Last week, Robert Scoble stopped by at the True Ventures office to do a little video recording of SplashCast. Somehow he roped me into talking about the blog, the company, and of course the new properties we are adding to the network. He caught me on what happened to be fifth anniversary of GigaOM in its blog incarnation.
In the early days it was just a website, built with HomeSite and Dreamweaver, that acted as a repository for my articles and other bookmarks. Then came Blogger, which made publishing GigaOM (and its earlier versions) easier and simpler. It was so simple, that I stopped publishing my e-newsletter, Dotcomwala, and started blogging it. I also signed up for Dave ‘blogfather’ Winer’s Userland, and it quickly became the tool to store all the cool stuff I found on the net. It also meant more bookmarks and more information on the site.
And then came the Trotts. Back in the fall of 2001, the early blogging community was abuzz with the amazing new software called MoveableType. It allowed people to leave comments, and was a pretty slick affair. The only problem – installing it was not for the faint of heart, and needed some geek skills. No problems, said Ben Trott, the maverick who had written the software. He offered to install the software on my server.
And it was on December 13th, I wrote my first post about love and relationships in New York. It took me a while to get the courage to post that first post (which is nearly impossible to find now.) A few weeks later, I posted about Narayan Murthy who had started Infosys. Firda Beka designed the site for me, which has gone through more makeovers than Cher. (I wish I could find all the screen shots!
In Fall 2004, I met Matt Mullenweg, and I soon after switched to WordPress, which meant more design changes. We have been using WordPress since then, but that’s not the important part. Each blogging tool/platform has played a role in the evolution of this ongoing experiment called GigaOM. Just as middle school, high school, college and post graduate school shape a person, these blogging platforms, and thus the people behind them have been part of our growth.
In five years, I have been blogging all our lives have changed. Ben and Mena, a.k.a The Trotts, turned that little software into Six Apart, a next-generation software giant in the making that has turned blogging into a mainstream obsession. Matt Mullenweg moved to San Francisco, though he has not stopped cheering for Houston Astros. He started Automattic, and built Akismet, the comment spam stopper that has become indispensable. Ev Williams sold Blogger to Google, got rich, started Odeo, flirted with disaster, and still managed to find a way to move forward.(Go Ev!)
Okay, that little digital blotter of mine has now become a nano-company where some really cool and talented people are turning my dreams into a reality. I bet next five years will go by faster, mostly because of good company. Thanks to the blog, I have met many smart people. The blog has attracted a smart community of readers who have patiently educated me with their wisdom. And a few of them have become friends… good friends. My sincerest hope is that the tradition continues.
Before I sign-off, I would like to repeat what Doc Searls once told me, and it has been one of the guiding principles for me: blog if you have something to say and respect your reader’s time. If you respect their time, they are going to give you some time of their day. Wise words…
Congrats on the Anniversary, Om! Might be fun to pull some screenshots of the various faces of gigaom.com from archive.com and post a little slide show 🙂
Happy 5th blogiversary Om!
Congratulations, Om. You have been an inspiration to me, just like the others you mention in your post.
Thank you!
Congrats!! I only started reading your blog after I saw you on CrankyGeeks. Now, I read your site throughout the day.
ET,
thanks for the nice comment. Cranky Geeks, well there is an upside to John!
Happy 5th bloganiversary!
I’m reading your blog the last months and it’s one of my daily stops.
Keep up the good work! you are doing a great work.
It’s an honor. 🙂
Congrats Om and Company, and a very Happy Anniversary to you all! Both this site and WWD are an inspiration. From the West coast to the East and worldwide, You rock!
congratulations Om… and here’s to another 5 years (and more) of awesome blogging!
happy holidays,
“blog if you have something to say and respect your reader’s time. If you respect their time, they are going to give you some time of their day”
One of the best things I’ve read this year. I hope more bloggers practice it.
Happy holidays & congrats on completing 5 successful blog years. You still are very young. 🙂
Congratulations, Om.
Our industry wouldn’t be the same w/out the informed info, insight, and analysis you and your great team provide.
Thank you all.
Looking forward to more of the same in 2007 and beyond.
Happy Holidays!
Steve
Congrats Om and the growing GigaFamily! You’re a true pioneer and your leap into fulltime madman has inspired so many of us. Thank you. We promise to help you waste more time out here in NYC whenever you need the break.
Enjoy this impressive milestone.
Congratulations! Om.
Good to know that one more Indian is making a mark in Technology.
Congrats, Om. We stand on the shoulders of giants 🙂
I think this is my first time leaving comments here. Always love to see how people got started.
I was off the grid for a bit so this is belated 🙂 Congratulations on an incredible achievement.
You can check older versions of the site via “The wayback machine” internet archive
Shows pages as far back as 2001 for your site.
Bit of ancient history there 🙂
Bah, it keeps discarding my comments because of the link, but you can find it yourself by heading here
web [dot] archive [dot] org
How Ev, Dave, The Trotts & Matt Changed My Life http://t.co/ajoDQ5b7