Om Malik

@thevelorama I can't find this interview (on Gigaom.com) I did with Ev where he said that we vacillate between centralization and decentralization. I think we are in the centralization phase for now. :-) That said, individual website has to evolve into something new. For 25 years it has been somewhat static. My view is that a new web-model emerges in next few years.

@om I completely agree with that. I know for me, I've stopped visiting just one website and now rely on apps like Flipboard or even my twitter feed to just get information I care about from multiple sources all in one place. Let's face it, there's tons of great content out there and it's more convenient to get a curation of it in the places I frequent the most.

@om Is it this one ?

@photomatt It is a process. I eliminate people and things that are not net-positive to my life. I feel that I have so little time left in my life, I can't waste it on things that don't work for me. If I don't use something once a month, I know it is something I don't care for. I am willing to try anything, but when I find something I stick to it. I give away a lot of things to salvation army. Past 12 months have been purging things/people that don't make life better.

@om are you getting rid also of the tech gadgets regularly ?

@eriktorenberg great question!

@eriktorenberg Wait you mean to say, I am not 25 :-) I think as every 25 year old, I though I knew the answers. The problem was I didn't how how to ask the right questions. I think my one piece of advise to my 25-year-old self would have been: respect those with experience, ask more questions and be more open to learn from them.

Great advice, Om. I know Erik didn't ask me but to volley off of that response, I've more recently* learned to ask for help. It's easy to do and easy to avoid.

*I'm 28.

@rrhoover And you feel better for it, right :-)

@taufiqhusainca I think I might have to write a blog post for you, for this isn't the forum. Stay tuned.

@rrhoover I am always excited about new technologies, mostly because they open up lot's of new possibilities. That said I worry about what is the overall impact. We are starting to see that we socialize less and less in real life. Or that we spend too much time on the screens and are too dependent on the phone to get stuff done. But "Mobile" from a broader perspective, is about reducing friction in our daily lives. It is about making the mundane tasks easier, and simpler. So from that perspective, I do find it overall additive to our society.

@om agreed. We've transitioned much of our communication and in some cases, built relationships that only exist in the digital world. The natural inclination is to feel uneasy about this -- it feels "less human" -- but does it really matter? What if our entire life existed online? Is that wrong? Why?

(I recently saw Ex Machina, which inspired some thought about the future of technology, relationships, and the inevitability of AI's influence on culture)

@rrhoover I feel we always feel "less human" when using new technologies. Remember, people freaked out our photography back when Kodak started pushing it. I don't overthink it. We use technology, technology doesn't use us. When the equation flips, I am going to worry.

@om well said 😀

@eriktorenberg Thank you. That is a good question. I change my mind about a lot of things, but when I arrive at a thesis, I tend to arrive at that after long deliberation and research process. One of the things where I have changed my mind is a lot of the on-demand services and why they can't outpace the actual speed of physical demand. I was overtly optimistic about some of these services.

@ourielohayon Quip, DarkRoom, Typed, Slack,

@jeffumbro It is hard to talk about that without feeling emotional. I loved everyone and basically we had a culture of digging deeper and writing for our only customer: the reader. Sometimes it took a lot longer to get things done, but we were respectful of our reader's time. Bad articles are a waste of time for everyone, and I am really proud that our team worked hard on making the pieces as good as they could in limited amount to time.

@markusschwed We have investments in Sweden, Finland, UK and Portugal. Not in Germany. I think Poland and Romania are two other markets with a lot of creative energy.

@om What is the best way to get introductions to your UK Investment wing ? :-) (I have found the entire experience of trying to find introductions / warm intro's a little tedious, especially when you are super busy trying to solve the world's biggest problems) ...

@covrter Honest feedback. Not everything I write is good, or makes sense. Not everything that is put out there by me is well done. I appreciate when people share their feedback, politely of course and state the reasons why they disagree. I think I learn from other people's disagreements.

@liatmord Since we do seed and early stage investments, the answer is very simple: People first and foremost. Ideas come next and the potential market comes third. I think seed investors who are in for the long haul, you need to love the entrepreneur to have a fair and honest and constant communication while building the company.

@alfink92 I read about a book a week and often publish the list on http://om.co I find it is a good way to learn. I don't think I qualify books as my favorite book :-)

@pravalIt is definitely underpowered for big tasks but I think it is really useful when you travel as much as I do. Every pound you save is good for the back. I like it mostly as a lightweight solution, for emails and drafting notes and writing blog posts. I love the screen though -- so fantastic. I like the keyboard more than the Macbook Air keyboard.

@om Thanks. I agree with you. Can't think of going back to the Air (until they come with an Air + retina!)

@om did it replace the iPad in your situation? As @photomatt sometime ago has written that MacBook 12" + iMac + iPhone is sufficient nowaday and there is no space left for iPad?

@marcinperlak yes it did. I rarely carry the iPad anywhere. I think it became difficult for me to work on iPad. I have an iPhone and a Macbook Air. Plus Macbook Pro for photo editing.

@neeeharika I think that is a great idea. Sometime in October when the schedule is a little lighter. I will post time and place on Instagram. :-) Thank you for following me on Instagram and your encouragement.

@om Great ! i am ineesta there .. looking forward to it in October :)

@nmayber That is a really good question. My working theory is that most VC firms are looking at writers as a way to create awareness about their brands and their portfolios and capabilities. As the competitive for entrepreneur attention is increasing, most firms have to show that they are different and have a different value proposition. Writing blog posts is a good and effective way to tell your story. I think for writers, the reality check happens when the access they had as writers starts to vanish and the writing becomes a little more narrow and focused. I hope that answers your question -- if not, I am happy to elaborate.

@om Many thanks! Do you think this is a passing fad or longer-term trend?

@nmayber Wait till the market turns south. Then you will know if it is fad or not ;-)

@om Tick tock ;-) Thanks for letting us steal some of your time today.

@erictwillis @erictwillis If I had to do anything different, I would have stayed all through to get the job done and not left in January 2014.

@gunish Making the right assessment around people. I think it remains the biggest challenge as this is not scientific. You learn from experience and learning to read people.

@uronplanetearth i still love everything by John Coltrane. I love Nicholas Jarr and waiting for his new album. Ditto for Joss Stone's upcoming album.

@om coltrane keeps life going

@gravicle Actually it is everywhere else vs Silicon Valley. In Silicon Valley, the attitude is "too bad, things didn't work" and elsewhere the attitude is "we failed." The difference is very subtle. I learned this personally by facing adversity around Gigaom.

@melissajoykong Thank you for your kind words. I hope you and others try the paid models, because advertising isn't a sustainable model, except for the very big. I want more people to try and build niche publications.

@jvreeland I have only one screen: apps include Slack, Storehouse (investor), Twitter, Instagram, Quip, Photos, Uber, Pocket, Gmail, Calendar, WhatsApp, Telegram.

@parkerwoodward I think Internet is inevitable reality of our life today and in the future. Timing is hard to get right, so I don't know about 20 years, but in somewhat near future we will see the wild impact of computational life sciences and micro-robotics. They will be enabled by the network.

@om thank you! This was fun. 🙏