In Loving Memory Of Om Malik, Friend, Writer, Venture Capitalist, And Ever The Believer - Hodinkee
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In Loving Memory Of Om Malik, Friend, Writer, Venture Capitalist, And Ever The Believer
Om Malik was an early believer in Hodinkee, and me, and a lover of all kinds of watches. He will be missed.
Benjamin Clymer
June 26, 2026
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I made a decision long ago to never use Hodinkee as a personal platform – rather, to keep it to professional writing about things that impact people who come here solely for watches. Today, I may be breaking my own rule, but sometimes, some things are worth it – or in this case, some people. Om Malik died yesterday at Stanford Hospital after a prolonged fight with issues related to his heart.
For those who don't know Om, he was born in India, educated in the UK, and was one of the first people to take legacy media brands online (he was a founding member of the Forbes.com team in 1997!) After that, he launched an early and important digital business publication called GigaOm, as well as contributing to the likes of Business 2.0, the WSJ, and more. He is credited with being among the first people to cite companies that would shape the world, such as Twitter, and being part of their fabric at times. One such example is Hodinkee.
Om reached out to me via Twitter in January of 2012. I went back tonight and checked. In those early emails, we talked mostly about watches – he attended an event I hosted for the Harry Winston Opus 12. And another for the Cartier ID2. He came to Nomos launch parties (before they were in the USA), and the same for Tudor. He was early and awesome with Hodinkee, and watches for that matter, but that's not why I'm writing this post tonight.
Om practicing his love of time lapse photography with me on a trip to the Bay Area.
Om changed my life. He did it in many ways, often slowly and with subtlety, always with kindness and eminent belief in me. It was serendipitous, perhaps, that after his time with GigaOm, he would join True Ventures as a partner, who, thanks to his friendship with Kevin Rose and Tony Conrad, had become Hodinkee's earliest and most ardent supporters. But even as Hodinkee went out to conquer the watch world (or whatever we used to say ten years ago to get people excited about what we were doing), our conversations seldom were about watches.
They were about life, friendships, and finding meaning in those around you. A prime example of this was actually a conversation we recorded back in just the fourth episode ever of Hodinkee Radio. Stephen and I were talking about collecting watches, he was talking about "collecting people", or rather, relationships that mean something to you in a truly authentic way. It was around that time that Cara and I were just getting together, and I remember calling her after the chat with Om, and saying to her that I was sure she was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
This photo was taken in July of 2015 in San Francisco – I am quite sure with one of the many Leica cameras he and I loved to share.
Om in the Hodinkee offices in NYC, circa 2019.
As the years went on, and my relationship grew more professional with his firm, True Ventures, he always acted as a sounding board and voice of reason, and though his bills were paid by True, I never had a doubt in my mind that he was on my side and simply wanted the best for me. Frankly, I could say the same about everyone at True Ventures (and I have in an upcoming Harvard Business School Case Study to publish in the coming months), and Om approached me and Hodinkee with even greater love and care.
As for the watches? Man, the dude had good taste. He bought one of the first Eichi II's in the world when it came out. He was into Moser in 2016, Ressence even earlier. He loved to support actual independents, from Laurent Ferrier to Autodromo. He loved to meet the people...