A Life Well Lived

Om Malik passed away earlier this year. This week would have been his 60th birthday.

Yesterday I flew back from California, where I attended OmFest 2026.

Admittedly, I didn't know what to expect when Matt Mullenweg announced it and then Gruber cross-referenced it. I'd known about Om, having read pieces from him over the years, but he was someone I never had the opportunity to connect with directly.

When Matt announced that the festival was open, I debated going. Then, talking it over with my brother, we decided to turn it into a trip together.

So we got up at 3am, packed his 7-month-old baby along with us (his wife had to work, so we rocked it with the cool little dude), and traveled down from Spokane for this event.

Again, I really wasn't sure what to expect, but from the moment I stepped in, it was clear that the whole thing had been planned out with care and love by a small group that deeply respected and admired the person Om Malik, and all that he'd done.

Throughout the day I heard from friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and people who were touched by his work, his connection, his love.

It was meaningful, and it was a very different type of event than anything I've been to in tech.

And that was the point.

It wasn't about all the same things. It was a memorial, a festival, an appreciation, a joyful remembering of someone loved by so many.

And it was a good time to reflect. To reconsider moments for ourselves, to adjust my own thinking for how I've approached my life, where I'm headed, and who I am spending it with.

Afterward, my brother and I went to dinner with a good friend (shout-out to Puerto Rican food), and carried on the tone of the day into more meaningful conversations between the three of us.

So much of what I do is a mix between trying to push as hard as I can, for as long as I can, to do something wonderful, mixed in with trying to pause, step back, think, consider, reconsider, and find connection around people I love.

It's a mix that I juggle, and it was meaningful to step aside for a day and focus more on the latter, more on the people side of things, more on the person that Om seemed to be.

Earlier in the summer I downloaded most of Om's essays and blog posts onto my e-reader. I started going through them in my spare time. Candidly, I've barely scratched the surface, but it was helpful to read through intentional thoughts from someone with so much insight into the world of tech, seeing where he thought things might go, and catching the enthusiasm and joy of someone who cared so deeply about how it could transform the world for all of us.

So, with some exposure to his way of thinking, I appreciate how much I can learn from this person, and look forward to reading more of the word's he's created.

The biggest thing I'd take away, the biggest thing I learned, was the evident time he spent just connecting with people.

Talking, asking questions, geeking out, sharing ideas, meeting for coffee.

The luxury he offered, which was far shorter than it should have been, was his time.

That was the greatest gift he could give.

This from someone who had so many worldly successes and got so much right. From the outside he was a massive success financially. That's not what I heard during OmFest, not what mattered to the people who knew him. What I heard over and over again was the folks he helped, the people he walked alongside, listened to, shared ideas with.

That's what mattered.

And it was evident in the loss felt from those friendships.

I'm inspired to pause a little, to spend time on human connection, especially in a world that seemingly wants to pull us apart, separate us into algorithmically defined slices, and suck our eyeballs dry with engagement.

So I'm thankful for the event, for Matt putting it on, and for all those who helped make it a reality.

It was special. Thank you.

There are few opportunities in life to just be around others in a moment of celebration, appreciation, and finding human points of interest. This was one of them.

Also, side note, Om's taste in notebooks was fantastic. I found several that I'm going to pick up.