"Good night sweetheart, I still love you!"
That is what GigaOm founder now venture capitalist Om Malik wrote on his personal website following news of the technology website's shutting down. Although Malik left GigaOm in 2014 after the website raised $8 million in a funding round including Shea Ventures, True Ventures, Alloy Ventures, and Reed Elsevier Ventures, Malik says GigaOm still lives in his heart.
"GigaOm is winding down and its assets are now controlled by the company's lenders," Malik says on his website. "It is not how you want the story of a company you founded to end."
The website is still available on https://gigaom.com, with its home page featuring the latest news about the Apple Watch. It is, however, no longer getting updated with new stories from its writers for its 6.5 million readers.
On its About page, GigaOm says it is unable to pay its creditors in full and has turned over its assets to its lenders as collateral, although the website does not know what the lenders intend to do with those assets or if there is any hope of future operations coming back. GigaOm has laid off its around 20 writers and editors but says it has no plans of filing for bankruptcy.
"There will be time for post-mortems but not today," says Malik. "Today, I want to thank all the people who make (and have helped make) GigaOm. Their role in this journey was what really made it all worth it. They are great people and they will all do great work wherever they go."
On Twitter, GigaOm managing editor and digital publishing reporter Laura Hazard Owen asked media outlets to hire GigaOm writers, posting a brief summary of qualifications for each of them.
We learned tonight that @gigaom is shutting down, all of it. The edit team here was the most amazing group of people I've ever worked with.
— Laura Hazard Owen (@laurahazardowen) March 10, 2015
Our writers are amazing, hire them before someone else does) March 10, 2015
Other GigaOm staff have also taken to Twitter to express their sadness over the news, which they only learned about hours before the website's assets were taken over by creditors. They also expressed their gratitude to the readers who voiced their disbelief at the news that GigaOm, which has also ventured into research and events, will soon cease to exist.
Gigaom is shutting down. The site. And the company. But @om built something amazing and it changed my life. I love him and my colleagues. — Stacey Higginbotham (@gigastacey) March 10, 2015
Thanks to everyone who has posted comments about my work at Gigaom -- it is humbling to read, but also very welcome at a time like this — Mathew Ingram (@mathewi) March 10, 2015
I started freelancing for the site 7 years ago, so it obviously is a bit of a blow. And very sad to lose so many fine colleagues. — Janko Roettgers (@jank0) March 10, 2015
Gigaom is no more. I'm very sad, but also damn proud of having worked with the smartest, most classy team in tech. — Jeff Roberts (@jeffjohnroberts) March 10, 2015
It was the best job with the best team I could have imagined while it lasted, but Gigaom is closing its doors. I love everyone there.
— Derrick Harris (@derrickharris) March 10, 2015
Photo: Joi Ito | Flickr
