"The book follows the often-gripping story of how Sivers founded CDBaby.com in 1998 with $500, grew it to with no outside investors ever, lead the company through hypergrowth, and sold it for $22 million in 2008 when it had grown too large for his leadership tastes. Right before selling, he donated the company to a charitable trust for music education, so all the proceeds from the sale went to the charitable trust."
Derek Sivers continues and says,
"This has made me a really annoying 'guru.' Everyone comes up to me and says, 'Hey, you’ve had this success. What do you think of my idea?' Everyone wants to tell me their startup idea. For almost everything, I just say, 'Well. are people into it? Are customers wanting to pay you?' That’s all there is to it."
One of the Best Hours You’ll Ever Spend - Michael Ellsberg - Need to Know - Forbes
This is similar to Jame's Altucher's message,
"People say, 'Execution is important'. That’s not really true either. Execution is useless. It’s a commodity. The only thing that’s important is money. You get money by having a customer. You get a customer by satisfying a need that’s so important to them they would be willing to pay for it. If you have a customer that’s willing to pay you money, then execution becomes a lot easier. Life as an entrepreneur is hard. Why make it harder for yourself?"
The Easiest Way to Succeed as an Entrepreneur Altucher Confidential
Derek has also re-iterated something that I had posted before - that marketers are very good at tapping into our primordial egos to make us want things, to make us buy things, to make us fatten company profits. Only the few monied individuals are able to resist the siren call of the savvy marketer - 'slowlane' marketers are smarter than you (think).
"Getting to know her and her parents, I realized, you can just opt out of all of this. As long as you’re able to keep your living costs low—if you can live on $1,000 a months, or better yet, $700 a month—you don’t need to do anything for anyone, you can just do the occasional little odd-job, and say no to the rest. I really adopted that philosophy, when I was 22. I actually quit my job at Warner Brothers, and that’s the last time I’ve ever had a job. Ever since then, I’ve just found ways of keeping my life very cheap, saying 'no' to the whole advertising industry’s desire to make you want things." - Derek Sivers
Derek Sivers continues and says,
"This has made me a really annoying 'guru.' Everyone comes up to me and says, 'Hey, you’ve had this success. What do you think of my idea?' Everyone wants to tell me their startup idea. For almost everything, I just say, 'Well. are people into it? Are customers wanting to pay you?' That’s all there is to it."
One of the Best Hours You’ll Ever Spend - Michael Ellsberg - Need to Know - Forbes
This is similar to Jame's Altucher's message,
"People say, 'Execution is important'. That’s not really true either. Execution is useless. It’s a commodity. The only thing that’s important is money. You get money by having a customer. You get a customer by satisfying a need that’s so important to them they would be willing to pay for it. If you have a customer that’s willing to pay you money, then execution becomes a lot easier. Life as an entrepreneur is hard. Why make it harder for yourself?"
The Easiest Way to Succeed as an Entrepreneur Altucher Confidential
Derek has also re-iterated something that I had posted before - that marketers are very good at tapping into our primordial egos to make us want things, to make us buy things, to make us fatten company profits. Only the few monied individuals are able to resist the siren call of the savvy marketer - 'slowlane' marketers are smarter than you (think).
"Getting to know her and her parents, I realized, you can just opt out of all of this. As long as you’re able to keep your living costs low—if you can live on $1,000 a months, or better yet, $700 a month—you don’t need to do anything for anyone, you can just do the occasional little odd-job, and say no to the rest. I really adopted that philosophy, when I was 22. I actually quit my job at Warner Brothers, and that’s the last time I’ve ever had a job. Ever since then, I’ve just found ways of keeping my life very cheap, saying 'no' to the whole advertising industry’s desire to make you want things." - Derek Sivers
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
