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Om Malik has died

om.co

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Re: Om Malik has died

#111

Post by hnmullany »

sokoloff wrote: post #86
mikeyouse wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a really tremendous streak of people helping people with no strings attached that I hadn’t found anywhere else I’ve lived. Especially but not exclusively on the engineering / product side - for a long time you could take a greyhound to Soma and have a couch to crash on and a job interview lined up without knowing anyone. Introductions are made without a second thought (extremely contrary to my east coast exp…

As a life-long east coaster, I am reluctant/unwilling to make an introduction of someone I don’t know at all. It’s not that I have to get something of worth to make an intro, but I think my intro carries an implied vouch (at least a tiny one) and I can’t do that if I don’t know you. If I know you and can actually vouch for you, I’ll happily make any intro where I stand to gain nothing. I somewhat frequently get a col…

I think the strength of the "vouch" is understood to be much weaker in Silicon Valley - it's more like - I've talked to this guy for 30mins to an hour and I can vouch that he (or she) is not a waste of time for you to talk to them for a similar amount of time. It's not a vouch that they're the next Steve Jobs or you have diligenced their background.

Re: Om Malik has died

#113

Post by fmajid »

meindnoch wrote: post #95
fmajid wrote: post #34

Om and I went a long way back. I tried to convince him RSS was the way journalism could escape capture by Big Tech. In retrospect, showing him the ad-blocking features of my feed reader might not have been the most persuasive... He was a tremendously funny character. What's little known about him was he was a bag fiend just as much as a camera lover. A big chocolate enthusiast as well, until his heart troubles forced…

A bag fiend?

Someone who enjoys collecting backpacks, briefcases, messenger bags etc. I recall meeting him by chance near South Park and comparing notes on our bags of the day.

Re: Om Malik has died

#114

Post by jeffiel »

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.

Re: Om Malik has died

#115

Post by ChrisRR »

schappim wrote: post #99

No black bar? I guess Om was before the mods' time.

I think we've reached the point where so many people who were influential in early computing are dying that HN would just have a permanent black bar

Re: Om Malik has died

#117

Post by Dumblydorr »

brtkwr wrote: post #73
mikeyouse wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a really tremendous streak of people helping people with no strings attached that I hadn’t found anywhere else I’ve lived. Especially but not exclusively on the engineering / product side - for a long time you could take a greyhound to Soma and have a couch to crash on and a job interview lined up without knowing anyone. Introductions are made without a second thought (extremely contrary to my east coast exp…

Does that not extend beyond tech founders? I hear that SF has one of the highest rates of homelessness...

It’s a fair point about the valley’s tremendous wealth and problems, but what would Om say? It’s a little off the topic of remembering his life and work?

Re: Om Malik has died

#120

Post by znpy »

brtkwr wrote: post #73
mikeyouse wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a really tremendous streak of people helping people with no strings attached that I hadn’t found anywhere else I’ve lived. Especially but not exclusively on the engineering / product side - for a long time you could take a greyhound to Soma and have a couch to crash on and a job interview lined up without knowing anyone. Introductions are made without a second thought (extremely contrary to my east coast exp…

Does that not extend beyond tech founders? I hear that SF has one of the highest rates of homelessness...

> I hear that SF has one of the highest rates of homelessness...

My understanding is that homelessness in California is a business similar to dating apps (tinder etc).

If dating apps would actually find you a partner, they would all go out of business. So dating apps mainly keep you on the hook, fishing for subscriptions.

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