Om Malik
Born 1966 · Age 59
Indian-American web and technology writer, founder of Gigaom, author of Broadbandits, and longtime venture partner at True Ventures.
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Life & Career Timeline
Graduated St. Stephen's College (Delhi University)
Completed an honors degree in chemistry from St. Stephen's College, Delhi (Delhi University).
Early journalism roles in New Delhi
Held several journalism positions in New Delhi including work at VP Fun and Newsmen Features, specializing in lifestyle features.
Moved to London and spent time in Eastern Europe (period)
Spent time living and working in London and traveled/ worked in parts of Eastern Europe (dates approximate; reported as part of early-career travels).
Joined Forbes (writer)
Began working at Forbes (later became one of founding staffers of Forbes.com).
Moved to New York City to write for India Abroad
Relocated to New York City to take a writing role at India Abroad, beginning his US journalism career.
Launched DesiParty.com
Launched DesiParty.com, an events site targeted at Indian immigrants (late 1994).
Co-founded South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA)
Co-founded SAJA to represent South Asian journalists in the U.S.
Helped launch Masala magazine and Masala.com
Participated in launching Masala, a magazine and web portal aimed at the South Asian diaspora.
Original member of Forbes.com team
Was on the original digital team that launched Forbes.com under David Churbuck.
Left Forbes.com for Hambrecht & Quist Asia Pacific (brief)
Took a role as an investment manager at Hambrecht & Quist Asia Pacific but stayed only a few months before returning to journalism.
Moved to San Francisco to write for Business 2.0
Relocated to San Francisco to become a writer for Business 2.0 magazine.
Began pioneering independent tech blogging
Pivoted from magazine journalism to frequent, original online commentary—becoming a leading voice in tech blogging.
Started Gigaom (tech blog)
Launched Gigaom as a personal technology blog (start date Dec 13, 2001).
Investigative work on telecom bubble (research leading to book)
Investigated telecom industry fraud during the dot-com and telecom bubbles; research culminated in a later book.
Published 'Broadbandits: Inside the $750 Billion Telecom Heist'
Authored and published Broadbandits (Wiley), investigating fraud in telecom during the dot-com era.
Gigaom received seed funding from True Ventures (company buildout)
With seed funding from True Ventures, transformed Gigaom from a one-person blog into a broader media and research company (year reported by Om's site; amount not disclosed).
Announced working on Gigaom full-time
Publicly announced he would focus on Gigaom full-time (June 12, 2006).
Early media coverage of Twitter
Wrote a July 2006 post about Twitter credited as one of the first media write-ups about the service.
Hosted 'The GigaOm Show' on Revision3
Hosted the GigaOm Show podcast on Revision3 with Joyce Kim (July 2007–March 2008).
Business 2.0 magazine ceased; Malik had regular column until its demise
Business 2.0 folded in October 2007; Malik had continued as a contributing editor and columnist until then.
Named #12 on Forbes 'Web Celeb 25' for technology blogging
Forbes ranked Malik #12 on its Web Celeb 25 list for technology blogging (Dec 2007 report).
Suffered a heart attack
Suffered a heart attack (Dec 28, 2007); it prompted re-evaluation of priorities and lifestyle changes.
Joined True Ventures as a venture partner
About nine months after his heart attack (2008) he joined True Ventures as a venture partner, beginning his venture investing career.
Gigaom listed in CNET's Blog 100 index and top Technorati ranks
Gigaom was listed in the Blog 100 Index by CNET and was among Technorati's top 50 blogs worldwide (dates cited around 2007–2008).
Socialcast acquired by VMware (portfolio exit True/Gigaom connections)
Socialcast, a company Malik had been board member/observer of via True Ventures, was acquired by VMware (May 31, 2011).
Sponge (board observer) acquired by Kurtosys
Sponge, where Malik was a board observer, was acquired by Kurtosys (August 2011).
Oversaw True Ventures investments that later exited (examples)
As part of True, Malik oversaw investments which later had exits (examples include investments that led to later acquisitions listed below).
Lexity (board observer) acquired by Yahoo
Lexity, where Malik was a board observer for True, was acquired by Yahoo (August 2013).
Naturalized as a U.S. citizen (reported)
Reports (TechCrunch) indicate Malik had become an American citizen by August 2013.
Left Gigaom
Announced departure from Gigaom (left the company in January 2014).
Became a full partner at True Ventures
Transitioned from venture partner to full-time partner at True Ventures (reported in 2014; Om later described becoming full partner then).
Glider acquired (True-backed investment) by FPX
Glider, a productivity web service where True had invested (Malik oversaw the investment), was acquired by FPX in April 2014.
Little Inc (board observer) acquired by Yahoo
Little Inc, a mobile app company where Malik was a board observer, was acquired by Yahoo (October 2014).
Gigaom faced financial difficulty; ceased regular operations
Gigaom had been struggling financially; Malik had left earlier (2014); company continued to face difficulties heading into 2015.
Gigaom ceased operations abruptly
Gigaom ceased operations in March 2015 due to financial difficulty.
Gigaom acquired by Knowingly Corporation
Remaining assets and brand of Gigaom were acquired by Knowingly Corporation in May 2015.
Narrative board role and later wind-down
Served on the board of Narrative (wearable cameras company), which later went out of business in mid-2016.
Storehouse board role; company acquired by Square
Was on the board of Storehouse (visual storytelling platform); Storehouse was acquired by Square in mid-2016.
TwinPrime board role; acquired by Salesforce
Served on the board of TwinPrime (wireless technology company); TwinPrime was acquired by Salesforce in late 2016.
Metamarkets (True investment) acquired by Snap
Oversaw True's investment in Metamarkets, which was acquired by Snap (October 2017).
Over (board) acquired by GoDaddy
Over, a social media marketing and content-focused company where Malik was on the board, was acquired by GoDaddy (Jan 2020).
Reported investments and board observers (ongoing)
Continued investments and board/observer roles in multiple startups (examples: System, Ditto, Petasense, Academia.edu, Callstats.io, Veniam, Everywear Games).
Angel investments (portfolio highlights)
Has made angel investments in companies including early Slack, Sightglass Coffee, Stoffa, among others (dates vary; Om has said he no longer holds Slack equity).
Partner emeritus transition at True Ventures (reported)
Om has stated he transitioned to partner emeritus at True Ventures and focuses on trend prediction and advising the team (date not precisely specified).
Public presence and commentary (ongoing)
Continues to write on his personal site, provide commentary for TV/radio (Bloomberg, NPR, BBC, CNN, CNBC), and maintain photography portfolio; remains a noted tech commentator and investor.
Profile and interviews about tech history and future
Subject of interviews and deep-dive pieces discussing decades in tech journalism and venture investing (e.g., interview pieces and analysis appearances).
Key Achievement Ages
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