Earlier this year, Forbes.com ran a special report, The Web Celebs 25 -- 'a list of the biggest, brightest and most influential people on the Internet.' It featured names most Americans are familiar with -- including Matt Drudge, the man who broke the story about President Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky, and Perez Hilton, the Hollywood celebrity blogger. Also on the list, at number 24, was the only Indian American -- Om Malik.

		in his words 'As a technology journalist and a brief tenure as a venture capitalist, I have witnessed and documented firsthand the rise and fall of the Internet and telecom industries, which has given me unrivaled access and insight into this world.'
	Photo: Thomas Hawk

The New Delhi-born founder of GigaOM, the popular technology blog, has received funding from several sources including San Francisco venture firm True Ventures.

Om has had a fascinating career in technology journalism. His resume includes stints at Forbes and Red Herring. He also worked briefly at this newspaper, before launching Desi Party.com, Masala.com and its sister publication Masala magazine. He is a founding member of the South Asian Journalists Association.

He was on the original team of Forbes.com, but left the group to work as an investment manager at Ham-brecht & Quist Asia Pacific. The world of high finance didn't appeal to him, and he was back in journalism, first working for Business 2.0 magazine and then writing his book Broadbandits: Inside the $750 Billion Telecom Heist. He has also been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and MIT Technology Review.

Based in San Francisco, GigaOm was launched in 2001. The daily blog covers technology news, analysis and opinions on topics ranging from broadband to online games and Web 2.0. By listing its monthly reach at approximately 500,000 consumers and professionals, including industry leaders, venture capitalists, investment bankers and entrepreneurs from around the world, its impact on the tech community is certifiably immense.

On any given day, GigaOm will tell you how Google Calendar now offers event-tracking; analyze the people who watch mobile television; and how Nelly Furtado got Punkd on the MTV show while she kept asking for her Blackberry.

It's all in a day's work for Om -- the star technology blogger.