In the life of every company, there comes a time when it is faced with the choice of how to extend its reach: Either build a new product or service, or acquire the one that’s already established itself as the best in its class. Larger companies face that question every day, but it is rare for a nano company like ours to have to make such a decision.
I am pleased to announce that Giga Omni Media, the company behind GigaOM, has acquired jkOnTheRun, a blog started by James Kendrick and Kevin Tofel that focuses on the wonderful world of mobile gadgets, including mobile phones and cloud client computers. James and Kevin will join GigaOM, but will continue to work from their respective homes of Houston and Telford, Pa., and jkOnTheRun will become the sixth blog in the GigaOM Network. (James & Kevin write about the deal on jkOnTheRun. Also, coverage on The Houston Chronicle & Techcrunch.)
“Acquiring,” while technically the right word, is a relatively soulless one. I prefer to think of this deal more philosophically. As I see it, we have proudly added two new members to our growing family.
Why jkOnTheRun?
jkOnTheRun is one of the rare blogs that covers the world of mobile gadgets with razor-sharp wit and insight. More importantly, it has a genuinely consumer-centric point of view. I first got to know the blog as a reader and have long considered it good enough to rank among my 10 favorites. (WebWorkerDaily editor Judi Sohn is also a fan.)
Strategically, it’s a publication that rounds out our existing areas of coverage. For instance, GigaOM tracks the world of web infrastructure pretty closely, but very rarely do we write about cloud client machines. And with the exception of the iPhone and some occasional mobile reviews, we don’t provide much gadget coverage, either. I think as we start to cover the world of cloud computing more closely we will no longer be able to afford to ignore the client side of the equation.
What happens to jkOnTheRun?
Absolutely nothing! Sure there are going to be some cosmetic changes, including cleaning up the web site to make room for sponsors and advertisers, but if it ain’t broke, why fix it?
James and Kevin will continue to write their posts, record their podcasts and shoot their videos. The jkOnTheRun feed will be integrated into that of our network and will be syndicated along with our other blogs. We hope some of our readers become part of their community, and hopefully some of jkOnTheRun’s readers will find something in our network that they like as well.
In summary
Getting back to my introduction: We were faced with the choice of either building out a blog that helped us track the mobile revolution more carefully (but with a consumer perspective) or buying one. It would have taken us a long time to build one — buying jkOnTheRun was a far better option.
I think in many ways that is the blueprint of our strategy going forward: When we find blogs that allow us to dig deeper, to complement and extend our areas of coverage, we will acquire them. If we can’t find ones we like, we will build them. But all that is in the future. Today, please join me in welcoming James and Kevin!
27 trackbacks so far
6:46 PM PT
[...] network GigaOm will announce the acquisition of the small but excellent mobile-focused blog jkOnTheRun this evening. Founders [...]
8:03 PM PT
[...] GigaOm announced the “acquisition” of mobile gadget site jkOnTheRun. While this is an interesting [...]
9:02 PM PT
[...] you can read in the announcement post, readers won’t see much change over at jkOnTheRun as the site becomes a part of the Giga Omni [...]
11:32 PM PT
[...] Malik of GigaOm fame has announced that his company, Giga Omni Media, have acquired mobile gadgets blog jkOnTheRun. No amount have [...]
2:28 AM PT
[...] Om Malik: GigaOM Acquires jkOnTheRun [...]
4:11 AM PT
[...] sees the move by the GigaOM Media network, spawned by Om Malik, as confirming his theory that little quality independent blogs will [...]
4:37 AM PT
[...] GigaOM Acquires jkOnTheRun(July 22, 2008 GigaOM) [...]
6:41 AM PT
[...] were surprised to hear that jkOnTheRun has been acquired by the Giga Omni Media group, home of GigaOm blog among [...]
6:47 AM PT
[...] network GigaOm will announce the acquisition of the small but excellent mobile-focused blog jkOnTheRun this evening. Founders [...]
7:07 AM PT
[...] jkOnTheRun (Om Malik/GigaOM) Category: Techmeme | source article link Om Malik / GigaOM: GigaOM Acquires jkOnTheRun — In the life of every company, there comes a time when it is faced with the [...]
8:59 AM PT
[...] to my friend Om Malik and to the founders of the jkOnTheRun mobile blog for what sounds like a match made in blogging heaven. James and Kevin get to continue doing what they have been doing [...]
9:59 AM PT
GigaOM acquires jkOnTheRun; the facts and who might be next…
A quick look at the facts:
Giga Omni Media has acquired the jkOnTheRun blog
Giga Omni Media is the company behind GigaOM and 4 other blogs (shown below)
jkOnTheRun “focuse…
10:57 AM PT
[...] that I found today is a blog called, jkontherun, which was acquired by GigaOm.  You find out more details of the story be clicking on either of their sites, or you can read the [...]
12:01 PM PT
[...] I’ve had my head deep in UMPC devices over the last 24 hours so it’s no surprise that I missed this. GigaOM have bought out jkOnTheRun. [...]
2:48 AM PT
[...] Aside from responding to tons of e-mails about our latest news, I’m filling out HR forms for my new employer. Only one problem: all of the identification documents I have won’t go through our all-in-one [...]
10:18 AM PT
[...] saw this earlier today via Twitter, but it pointed me to the newly acquired JKontheRun and a post by my good friend and colleage, James [...]
2:47 AM PT
[...] Congrats to Om Malik on making an acquisition - jkOnTheRun [...]
6:31 AM PT
[...] GigaOm bought jkOnTheRun. Good move. TechCrunch painted it as the start of a trend… Y’know, one that started 4 years ago and is now going quite strong (hundreds of blogs are sold every week). [...]
3:16 AM PT
[...] GigaOm announced the “acquisition” of mobile gadget site jkOnTheRun. To me, an interesting subplot was [...]
5:07 PM PT
[...] jkOntheRun’s authors Kevin C. Tofel and James Kendrick will continue to write the blog. In a post here about the acquisition, GigaOM founder Om Malik says jkOntheRun has long been one of his favorite [...]
6:44 AM PT
[...] his announcement, the network’s founder and senior writer explains their choice of blog to acquire: [...]
10:00 AM PT
[...] August 4, 2008 at 10:00 AM PT Comments (0) As Om has noted, most recently in relation to the acquisition of jkOnTheRun, our little company gets bigger by the day. Today I am thrilled to announce the very latest [...]
8:03 AM PT
[...] happens to TheAppleBlog? As in the case of our previous acquisition, jkOnTheRun, the plan is to have a very light touch and not muck around with the editorial of [...]
2:56 PM PT
[...] Giga Omni Media’s growing blog network and the second acquisition this year. In July, GigaOm acquired mobile gadget blog jkOnTheRun, which informs readers on all things mobile from mobile phones to cloud client [...]
12:36 PM PT
[...] happens to TheAppleBlog? As in the case of our previous acquisition, jkOnTheRun, the plan is to have a very light touch and not muck around with the editorial of [...]
3:33 PM PT
[...] GigaOM Acquires jkOnTheRun [...]
7:00 AM PT
[...] We acquired jkOntheRun. [...]
23 comments so far
6:07 PM PT
Congrats to all of you! Totally one of the best mobile blogs out there and great guys too. Awesome idea to bring them into the fold.
6:08 PM PT
Wow - huge news and congrats. Great synergy and I am excited to see you all together.
6:18 PM PT
@Marshall and @Steve Thanks for the nice words. We were taken in by their charm and elegant prose as well. It is a good thing for us to bring new voices and new energy into the fold.
6:18 PM PT
Congrats. I’d love to know more on the details of the deal. Specifically, how you went around putting a valuation on the content. From an education standpoint.
6:21 PM PT
Great pickup Om. Kevin and James are great and jkontherun is one of the best mobile tech blogs out there. You’ll find no other place with a passion for mobile tech like they have….
7:11 PM PT
I am wildly excited and humbled by all of this at the same time. It will be awesome working with Om and the team here! Thanks for the kind words everyone.
7:29 PM PT
Om,
congratulationes, JK is one of the best mobile blogs out there :)
8:42 PM PT
What an awesome opportunity to expand our audience and work with one of the best teams out there. More important to me than the actual news of this deal is what the *readers* think. So far, I’ve been overwhelmed with the supportive comments, Tweets and e-mails. Without the readers a blog is just a bunch of words to stare at. With the readers, there’s opportunity for discussion, learning and enjoyment. That’s what blogging is all about in my book and I’m thrilled to be continuing it under the GigaOM banner.
8:51 PM PT
Congratulations all. jkOnTheRun is a “must read” blog for lot of us and its very exciting to see them become part of this beautiful GigaOm family.
9:45 PM PT
Congrats. Good combination. Both GigaOm and JK are high on my daily read list. Keep it up!
10:36 PM PT
Om, sounds like a brilliant play. Congrats!
11:37 PM PT
Congrats OM… sweet to see GigaOM becoming GigaUniverse.
11:41 PM PT
You are leading the world in a new trend. Congratulations!
1:09 AM PT
Congratulations! to Malik and his team. What about the Money?? Did u mention that? Waiting to hear about that.
2:15 AM PT
Om,
Your strategy is working. I read JK every day but it is my first time here! From what I have seen so far James and Kevin will slip easily to the GigaOM family. Congrats
2:29 AM PT
Marshall is correct. Not only is JKOTR a great site, but Kevin and James are two genuinely nice people that are great to work with. Seems like a win-win situation to me! Just wondering why Om is dragging his feet in acquiring ZNF… ;)
7:27 AM PT
Congrats!
7:50 AM PT
Congrats Om, Welcome James and Kevin :)
8:46 AM PT
Congrats, Om!
9:37 AM PT
Neat Om - mobile is where it is all at moving forward!!
2:07 PM PT
Om, it is quite in line with the ‘expansion’ concept. (Al Ries, the author of ‘Focus’ might not agree with it, but Al, the world has millions of evidences of this).
I run a small hosting company, but have already acquired smaller ones. So I guess it is definitely understandable that your next area of focus (ie. mobile technology) gave you an opportunity to get James and Kevin on board.
Good luck this expanded team at GigaOM.
2:52 PM PT
Congrats, totally a good add. :)
5:52 AM PT
Great move. Congratulations guys. Another blog for the Bookmarks Bar.
Leave a Comment