Om Malik: Pioneering Blogs (Part 5)

One of the seminal moments in Om’s evolution has been his stint at Forbes.com, which at the time, intersected with the infancy era of online media.

SM: How did you get involved with Forbes? OM: Forbes had a piece on ARPANET which had a really profound impact on me. From there I kept building. Forbes was looking to start a website, to be one of the first mainstream publications to cover technology, online. Nobody knew when it was going to happen, but since Forbes was on CompuServe I used to read their stuff all the time. I hounded this guy, for 7 or 8 months, almost like a stalker, and I convinced him he had to meet with me because if he didn’t he was going to miss an opportunity of a lifetime, or so I thought. I basically wore him down, and he met with me and about 15 minutes later he offered me a job. The rest is history.

SM: Forbes.com was the second big opportunity? OM: I don’t see the breakthroughs in terms of the publication I worked with. It is actually the editors I worked with. At the teen magazine the editor I worked with almost treated me like a son. He pushed me really hard and made me a better reporter. David Churbuck at Forbes.com was one of the best known technology writers in the country. He didn’t just write a story, he thought about strategy and analysis, and everything that went into it. Sitting with him and working on a daily basis, with five other guys, to build a brand new website was fantastic.

By then I had started my own website and built it into a thriving little business which was bringing in enough money to live in relative comfort.

SM: What was your site at that time? OM: It was a party site, DesiParty.com. That was very early, I started it in 1994 and eventually it died. That is a regret I have. I wish I had taken venture capital for that and turned it into something. However, I am a big believer in that “everything has a time and place” theory. You can’t fight your destiny.

SM: No, you can’t and it doesn’t really matter because there will be other opportunities. OM: I left Forbes.com in late 1999, after it had been very established and successful. I think it was a great opportunity because not only did I get to work with David, but I also got to work with Jim Michaels who is like the Michael Jordan of journalism. He clearly was not my boss, but he took time to teach me. Tim Forbes was always encouraging of trying new things.

[to be continued]

[Part 4]
[Part 3]
[Part 2]
[Part 1]

This segment is part 5 in the series : Om Malik: Pioneering Blogs
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