In this interview, I’m joined by Derek Sivers.

Derek is the Founder of CD Baby — a company he sold for $22 million, and then gave pretty much everything to charity. He has written multiple bestselling books, given TED talks which have reached millions, and been a circus performer for 10 years.

There have been few people who have had a bigger positive impact on my thinking than Derek, so it was a real treat to sit down with him for an hour and have this conversation.

Expect to learn:

— The connection between your beliefs, your emotions, and your actions

— How Derek sold his company for $22 million and then instantly gave it all away to charity

— His unconventional approach to getting advice from mentors

— Why Derek has journalled every day for the past 13 years and why this is the “single most useful thing” he does.

And more.

You can learn more about Derek’s work, books, and philosophy at https://sive.rs.

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Derek Sivers graduated in 1990 from Berklee, where he majored in professional music. He entered as a guitarist and came out a self-proclaimed “everything guy” after studying voice, composition, piano, songwriting, music synthesis, and production.

Sivers is best known as the founder of CD Baby(Opens in a new window), the largest online distribution company for independent music. After years of touring, recording, and writing for TV projects, he started CD Baby from his bedroom—almost by accident. When he obtained a merchant account to sell his CDs online (not an easy task in the ’90s), musician friends began asking if he could sell their CDs. Soon he was getting calls from strangers, and the foundation for a business was laid. Sivers launched CD Baby in 1998 with a musician-centric ideology that sought to maximize musicians’ profits rather than minimize them for company gain.

In 2003, Sivers won the World Technology Award and was described by Esquire Magazine as “one of the last music-business folk heroes.” In keeping with his philanthropic ethos, Sivers sold CD Baby in 2008 and gave the proceeds to a charitable trust for music education.

In 2011, Sivers published Anything You Want(Opens in a new window), a book chronicling his challenges and triumphs founding, building, and selling CD Baby.

In 2013, Sivers launched Wood Egg(Opens in a new window), which publishes guides about how to build companies in Asia. He is a frequent speaker at the TED Conference, with over 5 million views of his talks.

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Interview Links:

— Derek’s website - https://sive.rs

Interview Links:

— Derek’s website - https://sive.rs

— Derek's new book - https://sive.rs/u

— Derek's new book (Amazon Link) - https://amzn.to/41HkBPz