Bijan Sabet

Jason Lee and the love of photography

I stumbled across this fantastic video on YouTube this summer, produced by Ilford (makers of photographic films) and highlighting the film photography of Jason Lee. For those not familiar, Jason was a professional skateboarder before becoming an actor. About 15 years ago, he discovered photography, and like so many of us, photography became a passion. The video itself is a work of art, and I have…

Hallway Chat, a podcast by me and Nabeel

HallwayChat · The Pod is Back, 2020 edition

My good friend and business partner, Nabeel and I have a little ad hoc podcast called Hallway Chat. It goes back over 5 years but we only record a few episodes a year, at best.

Yesterday we turned on the mic and recorded another episode. In 40 minutes or so we chatted about stuff we would talk about about over coffee or in the hallway on any…

In response to my friends disconnecting

“I’m just going to disconnect, I can’t follow the news anymore”

I’m hearing this all the time from folks that I know.

And I get it. The daily news coming from various parts of this country can be intensely stressful, depressing and angering.

And disconnecting for a few hours, few days, or even a few weeks at a time can be enormously helpful.

A great time to connect with your loved ones or…

I can’t wait for the new album to drop

During the first few months of sheltering in place, I have not been terribly motivated to make photographs. Too much on my mind I suppose.

But I’ve been trying to get out there more of late and it feels good.

(All photos made with a Haselblad 503cw and Kodak Portra 400 film)

When The President Talk To God, Bright Eyes

Matching donations to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Based on the current level of activism around the country, I can’t help but feel extremely optimistic that the progressive voter turnout is going to be massive this November.

In fact this week we saw historic wins for women of color in many elections across the country. An icing on the cake, well known racist Steve King lost his primary in Iowa.

And it’s just not progressives that are rejecting…

One piece of advice that is often cited in startup land is the idea & importance of building a monopoly or a moat strategy.

I get it. The desire to build something defensible and durable for the ages requires something that suggests you can withstand competition.

But in the software/tech world it is immensely difficult, if not impossible to build a monopoly. There are just too many…

Trying to take in the beauty of spring even though the heart is heavy with everything going on.

Earlier in the year, prior to our shelter in place mode, we made a trip to St Barts. As I look back on these photographs I am immensely grateful we were able to have this time together as a family.

(Photographs were taken with a Pentax 67ii and a Yashica T4 on Kodak Portra 400 film)

(Created this panorama by stitching two 35mm photographs in Adobe Lightroom)

new track from ben. somber and yet beautiful.

Yesterday, I caught up with Om. A few minutes into the conversation, Om asked if he could record the conversation and I’m glad he did.

Just two old friends talking about life, how we are managing, observations, feelings, thoughts and what comes next.

Like so many people, I’m spending much of my day on a video conference for work or to catch up with loved ones.

I’m super grateful for Zoom for building an incredible video conferencing system. It is helping the world at such a critical time.

And while I have a bunch of feature requests that I’ll save for likely a future post, the biggest thing lacking with video conferencing is the lack of eye…