Synopsis
You can follow the beaten path and call yourself an entrepreneur or you can blaze your own trail and really be one.
When Derek Sivers started CD Baby, he wasn’t planning on building a major business. He was a successful independent musician who just wanted to sell his CDs online. When no one would help him do it, he set out on his own and built an online store from scratch.
He started in 1998 by helping his friends sell their CDs. In 2000, he hired his first employee. Eight years later, he sold CD Baby for $22 million.
Sivers didn’t need a business plan, and neither do you. You don’t need to think big; in fact, it’s better if you don’t. Start with what you have, care about your customers more than yourself, and run your business like you don’t need the money.
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About the Author
In 2008, Derek sold CD Baby to focus on new ventures to help musicians. Since then he’s been sharing everything he’s learned as an in-demand writer and speaker at conferences, including four TED talks. Join the Anything You Want conversation and learn more about Derek’s current projects at sivers.org/a
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Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Ten years of experience in one hour
What’s your compass?
Just selling my CD
Make a dream come true
A business model with only two numbers
This ain’t no revolution
If it’s not a hit, switch
No “yes.” Either “Hell yeah!” or “no.”
Just like that, my plan completely changed
The advantage of no funding
Start now. No funding needed.
Ideas are just a multiplier of execution
Formalities play on fear. Bravely refuse.
The strength of many little customers
Proudly exclude people
Why no advertising?
This is just one of many options
You don’t need a plan or a vision
“I miss the mob.”
How do you grade yourself?
Care about your customers more than about yourself
Act like you don’t need the money
Don’t punish everyone for one person’s mistake
A real person, a lot like you
You should feel pain when you’re unclear
The most successful e-mail I ever wrote
Little things make all the difference
It’s OK to be casual
Naive quitting
Prepare to double
It’s about being, not having
The day Steve Jobs dissed me in a keynote
My $3.3 million mistake
Delegate or die: The self-employment trap
Make it anything you want
Trust, but verify
Delegate, but don’t abdicate
How I knew I was done
Why I gave my company to charity
You make your perfect world
Contact me anytime
Acknowledgments
Dedicated entirely to Seth Godin.
This book only exists because of his encouragement.
Visit http://bit.ly/1Vs8MCB for a larger version of this graph.
Ten years of experience in one hour
From 1998 to 2008, I had this wild experience of starting a little hobby, accidentally growing it into a big business, and then selling it for $22 million. So now people want to hear my thoughts.
People ask me about that experience, so I tell stories about how it went for me. Many of them are about all the things I did wrong. I made some horrible mistakes.
People ask my advice on how to approach situations in their lives or businesses, so I explain how I approach things. But my approach is just one way, and I could argue against it as well.
I’m not really suggesting that anyone should be like me. I’m pretty unusual, so what works for me might not work for others. But enough people thought that my stories and the philosophies I developed from this experience were worth sharing, so here we are.
This is most of what I learned in ten years, compacted into something you can read in an hour.
I hope you find these ideas useful for your own life or business. I also hope you disagree with some of them. Then I hope you e-mail me to tell me about your different point of view, because that’s my favorite part of all. (I’m a student, not a guru.)
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