Derek Sivers

A collection of thoughts around re-defining yourself, changing focus, and saying yes to less

Finally available in bookstores, the Portfolio edition of Derek Sivers’s iconic and bestselling manifesto on lessons learned while becoming an entrepreneurMost people don’t know what they’re doing. They imitate others, go with the flow, and follow paths without making their own.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 CD Baby 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 Web site. Shortly thereafter he began selling his friends’ CDs on his Web site. 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.

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. “[Sivers is] one of the last music-business folk heroes,” says Esquire magazine. His less-scripted approach to business is refreshing and will educate readers to feel empowered to follow their own dreams. Aspiring entrepreneurs and others trying to make their own way will be particularly comforted by Sivers straight talk and transparency -a reminder that anything you want is within your reach. Anything You Want is also available in a 5 pack, 52 pack and very limited edition Collectible, signed by Derek.

What you will learn: Personal effectiveness “Useful Not True” is about reframing. Success in anything starts with your perspective which affects your strategy — your actions. Your first thought (“this is a disaster”) feels true, but it’s not the only perspective. Your first thought is an obstacle you need to get past by realizing no thoughts are necessarily true. After your initial impulse, consider other perspectives, then choose the thought that’s more useful to you — the one that makes you take effective actions. Understanding others People share perspectives, not facts. They tell you how they see things. Like someone across the world telling you the time. Maybe it’s true for them, but not for you, and not for most other people. Brains lie to their owners. Nobody knows the real reasons why they do anything. When someone says, “I believe…”, then whatever they say next is not a fact. No beliefs are necessarily true. Beliefs are perspectives. Explanations are confabulated. Obligations are wishes. Rules are arbitrary. They’re useful, but not necessarily true. Knowing this gives you empathy, as you understand people’s incentives behind their beliefs.