Derek Sivers

Best known for creating CD Baby, the most popular music site for independent artists, founder Derek Sivers chronicles his "accidental" success and failures into this concise and inspiring book on how to create a multimillion-dollar company by following your passion. Sivers details his journey and the lessons learned along the way of creating and building a business close to his heart. In 1997, Sivers was a musician who taught himself to code a Buy Now button onto his band's website. Shortly thereafter he began selling his friends' CDs on his website. As CD Baby grew, Sivers faced numerous obstacles on his way to success. Within six years he had been publicly criticized by Steve Jobs and had to pay his father $3.3 million to buy back 90 percent of his company, but he had also built a company of more than 50 employees and had profited $10 million. Anything You Want is must reading for every person who is an entrepreneur, wants to be one, wants to understand one, or cares even a little about what it means to be human.

40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur

Anything You Want

Derek Sivers' iconic manifesto on lessons learned while becoming an entrepreneur, available in store for the first time

Best known for creating CD Baby, the most popular music site for independent artists, founder Derek Sivers chronicles his "accidental" success and failures into this concise and inspiring book on how to create a multi-million dollar company by following your passion.

In Anything You Want, Sivers details his journey and the lessons learned along the way of creating CD Baby and building a business close to his heart. His less-scripted approach to business educates readers to feel empowered to follow their own dreams.

Never forget why you're really doing what you're doing.

If you're in doubt about something that's not in your life, try it. Things are so different in practice versus in theory. The only way to know is to experience it yourself.

Try it. If it was a mistake, at least you'll know first-hand, instead of always wondering.

If you're in doubt about something that's in your life already, get rid of it. Not just things, this goes for identities, habits, goals, relationships, technology, and anything else. Default to not having it, then see how you do without.

Get rid of it. Start with a clean slate. If it was a mistake, you'll get it back with a renewed enthusiasm.

Kyler Phillips

Just pay close attention to what excites you and what drains you. Pay close attention to when you’re being the real you and when you’re trying to impress an invisible jury.

Waghmare

The real point of doing anything is to be happy, so do only what makes you happy.

Tobias Möritz

great little manifest on priorities & focus

Good short book about being an entrepreneur filling the role in a non stereotypical way.

Absolutly loved the way everything made sense. Things were rarely repeated and such a good quick read.

Bhanu Pratap

Ignatia Doringin

Hi Derek, I want to be a leader just like you. 🌼

Yash

I like this one. I learnt about this book from Ali Abdaal. There are certain parts that I don't agree with 100 percent - for example how the author dismissed the importance of having a legal expert on board, or accounting expert. Maybe that's okay to some, but if I ever have my own business, these two components would be extremely important to me. Besides that, learned a lot, keeping notes and hoping to implement those. Language is very casual, no business jargons, only the author being himself in this book. Inspiring read.

Gabriel Ayuso

Short but powerful. 
Just read it already.

This book isn't as good as thought but as yeah it's good enough for a casual read and you can finish it up in a couple of hours. 

Sierra Nguyen

I learned a lot from reading this little book about starting and running a business, and about finding your purpose and what makes you happy, which to be honest, I did not expect to get out of it just by reading the title. The book is a collection of lessons and Derek Sivers learned over 10 years of running his business, CDBaby. I loved how he reminded me to never do anything just for the money; instead, do something that I enjoy and that could help other people. 
This book isn't about growing your business, in fact, Sivers was trying to keep his company small but it just kept growing as more customers demanded his services. He placed a strong emphasis on bringing value to customers and would turn down opportunities that came his way if they were to challenge his core purpose.
You can start and finish the book in one sitting, but the lessons are there to stay with you for much longer. In my opinion, even if you don't have an intention to create a business, this book will still offer you life lessons on knowing when you have had enough, and how you can be happy.

This is now on the list of one of my favorite books of all time. I say this because Derek is frank and succinct but there is so much wisdom in what he writes.

Kayla Waldorff

This is now on the list of one of my favorite books of all time. I say this because Derek is frank and succinct but there is so much wisdom in what he writes.

Do what makes you happy. 

Incredible read, well written, natural to read and highly recommended thoughts and learning.

Patrick Sauerwein

"Anything you want is a manifesto about living life, appreciating enough, and doing what matters. It's most of what fabled entrepreneur Derek Sivers [and founder of CD Baby] learned in ten years of starting and growing a small business, compacted into something you can read in an hour."--Dusk jacket.

Fadi

كتاب لطيف، وفيه نصائح تنفع للشخص العادي بغض النظر عن رغبته بافتتاح مشروعه الشخصي أو لا.
اكتشفت شيء آخر، وهو أني أحبّ مشاهدة [ Derek Sivers ] أكثر من القراءة له، لأني في كل مرة أقرأ ما كتبه أتخيله يلفظ الكلمات بحماس أكبر.

alali moe

Ugis

Unexpectedly quick read how Derek Sivers created cdbaby.com. Inspiring in terms of attitude towards employees, customers and the humanity. The business can be run also like this. [reading time: 1h29m]

Cams Campbell

The Audible version of this was great, read by Derek himself. His voice really gets in your head and I find myself starting to think of my business, such as it is, in a different way. It's all right not to want to have employees. I like that. I sucked at being a boss. 

This was recommended in a YouTube video of Ali Abdaal's, one of his top three (yes, I have the other two - go look 'em up!). I'm super glad that I found Ali's channel; following his content and his recommendations is going to help me in a big way as I navigate the setting up of a solo consulting business. Derek's book is incredibly helpful, not only because of the insight it provides, but because of the way it makes me feel. I know, sounds weird, right? But listening to Derek's words being read by Derek himself has made me feel like I got this.

James Bedford

Really nice little read. Took me about 45 minutes from start to finish and is full of concise lessons about business and entrepreneurship. 

Nothing groundbreaking here - but enjoyable none the less.

Bryce Thornton

Good tips and observations about business and life. If you read the author's blog then you've likely read quite a few of these stories before. Regardless, Sivers has refreshing view on life, making this a nice, quick read.

Ivaylo Durmonski

Unlike other business books, that really long and complex, Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur reads in under an hour. And believe me, that’s the beauty of this book. You’ll be thinking about the lessons inside this brief book for much longer than the time it takes to read it.

The main thing I’ve taken away from this book and from Derek Siver’s lessons is that you don’t necessarily have to strive to get bigger. Actually, do the opposite. Aim to remain small. Small organizations might earn less, but when you’re small you can move quickly and make the right decisions – take care of your customers.

Read more: https://durmonski.com/book-summaries/...

Anything You Want 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur

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