Business Entrepreneurship

Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur (Summary)

by Derek Sivers

In 2008, Derek Sivers sold his company, CD Baby, for $22 million. Most founders would have celebrated, but Sivers felt a mix of sadness and relief. Why? Because the business was never about the money. In fact, he immediately gave the entire fortune away to a charitable trust for music education. This wasn't a sudden act of generosity; it was the final, logical step for a business built not on growth-hacking or exit strategies, but on one simple principle: creating a utopia for musicians.

Never Forget It's All About Your Customer

Business isn't about grand plans, funding, or exit strategies. It's about obsessively solving a problem for a specific group of people you care about. Every decision should be filtered through the lens of what would delight them.

When a customer emailed Sivers to say 'I love CD Baby!', he didn't send a generic 'Thanks'. He spent 20 minutes finding the customer's phone number, called him, and said, 'Hey, this is Derek. I just wanted to say thanks for your email.' The customer was floored. This obsessive, unscalable focus on delight created lifelong fans.

A Business Plan Is Just a Guess

Real learning and progress come from doing, not planning. You should launch your idea as quickly and simply as possible, then adapt based on real customer feedback. Start now; you don't need a grand vision.

CD Baby started because Sivers wanted to sell his own CD online. When his musician friends asked him to sell theirs too, he just built a simple 'Buy Now' button for them. There was no business plan or market research, just a direct response to a real, immediate need. The company grew one musician at a time based on this simple action.

If It's Not a 'Hell Yeah!', It's a 'No'

Sivers advocates for a powerful decision-making filter for opportunities and commitments. If you're not deeply excited and absolutely sure, you should decline. This saves your time and energy for the things that truly matter.

When overwhelmed with opportunities after CD Baby became successful, Sivers realized he was saying 'yes' to too many things that were just 'interesting.' By adopting this rule and only committing to things that made him shout 'Hell yeah!', he refocused his life and business on what he was truly passionate about, preventing burnout.

Your Business Utopia Doesn't Have to Be Big

Success isn't synonymous with scale. You can choose to create a small, profitable business that you love running, rather than chasing venture capital and the pressure of exponential growth. Define your own version of success.

Sivers was offered a deal by a major music retailer that would have massively expanded CD Baby's reach. He turned it down because their corporate culture and policies were the opposite of everything he stood for. He chose to keep his 'musician's utopia' small and pure rather than compromise for growth.

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