“To have something (a finished recording, a business, or millions of dollars) is the means, not the end. To be something (a good singer, a skilled entrepreneur, or just plain happy) is the real point. When you sign up to run a marathon, you don’t want a taxi to take you to the finish line.”
—Derek Sivers, Ask Me Anything
My dad started a band called Mr. Gasoline that he ran for 25 years, and recalls uploading his Mr. Gasoline albums to CD Baby “back when Derek was still sleeping on a couch in the office.” I smiled when I heard that story—Derek’s dedication and humility are two of the traits I most admire about him, and what compelled me to follow his work more closely and start my own /now page.
In his recently released book, Anything You Want, he shares the story and mindset behind the rise of his smashingly successful CD Baby venture, and the tough years leading up to his exit. What first attracted me to Derek was not that he built a $22 million business—but that when he sold the company, he gave all the proceeds to a charitable trust. Who does that? Someone who defines success on their own terms.
I zoomed through Anything You Want one night before bed, and by the next morning I gave away my copy in a pay-it-forward gesture to an entrepreneur friend. Then I bought six more copies to give to my friend Adam and his design team, who were working on the new Pivotbrand (coming soon!).
I hope you get as much out of the book and our podcast conversation as I did. And if you feel up to it, buy your own copy to pay forward—Derek’s is a story everyone can benefit from hearing!
MORE ABOUT DEREK
From his website: Derek is a musician, programmer, writer, entrepreneur, and student — fascinated with the usable psychology of self-improvement, business, philosophy, and intercultural relativism. He’s an introvert (INTJ), a minimalist, and a California native now living in New Zealand, Singapore, and Belgium.
Originally a professional musician and circus clown, Derek Sivers created CD Baby in 1998. It became the largest seller of independent music online, with $100M in sales for 150,000 musicians. In 2008, Derek sold CD Baby for $22M, giving the proceeds to a charitable trust for music education. He is a frequent speaker at the TED Conference, with over 5 million views of his talks. Since 2011 he has published 34 books, including “Anything You Want” which shot to #1 on all of its Amazon categories.
TOPICS WE COVER:
How he figured out what to do next after selling CD Baby for $22 million
Why he pressed pause on the company he started to answer “what’s next”
Making deliberate change: what are you saying no to?
Derek’s metrics: optimizing for learning, life experience, change.
Stop trying to make money; just because you start a business, you don’t have to scale at all costs
Question expectations.
“The DNA of something matters” – how CD Baby started as a favor to friends, and grew as a business despite Derek’s efforts at keeping it small
Why he didn’t go the IPO path, or getting funding from outside sources
Why Derek continued doing all the programming himself for CD Baby for years
We should all ask: What do you love doing that is also useful to others? What’s the day-to-day experience that you really want?
Writing as a tool to reflect on wrapping up a life chapter
What inspired him to write Ask Me Anything
How different people have different set points for success, happiness, and bank account balances (not everyone wants millions of dollars)
Why he decided to give $22 million to a charitable trust immediately upon selling CD Baby
Breaking the habit of doing things for money
Being scrappy vs. the $3.3 million mistake (on reading contracts)
Programming phrase: YAGNI (You Aren’t Gonna Need It) — avoid adding features you think you might need in the future
Where confidence comes from: as needing as little as possible to make yourself happy
The importance of pessimism and honoring fear; the fatal flaw of overconfidence
Mindset: I’m a student, not a guru
Ego minimalism: releasing the need to look like an expert
PODCAST: DEREK SIVERS
Press play on the embedded player below or listen on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Overcast:
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Book: A Geek in Japan: Discovering the Land of Manga, Anime, Zen, and the Tea Ceremony (Hector Garcia)
The blog post that launched the Now page movement, Derek’s /now page
Now Page website, @nownownow Twitter Account
Jenny’s /now page
Blog Post: KarmaList Wishlist
Book: Thinking, Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman)
TEDTalks:
How to Start a Movement (3:09): With help from some surprising footage, Derek Sivers explains how movements really get started. (Hint: it takes two.) It’s the first follower that makes the lone nut a leader!
Keep your goals to yourself (3:15): After hitting on a brilliant new life plan, our first instinct is to tell someone, but Derek Sivers says it’s better to keep goals secret. He presents research stretching as far back as the 1920s to show why people who talk about their ambitions may be less likely to achieve them.
Weird, or just different? (2:42): “There’s a flip side to everything,” the saying goes, and in 2 minutes, Derek Sivers shows this is true in a few ways you might not expect.
Check out other episodes of the Pivot Podcast here. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen, and if you enjoy the show I would be very grateful for a rating and/or review! Sign-up for my weekly(ish) #PivotList newsletter to receive curated round-ups of what I’m reading, watching, listening to, and new tools I’m geeking out on.