Former TechCrunch journalist O’Hear dies at 49

Former London tech journalist Steve O’Hear has died at age 49 after a short illness.

Amy Lewin and Freya Patty of Sifted write, “O’Hear worked for TechCrunch for over a decade and covered the rise of many of the UK’s most successful tech businesses, like Monzo and Wise. He left in 2021 to join food delivery scaleup Zapp as SVP of strategy and communications, and then two years ago founded strategic communications firm O’Hear & Co Advisory — its logo a nod to O’Hear’s trademark hat.

“When he made the move out of journalism, O’Hear gave Sifted the ‘scoop’. Leaving journalism was ‘the hardest decision’ of his life, he told Sifted, but added that he was also somewhat relieved. ‘I was always scared I would be fired for my tweets,’ he joked. ‘A decade’s a long time.’

“During that decade, he was the first journalist to interview GoCardless cofounder Hiroki Takeuchi after he had an accident which left him in a wheelchair, like O’Hear, who was born with muscular dystrophy and used a wheelchair most of his life. He also covered the launch of Monzo and Starling — and the hijinks the two companies would play on one another.”

Read more here.