

Is Om Malik sad? - nader
http://rashmash.com/is-om-malik-sad/103/

======
w1ntermute
As Mike Arrington has proven, a large part of growing your presence on the
internet (read: becoming known by the masses) involves selling out and
engaging in morally questionable activity (not to mention evolving into an
enormous dick). Om is probably glad that he didn't compromise his integrity
like Arrington did to get attention of the masses. He gets more than enough
attention from those that matter.

------
mrkurt
Probably not. His demographics are epic. Random refreshes of Gigaom give me
the following ads in the "lead" spot:

* Sprint * Best Buy * Cisco * Brightcove

The same exercise on TechCrunch gives me:

* Google ads * Graphical Google ads * Google ads * Google ads

Techcrunch runs way more ads per page. Based on the prices of those
sponsorship squares ($15,000/mo for ~20 million impressions = ~$.75/cpm), I'm
guessing they're all pretty bargain basement. It's just not worth running
stuff like that if you're a site like Gigaom.

------
malbiniak
So that's the measure of success? If I were Om, I'd be sad about being
compared to the sensational journalism of Mashable, or the world according to
Arrington.

Om's content is far better than the other 2, but that's just my opinion.

~~~
nader
For me GigaOm's, or, ReadWriteWeb's content for example, is better than the
other two. Mashable is quite good for Social Media News, even if it's
sensational.

I'm wondering though if the quality content of GigaOm with fewer readers (how
many GigaOm Pro subscribers might there be?) makes him "happy" in terms of
revenue.

------
webwright
I don't think he's sad. He caters to a smaller (and I think more influential)
audience than TechCrunch/Mashable. His site produces really awesome content
with deep/thoughtful analysis. He seems to really enjoy life.

The way to win in the TechCrunch war isn't something that Om wanted to engage
in, I think. He doesn't do linkbait, doesn't stir controversy, doesn't declare
crusades.

Did he miss a financial opportunity? Maybe. Should you be sad about missing a
financial opportunity? Nope. Having met and talked to both of them for a
while, Mike Arrington seems more sad than Om does. Money/success, beyond a
certain level, ceases to correlate with happiness.

Oh, Om was also asked to be a partner in one of the best/most active early
stage VC firms in the Valley (True Ventures-- full disclosure, they
participated in our Series A).

------
jasonlbaptiste
Om runs multiple successful conferences a year. They also have a pro/research
offering. I bet they make the most out of all 3. Om is happy.

------
herdrick
_Looking at the comparison chart of growth_

Very bad use of a chart. His growth is actually about the same, maybe
identical. Look at gigaom.com by itself and set period to max.

------
scorxn
Is a .5% difference substantial enough to make anyone sad? What's Alexa's
margin of error?

