhere in the sprint to keep up, to be credible, to be current, to be useful, I have slowly, quietly, left myself behind.
I don't say that lightly. I say it because it's true, and because Jessi named it before I could: the chasm between the mind and the body, filled to the brim with content. The neglect of an embodied life in service of professional performance. The slow discovery that I've been running so hard toward being my best self at work that I've stopped fueling my actual self entirely.
Om wrote, near the end, that we use technology to stop growing. That the copy becomes the relationship. I've been sitting with that lin, turning it over, holding it up to my own reflection, and wondering how much of what I produce lately is the copy. The performance of leadership. The appearance of having it together.
I don't have a resolution to offer. No pivot. No reframe. No three-step framework for reclaiming your humanity in the age of AI. Just this: I'm sitting in the discomfort of recognizing myself in Jessi's words, and I'm trying, for once, not to rush past it.
Rest well, Om. And thank you, Jessi, for writing the thing I didn't know I needed to read.
There has been an amazing outpouring of love for Om Malik over the last few days. He clearly left an impact on so many of us, and it's been moving to read the hundreds of tributes (sharing some below). He had an intense curiosity, which made him such a good journalist, photographer, hobbyist, investor and friend. Om, thank you for letting us all into your orbit.
lnkd.in/gj7_bMX7
lnkd.in/gnAZkmWm
lnkd.in/gyYRP3Br
lnkd.in/gn_uzj9P
lnkd.in/gbqVHPCy
I never met Om Malik. Everything I know of him, I know through GigaOM.
When we were getting Treasure Data off the ground, GigaOM was one of the few outlets that gave us real coverage and real advice. We were unproven outsiders from Japan, and attention was hard to come by — not because the product was weak, but because nobody was looking. GigaOM looked.
Reading this week's tributes, the pattern is hard to miss. GigaOM's ethos was just Om's: always there for the underdog.
I've worked in enterprise software my whole career, and one of my heroes has always been Aaron Levie — same age as me, someone I've seen exactly once, across the aisle of a Virgin flight. My favorite piece of tech writing is Om's "Levietation," his account of Levie's rise.
What I idolized in Levie was his unbounded optimism. Box was selling into a market so crowded it had stopped being a red ocean — it was a red pond, maybe not a drop of seawater left in it — and he was still thriving, still talking like the game was wide open. Every time I wanted to quit our own pivot, from big-data-as-a-service to a customer data platform, I thought about that. I wanted the same can-do, honey-badger attitude in how I worked. I didn't always manage it. But it was always the goal.
That optimism is the thread — what Levie embodied, and what Om spent a career making sure got seen. I kept "Levietation" close for years because of it.
RIP OM.
My For You feed here is 100% people talking about how much they loved @om and how much he’ll be missed. I’ve never seen this much outpouring over someone in tech, and can’t imagine I ever will again.
The way SV has come to X to show respect for @om
On the passing of @om. I am grieving viscerally through the hundreds of posts like this..
I wish @om would come back to us just for 1h to witness all the outpouring love.
Hope he watches from up there
If I could retweet every tweet from 2008 onwards with the search results of “OM Malik”
I can only see two people on my feed - @kunalb11 and @om ( rest in peace)
The number of people writing memories of @om and referring to him as their best friend/brother/mentor/etc speaks volumes about who he was. We were all so lucky to share time and space with him.
It felt too presumptuous to call @om a friend in my tweet earlier, but that’s exactly how he made me feel over the years. Such an incredible human. It’s inspiring to see just how many people have stories to tell about how he touched their lives.
So do you @Om. I don't think I've seen SF Tech shake like this since Blake Krikorian passed away. The magnitude of real human impact that Om, that Blake, etc had remind me/us life is so much more than the next deal, the next product, the scoreboard, etc. We are all interdependent. Shoot to be beloved. Sending hugs and love! 🙏
Such an outpouring of love for @om — though not surprising because he was such a good soul. The world is a better place because we had him. Rest easy, friend.
Lovely too see all the love pouring out for Om Malik from all over the ”industry”.
He really was everyone’s friend ❤️❤️❤️
I’m so sorry for your loss, Krutal. What a beautiful tribute to Om, who changed the lives of so many including my own by extension.
While I didn’t know him personally, without meeting you and @hnshah my life would look very different. May we all continue living in a way that honors his memory.
Wrote a bit about losing @om and Rob Sexton last week. Both impacted me in ways they probably never knew...
Om was an incredible person. It’s inspiring to see how many people he touched and influenced.
Rest in peace @om.
my entire timeline is @om tributes, celebrations, memories, etc. I never met him, and it’s a strange thing to only learn about him in his repose. But reading all of these, I am encouraged and inspired. Rest in peace. Thank you for your example 🙏🏽
I wasn’t familiar with @om but my timeline has been flooded by so many people talking about his kindness and how he impacted their lives.
money, fame, none of that matters in the end. your lasting legacy will be the impact that you made on the lives of people around you
I never knew Om Malik.
But if there is anything for us to learn from him, it’s to live life in a way such that we can be remembered the way he is being remembered. To be kind to all, to help where we can, to celebrate everyone’s wins.
I did not know @om but I am so touched to see all these tweets on my TL. He must have been one heck of a person whose amazingness touched so many. His pics seem so fun!
I do believe that all that remains of a person after they are gone are the memories of kindness and love! 🪽💛
I didn't know who @om was and in retrospect realize I have come across some of his writings through shares, tho' I never put a face to the articles.
Seeing all the love for him in X for his passing makes me heartwarmed and believe stronger in goodness as a lever of progress! I used to wonder if goodness had any comparative advantage in this day and age. People like @om, @RonConway, and @stevewoz reinforce that it does.
Thanks @om - prayers for your departed soul!
My feed is completely filled with so many people paying tribute to @om and its the first time I am getting to know him. Much be a really great soul to have touched so many lives and hearts.
My timeline is filled with stories from people whose lives Om Malik profoundly impacted. Reading them makes me feel like I knew him, or wish I had. What a legend. I hope I can live a life that leaves even a fraction of that kind of impact. Om shanti
Never known @om but got to know about his sadly demise via @emilychangtv’ s post whom I actively follow. After reading all the tributes I am sure he was loved by one and all. A kind hearted loving soul. Rest in peace.
We don't have an @om story.
But we are sure he would have touched our lives one way or another.
Om Shanti 🙏
Om's death hit me hard. Reading everyone's memories and tributes helped me feel connected to them and soothed my grief. And I wanted to provide context or meaning from his life in a way that would make @om proud and maybe offer comfort to others.
“Hot scoops and sharp opinions that made Gigaom a must-read.”
The Old Gray Lady pays tribute to my friend @om.
A one of a kind.
The Times did a nice piece on @om:
This is a beautify written example by @krutal of the impact @om had on all our lives. To know him was to love him and to love him was to be thankful to be around him. So many gifts, so little time, so much beauty in one human.
Thanks for this warm memory of @om , Josh. Of course he recommend that. He was really a gift to all who knew him and we really lost one of the great minds(and ♥️) of our time. He will continue to influence culture, innovation and the people who knew him best. Glad you both got to hang. Still heart broken 💔 but his memory will continue to be a blessing
🗞️ Om Malik has died: a sobering reminder how quickly the tech world shifts. Read the linked discussion to see the reactions and memories from the community. #TechNews #RIP #OmMalik
Thinking deeply about how @om would want me to live my life.
Life is short. Make it count. Om Malik certainly did.
Omg so shocked to hear Om Malik has passed at not even 60. A brilliant thinker and someone whose presence here was so powerful here in the before times. May his memory be a blessing.
Another reminder to use your time well and be kind, love the people you love as best you can and as wholeheartedly as you can. 💔❤️🔥
Seeing all the @om tributes pouring in, one quote comes to mind:
If you can be anything in this world, be kind.
“I think in the end what you do to help others win is what counts” ~ @om
Reading the tributes pouring in for @om , across timelines, across timezones, one thing is clear. He gave himself, freely, happily. Was a friend to many, mentor to many... What a way to live life! Go well, Sir.
I have been reading the heartwarming and wonderful eulogies pouring in for Om Malik. Seeing the innumerable number of stories and lives that he had a huge part in makes you realise how deep his impact was in so many people’s lives. I can tell from each account that he had so much to give and he gave it unabashedly. May his soul rest in peace.
Great piece. @om left his mark on the internet.
I'm seeing many (young) people discover him through stories and fond remembrances such as this.
It also speaks to our culture of now...where thoughtful, original voices are fighting for attention/opportunity.
We need more Om's.
One of the finest @om. RIP 🙏🏻
Seeing all these great tributes pour in just shows the great work, impact and legacy he leaves behind
It is moving to see the tributes about @om. A life well lived. Rest in peace.
He spent twenty-five years writing on the open web, and this week the web wrote back — from Pakistan, India, Japan, Argentina, a Brooklyn train, a hostel room. Most never shook his hand; one got a hug at baggage claim. All of them lost a friend.
Dear @om,
We never met, but I read you for years. Thank you for the thinking, the writing, the photographs, and the patient work of connecting this industry to itself.
You found the humanity inside all the tech. Some of the people you reached, you never knew were reading. I was one of them.
Rest well.
📸
Kenneth Auchenberg 🛠@auchenberg on X
Rest in peace to Om Malik. I've followed his writing for decades and we got together for a WidgetCon event he held back in the day.
I can’t quite believe that Om Malik has died.
I’ve been reading his work for near.y a quarter of a century, and even had a couple of email conversations with him. We’ve lost a voice of sanity in the tech madness.
Om Malik, 1966-2026 om.co/2026/06/24/1966-2026
for two days i've been drowning in Om Malik . his words, his photographs. i haven't wanted to come up.
it's been so long since writing did this to me. we're surrounded by people who learned to be loud - hooks, viral lines - and i only found the whole of his work the week it ended. i found him in his obituary.
journalist, vc, photographer. and he never seemed to apologize for being all three at once. i've been doing the opposite - going quiet in ai rooms about the camera, about being an official Nikon ambassador, about the oldest love i have. telling myself a founder who wants to win at all cost can't be seen doing art /storytelling aside.
om did both - the photography - writer and the vc thing - and the valley loved him anyway. they're not really talking about the companies now. just his pictures, his writing, how authentic he lived. Impact he had on them.
i had no reason to feel small about who i am. only my own guessing about how it would look.
so much of him still left to read. it's strange to grieve someone you just met. and a gift, to be handed a map by a man you'll never get to thank.
you'll be remembered, om.
I had no idea he passed away. God rest his soul.
I never met Om but I grew up in my teenag / 20s reading all about technology and SV from his writing as a kid with big dreams in Pakistan and I was obsessed. Clear writer clear thinking. Thank you for everything you did without even knowing who I am. Grateful for your work.
Rest well Om Malik.
Very sad to hear @om passed away. Gigaom became my window into tech when I was a teenager, and it helped create a lot of my ambitions to move to SF and do what I do today.
I'm from the generation that grew up blogging, drawing inspiration from the greats, especially @om. I remember being 12, slowing down playback just to keep up with him on GigaOm Show + CrankyGeeks.
Rest in peace, Om. Thank you for piquing my interest in writing about technology.
@LilianPertenava @om such a huge loss. spent hundreds of hours reading gigaom on the train to downtown brooklyn. he really shaped the early web 🥲
Not part of the tech scene, not a founder, not even a writer first (classically trained copy editor), making the news of @om passing that more shocking. Proud to say I got his emails till the end because there was always something to learn and explore. Awful loss.
@nbaschez Never had the pleasure of meeting him but was a big fan of his writing. Starting in the nineties there was a tech troika of writers that stood apart from everyone else: George Gilder, Kevin Kelly and Om Malik. Kevin Kelly is now the last one regularly writing.😣
Damn! I've been following @om's writing for decades now. His writing style makes you feel that you are listening to a close friend rather than reading an article. He will be missed.
RIP @om ❤️
I’ve read your writing for as long as I can remember. Always so sharp and so thoughtful.
I don’t think you’ll ever realize how many people and how much of the internet you’ve shaped.
Sigh, @om!
Om Malik inspired a generation of us - even a random blogger from India like me - to believe we could write for the world.
He'll be remembered for not only his sharp journalism and commentary but also the warmth he exuded. Rest in peace, sir.
I have been reading Om Malik since I was a teenager and was always struck by his ever-original insight and smooth way with words and photography. RIP @om and thank you for your teachings
RIP Om Malik. Learned so much from his writing over the years. He inspired an entire generation of startup and tech writers, including me.
With Om Malik gone, a part of my growing up on the internet has gone too. I was an ardent GigaOm fan until Om left. Had recently subscribed to his newsletter and was happy to receive his reading reccos. If I had to buy a piece of tech, I would check if he had written about it.
@sriramk This saddening :( I have vivid memories of reading GigaOM during college days. It was window to Silicon Valley from far away. RIP @om
Terrible news :( I never met @om in person, but his writing at shaped how I see startups and life. His clarity on tech, companies & culture was immaculate. May he rest in peace. Strength to his family & friends. Thank you, Om. Your words will live on.
Saddened to hear about the passing of Om Malik.
I first stumbled upon GigaOM while preparing a college assignment on GSM vs CDMA technology. Back then, it was more than a blog - it felt like a window into how technology was shaping the world.
Then in the early days of my first job, I kept reading GigaOM regularly. It quietly became part of how I learned to think about tech, startups, networks, and the internet.
Never got the chance to meet Om, but I wrote to him twice over the years - and both times he replied with kindness and generosity.
Amazing guy. Rest in peace.
Can't believe @om is no more. I learnt a lot about tech via his blogs in the last 25 years. We used to converse on life, movies.
Though we never met in real life (a regret I'll have to live with), he had a major influence on my thought process.
Rest in peace, Sir. Om Shanti🙏
In some ways, I feel like I grew up in tech reading @om 's blog.
While he was part of a larger cohort of investors who were writing back then, him and @bijan also would show their artistic side by posting their photographs over the years. The photos would span a variety of things, but they would often be of them going on walks together, bouncing between Boston, SF, and NYC, and documenting a life and career path I hoped to have in some way.
Seeing them share their art, alongside other more professional writing, might have made a much younger and uncertain version of myself feel like it was ok to do the same.
Many years later, I had the fortune of finally meeting Om. There are some people where you just kind of drop into it with immediately, and he was definitely one of them.
In our last meeting, as we talked more about life, it was then that we realized we shared a love for the things we expected (investing, photography) but we also shared the experience of living/dealing with heart conditions/complexities that we in some strange way bonded over as much as the prior two.
I wouldn't say Om and I were close friends, but I think we understood parts of each other in many ways relative to the small amount of time we spent together, and I can only imagine what those closest to him are feeling by losing him.
Rest in peace, Om.
man i'd never heard of @om before his passing, but reading all the tribute posts about him is very moving.
going to read his writing soon.
My entire X feed is full of people sharing memories of Om Malik. I’ve never seen one person touch so many lives so beautifully, and now I want to read everything about him. If you’ve found a good blog, podcast, or anything worth reading, please share.
For two days, I've been drowning in @om, his words, his photographs. I haven't wanted to come up.
It's been so long since writing did this to me. We're surrounded by people who learned to be loud - hooks, viral lines - and I only found the whole of his work the week it ended. I found him in his obituary.
Journalist, VC, photographer. And he never seemed to apologize for being all three at once. I've been doing the opposite - going quiet in AI rooms about the camera, about being an official Nikon ambassador, about the oldest love I have. Telling myself a founder who wants to win at all costs can't be seen doing art /storytelling aside.
Om did both - the photography - writer and the VC thing - and the valley loved him anyway. They're not really talking about the companies now. Just his pictures, his writing, how authentic he lived. The impact he had on them.
I had no reason to feel small about who I am. only my own guessing about how it would look.
So much of him is still left to read. It's strange to grieve someone you just met, and a gift to be handed a map by a man you'll never get to thank.
You'll be remembered, Om.
@om @trueventures
I never met Om Malik. I just read him — faithfully, for years. He wrote about technology the way a humanist would, always reaching for the why behind the what. The feed is quieter and shallower without him. Thank you, @om.
Just hearing of @om passing away. So sad. He was a great writer, artist, technologist, humanist
I recently finished the book “Theo of Golden” and couldn’t help but think of the parallels from Om to Theo. I never met Om in person, but when you read someone’s articles for 10+ years you feel like you know him.
I heavily referenced his interview with one of my heroes, Brunelo Cucinello, in my article on Humanistic Capitalism.
The article by @photomatt is a wonderful tribute, here’s an excerpt
“One of the biggest lessons I learned from Om is the deep appreciation of craft. When he took an interest in photography or pens, he would somehow find his way to the most obscure, highest-quality expression of that form. “What Would Om Want?” is a question I will always ponder. I want to craft products that would make Om proud.”
We will have to face our future without Om’s insights. Other voices will rise to the occasion, but unique voices like Om cannot be replicated.
We do have the benefit of his writing, the codex of the past will speak to our uncertain future. History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.
Om was an artist, I am glad I could be impacted by his artistry.
Rest in peace, brother Om.
📸 by @photomatt
Never met him, just admired his writing and friendships from afar. You never know what someone is going through. Rest in peace, @om.
“Why doesn’t the world realize that my Elvis is dead!” - The Tao of Steve Jobs, Om Malik @om
I so distinctly remember when I read the news of the passing of Steve Jobs, sitting in my hostel room, not able to understand why this news was affecting me so much.
While all the media and blogs were talking about the success of Steve’s products, Apple, his net worth and what not. Om’s words were perhaps the only ones that helped me process what I was feeling. Helping me feel understood.
Since then, I have come back to that same blog a lot of times. Perhaps once every year or so.
With every visit, I would wonder every now and then why I don’t see much of Om these days on my feed. With every visit, I got reminded of how the open web felt like a discovery, a meeting of minds across space and time in those days.
@om became a symbol of that time, a memory of the flavour of internet in late 2000s.
Today I learn he is no more. And here I am, a complete stranger to him, oddly feeling I will miss him.
Rest well, Om.
Serendipitously, I saw @om waiting at SFO baggage claim on the flight back from Iceland.
I told him his writing had shaped me over the years. His face lit up. He smiled so widely and gave me, a stranger, a hug.
That's it. That's Om.
Never met him, always read him.
He shares the same first name as my dad, and always owned all his interests outside of tech - which made me feel connected to him.
Rest in peace @om, had always thought i'd meet you one day. maybe next lifetime 🧡
Om Malik, 1966 to 2026.
We lost Om on Wednesday. He was 59. He wrote till the end.
I did not know Om the way @rwang0 " or @ValaAfshar did.I knew him the way thousands of us did. Through the writing, the photographs, and @DisrupTVShow DisrupTV on a Friday afternoon, where he always showed with something worth hearing.
He founded @gigaom GigaOm . He profiled Twitter before most of us had heard of it. He moved into venture capital at @trueventures and never put the pen down.
But the technology was never the point with Om. The point was how he saw. He pared things to their essence, in a photograph or a paragraph. He embraced imperfection. He called anxiety a catalyst for change.
And he had a simple test for who was worth your time. Be interesting. Be kind. Be generous. Give more than you receive. He lived all four.
Rest well, Om. Thank you for the way you saw the world.
Disruptv link
Stunned and saddened to read that Om Malik has passed:
"Om Malik passed away on June 24, 2026, at Stanford Hospital after a long health journey with his heart. He was surrounded by family and friends."
My condolences to his loved ones. I’ve been reading Om’s blog for years and always enjoyed his insight, and especially his interweaved creative endeavors. His photography has always been striking. He’ll be missed.
Om’s mos... jb.heydingus.net/2026/06/25/stunned-and-saddened-to-read.html
Terrible news about Om Malik. Feels weird to see someone you read for years die.
Om Malik, a pioneer and leader of online news media, allowed for people like me to build our own media ventures. I did not know him but I looked up to him so much.
Probably the one thing you should read about the late great Om Malik daringfireball.net/2026/06/om
I remember first hearing him with Leo Laporte on TWIT. Always interesting-59, too early.
www.nytimes.com/2026/06/26/technology/om-malik-dead....ore-android-share
Saddened to learn that longtime technology blogger and writer Om Malik passed away earlier this week. My sincerest condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew him.
When I started my business, I had very few reference points.
Being a hardcore cinephile, one was Baradwaj Rangan for critiquing movies and helping film-makers make better movies through his writings. He turned out to be a dear friend and did many podcast videos with him. Till date, I am the admin of his fanclub.
Next was Om Malik. I have never met him. Nor emailed him. But followed his writings diligently, especially during the early Web romance days. When I took the plunge to start KrishidotSystem (formerly Agribusiness Matters) in 2019, my naive business model began roughly with this question: Can I aspire to do to the world of agriculture what he did to Silicon Valley?
At a time, when it was crazy to think that a blog could become a worthy business model (instead of being a tech product manager), it was Om, among many others like Ben Thompson and Venkatesh Rao who inspired me to think that an alternative career design around writing, community, consulting and events is possible.
At one point, during the early days, I vividly remember copying his entire GigaOm business profile and replacing it word to word with Agribusiness Matters.
He made tech look humanistic, even though many times, it wasn't.
I hope he attains Sadgathi and his family discovers comfort in this profound moment of grief.
Om Malik passed away on June 24 at Stanford Hospital, California, after a long battle with heart disease. He was 59.
I never knew him personally; we were not friends. My connection to him was only through his words. Yet those words carried a distinct insistence: “Write like a human.”
Om once described his craft this way: “I use the twin lenses of technology and humanism to connect the dots and understand our present and future. I like to write like a human, steering clear of jargon and B-school speak.”
My own journalism career began around the dot-com era and the Y2K problem. Back then, I invested in magazines of every kind — technology, business, culture, art, society. In India, titles like BusinessWorld (brilliantly edited then by Tony Joseph) cost less than ₹10, and even cheaper with an annual subscription. But foreign magazines were expensive luxuries. Occasionally, I bought Fast Company, Wired, Forbes, Business 2.0, and Red Herring (the last two now defunct). It was in those pages that I first encountered Om Malik’s stories.
In 2001, Om launched his personal technology blog, GigaOm. By 2006, he had turned it into a company. At its peak, GigaOm was among the world’s 50 most influential technology blogs, shaping how we understood technology’s role in society. His writing drew me in — sharp, human, and deeply connected to the world it described.
Rest in peace, Om Malik. A man who taught us to see technology not just as code and commerce, but as part of the human story.
Om Malik photo by Chris Michel/om.co
#OmMalik #technology #humanity #business #impact #inspiration
Om Malik, Wegbereiter.
Als gestern der Newsletter von Om Malik in meinem Postfach landete, habe ich ihn nicht näher beachtet. Ein bis zweimal wöchentlich schickte er seine Beobachtungen und Analysen der Tech-Welt und ihrer Entwicklung. Aus der Bay Area und doch mit der nötigen Distanz. Gerade die langen Texte waren sehr lesenswert, zum Beispiel neulich über die Frage, welche Umsätze eine stabile KI-Adaption zeigen und welche nicht (so gut, dass ich sie auch in meinem Newsletter aufgegriffen habe). lnkd.in/dfuzVKKr Die Lektüre sparte ich mir immer für eine ruhige Minute auf.
In der gestrigen Ausgabe aber stand die Nachricht, dass Om im Alter von 59 Jahren gestorben ist.
Om war ein Pionier des digitalen Tech-Journalismus und verließ als einer der ersten ein etabliertes Medium, um etwas eigenes zu gründen: GigaOm, die älteren Zeitgenossen und -genossinnen kennen es.
Er war wie viele Akteure in der Bay Area jemand, der einerseits Teil des Betriebs war, andererseits die Vorgänge zu reflektieren und nüchtern zu analysieren versuchte. Anders als andere solcher Medienmenschen (Grüße an Josh C., Ex-TC) achtete er immer darauf, einem ethischen Kompass zu folgen, nicht zu hypen, und in den vergangenen Jahren auch klar die moralischen Irrwege der Branche aufzuzeigen.
Ohne Menschen wie Om Malik hätte ich mir in den Nullerjahren vielleicht einen anderen Weg gesucht. Ein einfacheres Thema als Digitalisierung, ein weniger nerdiges. Seine Analysen, seinen kritischen, nüchternen und nicht zuletzt gütigen Ton werde ich hier auf der anderen Seite der Welt vermissen.
Ruhe in Frieden.
Uma lágrima para Om Malik
Desde que comecei a escrever para clientes do setor de tecnologia, o blog de Om Malik se tornou referência obrigatória para mim.
Ele estava sempre por dentro, tinha uma visão crítica, décadas de experiência e era capaz de ler o contexto com profundidade.
Sua escrita simples agradava a todos.
E, pelo que leio no X, era também um grande ser humano.
Fará falta.
---
Minha vida é ler e escrever (post 1077). Um poeta que entende de negócios
🏆 Pensou em LinkedIn, pensou em Alquimia das Palavras
🧙 Post forjado com IA: Inteligência Alquímica
🔑 PoP (Proof of Poetry): palavras com Alma, Autenticidade e Estratégia.
Clique nos 3 pontinhos à direita e SALVE O POST! Envie para um contato no chat para espalharmos luz no mundo!
Agora que você me encontrou, peça conexão, honremos essa beleza
🙏 Om Malik (1966-2026) passed away earlier this week.
He was indeed a pioneer in #tech #journalism #blogging and #podcasts. For years, GigaOm was the place to go for not just the latest but more importantly, the most reliable and relevant stuff.
His own webpage, elegantly laid out in B/W, is an outstanding testament to clarity in communication om.co/about
His picture may remind some people of Vineet Panchhi.
👇 In 2006, Nikhil Pahwa included my views in on elf his earliest stories. He later founded MediaNama that has created a similar niche for itself. Incidentally, GigaOm, Content Sutra and MediaNama - all are in #Hinglish!
Dilip Cherian; Prasanto Kumar Roy; Dr. Swaran Lata
Internet Service Providers Association Of India; National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI);
Dang, this is a bit of a shock. Gigaom, to me, was basically a cross between Gartner and The Register (or more BOFH)… and was a lot more honest about the state of tech than most of the industry was willing to admit… RIP Om.
Checking Om Malik's posts was a daily gut check for years. He represented the optimism, the wonder and the buoyancy the valley before a billion became the new million.
After the passing of Om Malik last week, I spent a few hours over the weekend reading some of his work, including his fantastic 2015 interview with Brunello Cucinelli, suggested by Jason Fried.
To me, it's a beautiful reminder of what a business can be when its measure of success is not just financial performance.
Of course, making a profit is essential to staying in business, but the possibility is so much greater. At its best, a business can create meaningful work for employees, useful and beautiful products, better lives for customers, and a stronger sense of responsibility to the world around it.
That feels especially relevant now, when so much of what I read on LinkedIn is focused on speed, scale and automation.
Brunello Cucinelli shows that a business can stand for more than money. It can be a way to create dignity, beauty and care for the people it touches.
I'd recommend giving it a read: lnkd.in/eaYwKfcr
I was saddened to learn of the death of Om Malik. We never met. Yet, through his writing, he occupied a seat in what I think of as my virtual boardroom.
Over the years, people like Om, Seth Godin and Rohan Rajiv have quietly shaped how I think about business and leadership.
It reminded me that one of the greatest gifts of the internet is the opportunity to surround yourself with people who challenge your thinking.
If I could offer one piece of advice to any business leader, it would be to build a reading group, not an echo chamber.
#Leadership #Learning #Business #Reading #AI
Om Malik's passing sent me back to something I wrote in 2009, when the early web still felt wide open and Om, Fred Wilson, and Anthony DeRosa were helping many of us understand what it might become.
Resilient communities need trusted information systems, not just physical infrastructure, so people can understand what is happening and act when the picture is incomplete.
They also depend on what I call a “civic information social contract”: people contribute what they know so everyone can see the picture more clearly.
I write about that here.
So many lovely tributes to an absolute giant in so many senses Om Malik lnkd.in/e3iPwqxC
I was just telling someone about the old days, when I got my real start, at AOL HQ in Dulles, VA: running around CC1 in pencil skirts and heels; giving "feedback" to AKQA and Agency dot com on how to do design for our sprawling network specials; spying on the sports team because apparently they were building a thing called a podcasting studio somewhere in CC2; making game-day decisions on whether to put a message board or a chat room on every breaking new story because these colliding concepts of online community and citizen journalism were changing news, media, and entertainment.
In my downtime and between those hella commutes up and down the 66, I pored over everything published in GigaOm. I didn't think of it as tech journalism, and I didn't think of myself as working in tech, but I was on a steady diet of Rafat Ali's Paid Content, Kara Swisher's "There Must be a Pony," Clay Shirky's missives, Scoblizer, and probably a bit of Pink is the New Blog for good measure.
A lot has been said about the fawning and idolatry of early tech reporting and blogging but something about going to Om's writing and all of his headlines that topped my RSS feed felt trustworthy, sober. There was always a perspective put in context, and an intangible knowing that we were all witnessing and loosely part of something that was bigger than the rest of the world seemed to know about.
Most of these voices put their pens down and went into VC, applied their insights in other ways, but I'm sure in so many minds like mine, the story of tech and the Internet, Webs 1, 2, and 3, was shaped by the way that Om in particular saw it all -- with caution, care, and hope for the future.
Om Malik died on June 24th. I never met him, and I'm sorry I didn't.
We shared a love of photography, and I often agreed with his takes on technology and startups. I'm close to people who were close to him, so the loss has reached me all week secondhand, in the wide variety of posts by people who knew him far better than I ever would.
Unrelated and separately, I’ve been occasionally thinking about finality and mortality over the past few years. (And no, I don’t think it’s a midlife thing, thankyouverymuch ;)
So these memories, posts and recollections of Om Malik’s full life well lived, of a man being very intentional with his time and his focus brings up a few thoughts.
We treat mortality like it's morbid when it really isn’t. Instead, it’s the most honest planning tool we have.
Every hard decision, every complicated problem, gets simpler held up against the fact that it all ends, even if you don’t know when that might be:
From conversations, visits or activities you keep postponing, to work projects you're keeping alive out of habit to an idea or strategy you defend because you've already sunk too much into it. The things you choose to do and the things you choose not to.
Realizing this fact helps you focus on your version of the question "what will I truly regret not doing?"
Doesn’t matter if you work or don’t. If you’re rich or poor. Founders, artists, employees or retirees alike.
And yes, in a way this applies to companies, as well. For those of us involved in building or steering companies, just remember that those that endure, just as much as the people we actually remember, were never the ones who chased everything. They're the ones who knew what mattered and had the nerve and focus to act on it.
Om seems like a man who knew what mattered. My deepest sympathies to his many friends and his family.
I’ll leave you with a personal post by one of his friends, Christopher Michel, who shares a beautiful collection of words and photos: lnkd.in/gCgyg9jF
Rest in Peace Om Malik. I didn't know you but your writing shaped my understanding of tech for a decade. From your time at Red Herring to GigaOm, I trusted your take on tech and tech companies shaping the web and software. You will be missed!
John Gruber's tribute to Om is worth a read: lnkd.in/g_sfwK8G
The pioneering Tech Journalist Om Malik passed away recently. He was much admired for many qualities. Humility, Kindness, Talent, Foresight, Chutzpah and so much more.
Linkedin is a platform for getting a job, keeping a job, growing and getting better. Everyone has to start a career somewhere. This is Om’s origen story by Jason Hiner. It leaves me in awe of who Om was and what it takes. Worth a read.
I was saddened to hear of the passing of Om Malik this week. I’ve been a fan of his writing since the GigaOm years and loved hearing his take on tech and venture capital but loved even more his photography. Om was great writer and a trunk person of taste. In my mind he was the real World’s Most Interesting Man. He will be missed.
RIP Om Malik - I was proud as punch when I realised he did subscribe to my RSS feed and we had a chat on BlueSky…
Om Malik dies at 60 after long heart illness; tributes pour in for GigaOm founder and tech journalism pioneer lnkd.in/diimehX3
RIP Om Malik (1966-2026).
I don't think I ever had the privilege of meeting him, but I agree with his essay. It's more important than ever now that LLMs can write for us, often coherently and reasonably well:
"Be real. Write like a person. That is how your words will be unique because only you can be you."
RIP Om Malik
Love this eulogy written by Benjamin Clymer lnkd.in/eUikdpBb some great links to previous podcasts to get to know Om more.
Seeing my Linkedin feed, many great eulogies and especially this from Alastair Goldfisher lnkd.in/ezCQYUAj
Our thoughts are with his family, he will be remembered by friends and a far away gigaOm reader like me.
I remember first reading Om’s work in “Business 2.0.” He brought such a practical enthusiasm to the burgeoning tech sector. He was always infectious, honest, and direct. Some ideas are just bad. Lots of them, in fact. But when Om latched onto a good idea, you just KNEW it was going to be a banger.
I think I only met Om in person once, in the hotel lobby of the Web 2.0 Conf in SF (tickets were $2K)
But I read & replied via blogs & RSS since I started reading “industry news” at Nortel (I think he wrote for “Light Reading”, about fiber optics) & then his various blogs.
Condolences & love.
First came across Om through his photo blog in mid 2000s then got hooked to his tech writing.
I didn't know Om for very long, but for the handful of times we spoke, he was kind, generous with his time, and incredibly genuine.
Ouch.
It's been a few years since I've followed Om, but he was a regular part of my reading and listening diet for the better part of 15 years (before and during the Gigaom era).
Well this sucks. I never met Om, but read — and blogged — his stuff endlessly back when the internet and blogs were the best, most social, media.
Huge loss. Om was one of the very first tech journalists/thought-leaders I followed. He'll be missed.
One of the first tech bloggers I read. My condolences.
My all time fav tech blogger…sad to see this
shit. he was a thoughtful writer that i always enjoyed reading.
RIP
Oh I'm so sorry to hear this news! I never met him but enjoyed his writing for years, and I'm not even in the tech industry.
Very sorry about your friend. Like a lot of others I’m sure, I was impacted by his work many times over
I know him as one of the smartest commentators in tech.
I just heard about that. I'd followed his blog for years, but got out of the habit of checking RSS daily. It's sitting there in Akregator right now.
Your chat with him on Function was great, but I can't seem to find it anymore.
I didn't know @om, but his GigaOm publication started right as I first tuned into the Silicon Valley ecosystem as a sophomore at Stanford, and his writings were a key early window into startups and tech. You never know who reads what you write, and how it inspires them.
RIP Om.
Devastating. RIP Om Malik - 1966-2026.
I never met Om. But I admired his writing from afar. I read GigaOm back in the day when I was completely new to technology journalism and blogging.
I've loved his insightful blog posts on his blog "On My Om." Bookmarked so many blog posts to read later. He had a rare position where he could step back from the news and share something thoughtful as opposed to reacting immediately. I always learned something new reading his blog posts, even when I thought I had already read every other POV on a topic. His was the voice of experience.
I'm saddened there won't be any more blog posts. My prayers are with his family and closest friends.
As somebody growing up in small town India, so much of what I learnt about the world of tech was from bloggers like Om Malik. An incredible writer. Rest in peace @om
RIP Om Malik @om - I grew up reading GigaOm to stay connected with Silicon Valley from across the globe. As a brilliant independent journalist, the foresight you brought to every product launch inspired a whole new way of thinking. You will be missed.
Devastated to learn of Om Malik's untimely passing. He was only 60 years young.
Om defined the late 2000s / early 2010s for me when I was just starting out with blogging and ramping up @AndroidPolice. GigaOm was such a force back then.
RIP, @om.
RIP 🙏
Like millions of readers he influenced, I knew him through his blog posts. I started to read his GigaOm blog way back in ~2006.
I was extremely sad to see GigaOm along with other tech blogs of that era begin to fade away, I presume due to business model challenges.
His writings were one of the most influential and deeply thoughtful pieces for a tech enthusiast like me.
Today I am extremely saddened to hear the news that going forward readers will no longer get to read his thoughtful takes and masterpiece writings. But I am sure he will always remain in our collective memories when we think of his era.
OmShanti 🙏
This is devastating. @om was one of the first people I started reading when I got on the Internet. His work helped me understand tech space, and set the standard for tech blogging in a way with GigaOm project. So sad Om is gone. May he rest in peace.
Very sad to hear that Om Malik (@om) is no more. One of the OGs of tech journalism on the internet, but there was so much more to him.
I was an avid follower of his blog GigaOm till it shut down a few years back. The best takes on data center, networking technology and more.
Really sad to hear of @om passing. GigaOm was one of those first places where I’d go to read thoughtful commentary on the tech industry. Such a great loss
RIP @om. Having been in the tech space for 30 years, Gigaom was always one of my favorite reads. I'll miss its dense, profound thoughts on tech and life.
Oh man. @om passed away? Sad.
One of the people I followed when I was getting into tech blogging in college.
RIP 🙏🕊️
My early exposure to tech was thanks to @om. He made it so accessible and understandable. Really sorry to hear of his demise. Om Shanti!
Sad that Om Malik passed away. I used to follow his blog religiously back in the day.
One of the best tech minds I followed GigaOm -> Mr Om Malik 🙏🏽
Rest in peace, @om. 🙏
I never got a chance to interact with or meet Om, although he seemed like the kind of person one would love to chat with over a cup of coffee. I wish I had.
I started following him back in high school and university, when everyone was blogging and subscribing to RSS feeds. :) As someone who was also interested and dabbled in tech journalism at the time, I admired his thoughtful writing and photography.
Loved by many, I'm sure he will be missed.
om malik was probably one of the first bloggers i subscribed to on my google reader. RIP! 😔
I miss the days of RSS feed readers and blogs/websites. I had a mean eclectic mix of great sites for sure. @om was one of them for sure!
Om was one of the first people I followed here, and his blog has lived in my bookmarks since day one. RIP, @om
Rest in peace @om
When I got on Twitter in 2008, his account one of the earliest I used to follow regularly.
Go well Om.
Om Malik was one of the first internet people I followed. Loved his grounded and nuanced point of views on tech.
RIP @om !
Om Malik was the one of the first sv based blogger that I read regularly. Om shanti !
One of my earliest daily rituals on the web was reading Om Malik @om. Rest in peace.
just heard the news about @om
i used to engage with his content often back in the day. his perspectives on startups and the human side of tech. learned so much from his blog and also his photography.
true twitter og.
his legacy lives on ❤️
So saddened by the news about Om Malik (@om). I have followed his work for two decades, since the early days of the tech blogosphere.
We all learned so much from him.
I admire his writings, his unique voice as an opinion leader, and his thoughtfulness.
He was such a legend. RIP.
RIP, @om. It was great to read you for 20 years.
Wow so sad to hear about this. I came across his writing years ago. RIP @om
There are a few voices in the tech news analysis sphere that I always found insightful, and that I always emerged feeling just a little bit more educated because I read or listened to what they had to say. @Ihnatko, @gruber, @film_girl and @om
RIP Om Malik 🙏
Farewell @om. You will be missed.
Someone who initially got to know you through your writings at GigaOm, and your voice at Gillmor Gang.
Om Malikさんの訃報に接し、心からお悔やみ申し上げます。10年以上前、Omさんが作ったエンタープライズITメディアのGigaOM(いまはリサーチ企業)を知り、すごく影響を受けて毎日読み込み、年次イベントにも参加していました。自分にとっての原点のひとつが消えたようで本当に悲しい。どうか安らかに。
Om Malikさん、亡くなったんだ。GigaOmが懐かしい。R.I.P. /
还挺震惊的，Om Malik去世的消息以newsletter的方式传到邮箱里RIP
Me acabo de enterar y es un noticia muy triste... cuando me involucre de pleno con los blogs allá por 2003, uno de los referentes a los que leí con asiduidad fue Om Malik y su GigaOm del que aún guardo varios enlaces... una pena
Falleció @om, alguien a quien leíamos mucho en el mundo de la tecnología de hace unos 15 años.
Boa parte da minha educação em hardware e tecnologia vieram desse cara aqui.
Grande Om Malik. Obrigado.
Legenda americké technologické novinařiny Om Malik zemřel. Čest jeho památce, četl jsem ho velmi rád a v poslední době jsem se obával toho, proč tak málo píše... 🖤
Dear @om,
Thank you for your contribution to the world of tech. I followed your work religiously for years.
Go well, sir. May the angels be with you.
Rest In Peace.
Oh my god, this is horrible news. I was still actively reading his On My Om newsletter, too.
RIP @om Malik.
I've been reading Om's work for what seems like forever (in internet years) and always appreciated his insights on tech and society and his appreciation for fountain pens. Big loss.
RIP, @om as I have read your work from Gigaom to Crazy Stupid Tech.
Om Malik @om. I've read your work for as long as I can remember. This is such a shock and feels unbearable. I'll miss you.
RIP @om - his words, ideas and wisdom over the years played a significant role in informing and shaping the way I’ve thought about technology, the internet and the startup world.
Still processing the news about @om - condolences and much love to his family & friends.
I started following Om’s writings as part of his blog & grew to appreciate the striking photos, its role in shaping the future - I’m glad that we got a chance share this part of his life.
I am a long-time follower and fan of @om and will always be. RIP Sir.
RIP @om. Learned a lot with your writing.
Never had a chance to meet @om in person -though I would have loved to-, but I was an avid reader of @gigaom and more recently his personal blog. I learned so much from him and love his writing style.
May he rest in peace and may his friend and family find solace.
😢 to hear of the passing of @Om Malik. A kind, gentle, good person, and I have followed and loved his work for ages.
I think I ended up following @om maybe 10 years ago? Never really heard him on any podcasts, but he would consistently come up on @x through my follows. Liked his vibe, photos, outlook. One of those guys I wanted to know more about. Easy to understand the love he's getting.
Small Talk : Episode 035
RIP Om Malik
I knew Om only through his work, but reading John Gruber’s obituary of him made my eyes misty.
I only knew Om Malik through GigaOm (what a badass name!) and then through his insightful writing
The tributes to him are so heartwarming and personal
He clearly inspired and mentored so many people!
What a blessing for those who knew him personally
This was an amazing read.
I’ve seen the different posts about @om and started reading some of his stuff.
Very enjoyable. I wish I discovered it earlier.
RIP @om Malik. I read many of his analyses and commentary when I started out as a young technology analyst.
We need more of his humanity in tech than ever before. 🙏 #GigaOm
Create and provide value to others. Only real currency. Never knew @om but always admired him and followed him from a distance. Not the hours you lived that count but the lives you touched. Om's was clearly a life well-lived by that measure.
Rest in peace @om . I grew up reading your articles as a young software engineer to what I’m today. I still subscribed to your beautiful writings and it was quite shocking to hear this. You left us in a good place.
And then there was everyone else — the people who had no story to tell, only a goodbye. In every language, they said the same thing.
Om would have turned 60 on September 29, 2026. His friends are planning OmFest — a celebration, because he loved putting on a good conference.
The remembrances and obituaries his friends shared most.
Daring Fireball · John Gruber · June 2026
“"He did not mince words" and "Everyone loved him" do not usually apply to the same person.”
The remembrance his friends shared most.
ma.tt · Matt Mullenweg · June 2026
“Om's last word was 'love.'”
By his best friend.
Stacey Higginbotham · June 2026
“Yes, he was cranky and unimpressed by bullshit or sloppy thinking, but he fundamentally believed in people.”
From the journalist he mentored at GigaOm.
Hodinkee · June 2026
The watch world's farewell, shared by Kevin Rose — "a wonderful tribute on one of his favorite sites."
Sean Bonner · June 29, 2026
“Om cared about people, he saw them, he tried to help when he could.”
On what actually lasts.
Brian.blog · Brian Sirgutz · June 28, 2026
“You are gathering us, turning a room full of strangers into people who were never strangers at all, making us less alone.”
On Professor Om, the Omies, and the art of being seen.
pradeep.md · June 25, 2026
“Om was absolutely kin to courageous folk who take pride in craftsmanship, aim for excellence, and try really damn hard to be good people.”
A founder on the notes that always arrived exactly when they were needed.
Naveen Selvadurai · June 25, 2026
“Maybe his true platform wasn't the one-to-many broadcast; maybe it was the close one-to-one connection of small words.”
By his closest friend — on the big words and the small ones.
The New York Times · June 26, 2026
“An investor, an adviser, a writer and, above all, a moral compass on issues like privacy and the power of big tech.”
Even the grey lady had something to say.