Tim O’Reilly at Home in Sebastopol – VIDEO Interview

02.01.09 | Category: Interaction Design, Power Zen, Simplicity, Unexpected, Valley Future, Video

Go all access with us at Tim O’Reilly’s home, as he graciously opens his doors to ValleyZen.
Join us in an exclusive video experience where twisting country backroads lead to the home of the Founder & CEO of O’Reilly Media.

ValleyZen was invited to O’Reilly’s Sebastopol dwelling which is nestled on 6 acres of farmland–far from Silicon Valley hustle and bustle, and tucked between California earth and sky. Also check out our Tim O’Reilly photo set on flickr here.

O’Reilly is candid, open and relaxed, taking us on a tour of his home, his kitchen, and even his treehouse. This video is filled with action, movement, and satori!

The trailer below shows a few minutes of highlights taken from footage shot over the course of an entire morning.

Every Monday for the next several weeks we will release another Tim O’Reilly interview episode. Stay tuned!!

Tim O’Reilly Video Interview — Don’t Miss Tim…

  • Taking us up his 20 year-old Eucalyptus treehouse
  • Baking goat-butter scones on camera — (A video debut)
  • Revealing his jam-making hacks
  • Telling us his “secret ingredient”
  • Quoting Lao Tzu on qualities of the wise man
  • On how to find the right moment
  • On when to await what’s next vs. do nothing
  • On the importance of letting go and forgetting what you know
  • On Splitting his own wood for his country home
  • On how to surpass your “pedestrian conscious mind”
  • “A Lesson in Time” — Showing us a mystery plant that is growing like crazy and taking over.
  • On Zen negative space and Open source software
  • Sharing his insights on simplicity
  • Giving his “ValleyZen” quote
Tim O'Reilly and Drue Kataoka
Tim O'Reilly shows Drue Kataoka his scone recipe

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9 Comments so far

  1. Bill Fenwick 02.02.09 at 10:11 am

    Drue and Tim

    Not joining the interview was a tough decision (darn conflicts) earlier. After seeing the post I am even more sorry I could not be there. As a compulcive reader of Release 2.0, it was not hard to realize how impactful Tim is on preparing readers for technological innovations and providing many of us with helpful information in forming our own visions of what is likely to occur in the future.

    The 1st session provides some excellent insights into Tim’s working environment. Thank you both for doing the interview.

  2. Vasudev Ram 02.02.09 at 3:44 pm

    Very cool video interview – thanks to both Tim and to Drue and her team. I tweeted it. Looking forward to the other ones.

    Zennishly enough, I’m at a loss for words! :-) Silence reigns …

    - Vasudev

  3. Vlasta Diamant 02.03.09 at 5:16 pm

    The Zen of Shaving

    Einstein used to say: Why do best ideas come to me when I’m shaving?
    It’s letting go off the mind to do its work. Einstein probably figured it out!

  4. Drue Kataoka 02.04.09 at 2:52 am

    @ Bill – Thank you very much. Agreed, and latest Release 2.0 on the Geoweb was amazing.

    @ Vasudev – Thanks for the tweet. It’s been fun seeing all the different twitter responses to this post and video!

    @ Vlasta – Good point to bring up the activity of shaving in the context of Tim talking about chopping wood. A mindless but non-mindless activity.

  5. Michael 02.04.09 at 3:01 am

    Hi Drue, just finished our post about your video: http://www.knallgrau.tv/stories/35767/
    First post from Austria! ;)

  6. Aliya Zaidi 02.07.09 at 5:30 am

    Great video Drue – I loved the analogy about the ’spaces between the brushstrokes’ – when life is so hectic and busy, it’s nice to be reminded about simplicity and taking a moment of calm during our busy life schedules.

    The application for technology is profoundly insightful – the best and most successful ideas are usually the most simple ones!

  7. Frieda Chan 02.07.09 at 10:04 am

    Hi Drue,

    Great work! I love that you showed how satori could be achieved in all disciplines of life. Unknowingly, I have been incorporating it into my music for years. Breaking from practicing. Letting the mind go. Achieving satori in a performance.

    I absolutely love the bits about the negative space, it reminds me of the hauntingly beautiful flute solo in Brahms Symphony #4.

    Can’t wait to see the next installment of this video!

    F~

  8. Jeff McNeill 03.13.11 at 6:12 am

    I was an early fan of valleyzen and just recalled and revisited the site. Excellent, excellent video and wonderful concluding statement by Tim. Thanks for archiving these moments.

  9. Jeff McNeill – ????? ????????? » links for 2011-03-14 03.13.11 at 11:01 pm

    [...] Bezos at Wired Disruptive by Design conference – O'Reilly Radar (tags: bezos oreilly) Tim O’Reilly at Home in Sebastopol – VIDEO Interview (tags: tim oreilly valley zen drue kataoka) March 14, 2011 [...]

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