Join the discussion
Write your take first — we'll ask for email only when you're ready to publish.
- Hacker News
- Personally, it's sad news for me and many other founders Om helped.
Back in 2008, my company, TringMe, was making news with browser-based telephony. We had been covered by TechCrunch, but never by GigaOM. So I decided to email Om directly and ask, half-jokingly, "Are we not worth your time?" I also asked if he had any advice.
He apologized, explained that health issues had limited his writing, assured me it was never personal, and then offered a simple piece of advice: "Bring me fresh and exclusive information."
We took that advice seriously. Our next launches, VoicePHP and the first Mobile VoIP app for BlackBerry, were both covered by GigaOM.
What I remember is not the coverage, but the kindness in his reply. He did not have to respond to a founder he barely knew, let alone with honesty, encouragement, and actionable advice. We stayed in touch after that.
Thank you, Om. Rest in peace.
by mesibo - Take care of your heart, people. If you smoke, quit. If you eat a high cholesterol diet, change it. If you don’t exercise, start.
Heart disease sneaks up on you, and it can happen to anyone. There are frequently no warning signs, as without an angiogram, there’s no clear indicator in normal checkups (EKG can look normal the day before MI, coronary arteries are the same density as surrounding tissue on normal no-contrast xray).
Most people’s very first sign that they have heart disease is a totally unexpected first heart attack. 60% of them die of it, within minutes of their first symptom.
If you have familial history, be extra careful. There are new groundbreaking drugs like Repatha that can slow the progress a TON.
You aren’t special, it along with cancer are the #1 cause of non-accidental death if you make it to adulthood. It doesn’t discriminate.
by sneak - A handful of unsalted nuts consumed daily helps the heart.by __patchbit__
- I'm no expert but two actionable diagnostics everyone over 45 should do:
- Blood pressure check - Fasting cholesterol blood test.by kristianp - I still remember him being one of the best writers about tech (a bit more than "journalism" in that a lot of it was of more evergreen value...) from the dotcom boom and then the peak "interesting" web apps period (2004-~2015 or so, when AJAX/etc was still new, and things hadn't calcified so much). Didn't know about his later health issues, I assumed he had just moved on to other interests naturally. RIP.by rdl
- Very sad reading his penultimate blog post: https://om.co/2026/06/08/taking-a-few-days-off/
- Sounds like he was reading something he enjoyed in the last few weeks, I hope.by Dumblydorr
- Wow, Om was one of my first bosses. It’s hard to separate my memory of him from the era; he defined it. I have such nostalgia for both. He loved tech and startups… not buzzy tabloid stuff, but true journalism. A lot of people may not know GigaOM, but he helped shape a generation of tech.
Thanks for everything, Om. I was a fan before I worked for you, loved my time on Pier 1 in SF, and have always appreciated your steadfast love for technology.
by gkoberger - "I like to write like a human, steering clear of jargon and B-school speak."by bravura
- GigaOM was truly awesome at its best. Om was a special guy, I met him a few times during my years in the Bay Area. He really embodied that selflessly-helping side of the Valley: helping others with no expectations, just because it’s good. He helped one of my startups get some exposure. I keep trying to pay it forward. I will miss him.by cobbzilla
- "the selflessly-helping side of the Valley"
Never having lived in the valley, I've struggled to understand what it means.
Can anyone share some examples?
- He was a genuinely good person, and a genuinely honest voice, in an industry that had very few back when he was one of its pioneers, and has far, far fewer of those things today. A lot of people will write nice words about Om, and he deserves them, but a lot of those people won't necessarily live the values that they admire about him, because that's a lot harder to do.
He was unfailingly kind, but he did not ever compromise on doing the right thing, or calling out moral failings. It's a wonderful tribute to him to see so many people talk about how Om supported them, or opened doors for them, or lifted up their careers; I think the thing we owe him is not just to carry that work forward, but to do it with the same character, conscience and consistency of principle that he did.
by anildash - what are your best Om stories?by swyx
- I’ll share my favorite Om story.
It was 2010 and we were launching Twilio SMS. I went over to his office to pitch him the story, hoping we would cover the launch. He listened for 10 minutes while I walked through it, then said
“Yeah yeah I’ll write about it. But I want to talk about your health. Are you taking care of yourself? You could lose some weight…”
He wanted everybody to learn from his health journey. While mostly I wanted him to cover our news, and it was terribly awkward… walking home, I realized it was nice to be seen as a person not just a founder, a startup or a tech story.
by jeffiel - lmao welpby iwontberude
- Thanks for sharing this one, Jeff. I was a big fan of Twilio since launch, and I think I remember that article (I was at AWS back then, in a Tech Evangelist role, so most "new" startups on the block passed in front of me one way or another).
I'm sure there are thousands of stories about Om, and only some of them are here in this thread.
I briefly met him in 2012 or 2013, but didn't really interact with him much. But I kind of liked him a lot, and kept following his writings.
RIP.
- That's an incredibly nice story.
Are you taking better care of yourself?
by kevmo - Ha! I had a similar story, Om saw me and a group of other engineers that our boss briefly introduced as he was walking through our offices, and Om remarked: "You are working these guys too hard ... they look like they don't get enough sleep." Which was true ... we were pulling all nighters to get our release in shape for demos. It was nice to see a visitor acknowledge our health sacrifices for the company ... a whole bunch of other journalists came through too ... and nobody else commented on our appearance/health.
- This is devastating. Om was the godfather of early tech blogging and lifted up so many people around him. He was kind, caring and compassionate.
When I first started blogging around 25 years ago, he would have been amongst the first 10 readers. He linked to me, emailed me privately with feedback, praised posts and would call bullshit when he saw it.
He was never competitive with other blogs or bloggers and was never tied up in drama. He was very often a mediator in behind the scenes conflicts and was obsessed with truth over getting the scoop.
He loved tech and startups and most of all loved seeing other succeed and didn't have a gram of resentment within himself.
Everybody from that post-dotcom crash era of tech owes Om a large debt of gratitude. He will be missed. RIP Om.
by nikcub - Oh wow. What?! Just this morning I had an occasion to go thru his site/blog.
Still can't believe it. 60 is too young.
I met Om finally in 2013-ish at one of his GigaOm events in the SF Bay Area. Before that, I had been a long time reader of his GigaOm blogs and other writings at Fast Company, Red Herring, Light Reading, and elsewhere, including his book Broadbandits. He was one of the few bloggers / reporters who wrote it as he saw it; his takes were often brutally honest and pointed. He called upon the excesses of various telecom execs during the dot-com and telecom bust of 2000-2001/2. His book Broadbandits is basically an invective of the go-go days of telecom companies' incestuous deals (now seen in the AI companies too).
I had a few more occasions to meet him at dinners around the Bay Area. He was always gracious, and listened intently to what people said. As a venture partner, he focused on the people (founder) and their stories much more on the businesses.
I had heard about his troubles with his heart (~age 40-ish), which made him turn his life around to focus on only a few things that brought him joy - writing, photography, travels.
He will be missed. RIP, Om.
--- (Update: the book is Broadbandits (not Telecom Bandits, as I mistakenly wrote)
by aanet - My GigaOm backpack is still going strong - good merchby dlev_pika
- The guy was legit awesome and so kind. I have similar experienceby glohbalrob
- About 11 years ago, I cold-emailed Om for his guidance. I was an absolute nobody, living thousands of miles away. Not only did Om patiently explain how I should think about my career, he kept in touch over the past decade checking in on how I was doing. I left journalism last year to do something else -- coincidentally, again, following Om's footsteps -- and had been meaning to write a long email, sharing so much. I deeply regret missing the chance to have another conversation with him.
Om has been deeply impactful to my journalism career and beyond. He was way too kind and leaves a big vacuum.
by jmsflknr - Say more..by artur_makly
- "Om patiently explain how I should think about my career" - care to share what Om explained to you?
- You might find it helpful to write the email, if you can find the time. Even if you never get to send it.by n4r9