Anything you want ( PDFDrive )

ANYTHING


YOUWANT
©2011DerekSivers
TheDominoProject
PublishedbyDoYouZoom,Inc.
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Sivers,Derek,1969—
AnythingYouWant:40lessonsforanewkindofentrepreneur/DerekSi
versp.cm.
ISBN978-1-936719-11-2
ǁutopiaǁ
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica

ANYTHING


YOUWANT
40LESSONSFORANEWKINDOFENTREPRENEUR
ByDerekSivers


FounderofCDBaby

Contents


BeginReading


Acknowledgments


AbouttheDominoProject


AbouttheCover
Tenyearsofexperienceinonehour
From 1998 to 2008, I had this wild experience of starting a little hobby,
accidentalygrowingitintoabigbusiness,andthenselingitfor$22milion.
Sonowpeoplewanttohearmythoughts.
Peopleaskmeaboutthatexperience,soItelstoriesabouthowitwentforme.
Many of them are about al the things I did wrong. I made some horrible
mistakes.
Peopleaskmyadviceonhowtoapproachsituationsintheirlivesorbusinesses,
soIexplainhowIapproachthings.Butmyapproachisjustoneway,andIcould
argueagainstitaswel.
I'mnotrealysuggestingthatanyoneshouldbelikeme.I'mprettyunusual,so
what works for me mightnotworkforothers.Butenoughpeoplethoughtthat
my stories and the philosophies I developed from this experience were worth
sharing,sohereweare.
ThisismostofwhatIlearnedintenyears,compactedintosomethingyoucan
readinanhour.

Ihopeyoufindtheseideasusefulforyourownlifeorbusiness.Ialsohopeyou
disagree with some of them. Then I hope you email me to tel me about your
differentpointofview,becausethat'smyfavoritepartofal.
(I'mastudent,notaguru.)
What'syourcompass?
Most people don't know why they're doing what they're doing. They imitate
others,gowiththeflow,andfolowpathswithoutmakingtheirown.
Theyspenddecadesinpursuitofsomethingthatsomeoneconvincedthemthey
shouldwant,withoutrealizingthatitwon'tmakethemhappy.


Don'tbeonyourdeathbedsomeday,havingsquanderedyouronechanceatlife,
fulofregretbecauseyoupursuedlittledistractionsinsteadofbigdreams.
You need to know your personal philosophy of what makes you happy and
what'sworthdoing.
In the fol owing stories, you'l notice some common themes. These are my
philosophiesfromthetenyearsIspentstartingandgrowingasmalbusiness.
Businessisnotaboutmoney.It'saboutmakingdreamscometrueforothersand
foryourself.
Making a company is a great way to improve the world while improving
yourself.
When you make a company, you make a utopia. It's where you design your
perfectworld.
Neverdoanythingjustforthemoney.
Don'tpursuebusinessjustforyourowngain.Onlyanswerthecalsforhelp.
Successcomesfrompersistentlyimprovingandinventing,notfrompersistently
promotingwhat'snotworking.
Yourbusinessplanismoot.Youdon'tknowwhatpeoplerealywantuntilyou
startdoingit.
Startingwithnomoneyisanadvantage.Youdon'tneedmoneytostarthelping

people.
Youcan'tpleaseeveryone,soproudlyexcludepeople.
Makeyourselfunnecessarytotherunningofyourbusiness.
The real point of doing anything is to be happy, so do only what makes you
happy.
Whatdothesestatementsmean?What'sthecontext?Howareyousupposedto
applythemtoyourownsituation?


Wel...Idon'tlovetalkingaboutmyself,butforthelessonstomakesense,Ihave
totelyoumytale.


JustsellingmyCD
Thisstorybeginsin1997.Iwasaprofessionalmusician,age27.Iwasmakinga
ful -time living just playing music—playing lots of gigs around the U.S. and
Europe,producingpeople'srecords,playingonpeople'srecords,andrunninga
littlerecordingstudio.IwaseventhemusicianandMC
foracircus.
My bank account was always low, but never empty. I made enough money to
buyahouseinWoodstock,NewYork.Iwaslivingamusician'sdream.
ImadeaCDofmymusic,andsold1500copiesatmyconcerts.Iwantedtoselit
online, but there were no businesses that would sel independent music online.
Not one. I cal ed up the big online record stores and they al told me the same
thing: the only way I could get my CD into their online stores was through a
majordistributor.
Musicdistributionwasanawfulracket.Gettingadistributiondealwasashard
as getting a record deal. Distributors were notorious for taking thousands of
CDs,andpayingyouayearlater,ifever.Recordlabelswithdeeppocketswould
buyexpensivepromotionalplacement,andtherestofuswouldjustsitinthebin.

Ifyoudidn'tselwelinthefirstfewmonths,youwerekickedoutofthesystem.
It's not that distributors were evil. It was just an awful system, and I wanted
nothingtodowithit.
Sowhenthebigonlinerecordstorestoldmetheycouldn'tselmyCDdirectly,I
thought, “Ah, screw it. I'l just set up my own online store. How hard could it
be?”
But it was hard! In 1997, PayPal didn't exist, so I had to get a credit card
merchant account, which cost $1000 in setup fees and took three months of
paperwork.Thebankevenhadtosendaninspectorouttomylocationtomake
sure I was a valid business. Then I had to figure out how to build a shopping
cart. I didn't know any programming, but I copied some examples from a
programmingbook,withlotsoftrialanderror.
Finaly,though,IhadaBUYNOWbuttononmywebsite!In1997thiswasabig


deal.
WhenItoldmymusicianfriendsaboutmyBUYNOWbutton,onefriendasked,
“CouldyouselmyCD,too?”
Ithoughtaboutit fora minuteandsaid,“Sure.Noproblem.”Ijustdid itasa
favor. It took me a couple hours to get him added into my system. I made a
separatepageforhisCDonmyband'swebsite.
ThentwootherfriendsaskedifIcouldseltheirCDs.ThenIstartedgettingcals
fromstrangerssaying,“MyfriendDavesaidyoucouldselmyCD?”Thecals
andemailskeptcoming.Isaidyestoal.
Two popular online music leaders announced it to their mailing lists. (Bryan
Baker from Gajoob, and David Hooper. Thanks, guys!) Fifty more musicians
signedup.
ThiswasmeanttobejustafavorIwasdoingforafewfriends.Hmmm....

Makeadreamcometrue
Selingmyfriends'CDswasstartingtotakeupalotofmytime.IrealizedIhad
accidentalystartedabusiness.ButIdidn'twanttostartabusiness!Iwasalready
livingmydreamlifeasaful-timemusician.Ididn'twantanythingtodistractme
fromthat.
So,Ithoughtthatbytakinganunrealisticalyutopianapproach,Icouldkeepthe
businessfromgrowingtoomuch.Insteadoftryingtomakeitbig,Iwasgoingto
makeitsmal.Itwastheoppositeofambition,soIhadtothinkinawaythatwas
theoppositeofambitious.
Iwrotedownmyutopiandream-come-truedistributiondealfrommymusician's
pointofview.Inaperfectworld,mydistributorwould...


1.
Paymeeveryweek.


2.
ShowmethefulnameandaddressofeveryonewhoboughtmyCD.(Because
thosearemyfans,notthedistributor's.)3.
Neverkickmeoutfornotselingenough.(EvenifIselonlyoneCDeveryfive
years,it'lbethereforsomeonetobuy.)4.
Neveralowpaidplacement.(Becauseit'snotfairtothosewhocan'taffordit.)
That'sit!Thatwasmymission.Ilikedit.Itwasaworthyhobby.InameditCD
Baby,andputmyfriends'CDsthere.
Thosefourpointswerelikeamissionstatement.Iwrotethemonthesite,talked
about them at every conference, and made sure everyone I worked with knew
them.
The key point is that I wasn't trying to make a big business. I was just
daydreamingabouthowonelittlethingwouldlookinaperfectworld.

Whenyoumakeabusiness,yougettomakealittleuniversewhereyoucontrol
althelaws.Thisisyourutopia.
Whenyoumakeitadreamcometrueforyourself,it'lbeadreamcometruefor
someoneelse,too.
Abusinessmodelwithonlytwonumbers
Likemostpeople,Ihadnoideawhattochargeformyservice.
So I went to the local record store in Woodstock, where they had some local
musicians'CDsonthecounter.
Iaskedthewomanatthestore,“HowdoesitworkifIselmyCDhere?”
Shesaid,“Yousettheselingpriceatwhateveryouwant.Wekeepaflat$4cut.
Andwepayyoueveryweek.”
SoIwenthomeandwrote,onmynewcdbaby.comwebsite,“Yousettheseling
priceatwhateveryouwant.Wekeepaflat$4cut.Andwepayyoueveryweek.”


Ifiguredifitworkedforher,itwasfineforme.
Becauseitwastakingmeaboutforty-fiveminutesofworktoaddanewalbum
to the site, I also had to charge $25 per album as compensation for my time.
(ShowsyouhowmuchIthoughtmytimewasworthinthosedays.)Afewdays
later,Irealizedthat$35feelsaboutthesameas$25,soIbumpeditupto$35per
album,whichleftmeroomtogivediscountsandstilmakeaprofit.
Andthat'sit!Sixyearsand$10milionlater,thosesametwonumberswerethe
solesourceofincomeforthecompany:a$35setupfeeperalbumanda$4cut
perCDsold.
Abusinessplanshouldnevertakemorethanafewhoursofwork.Hopefulyno
more than a few minutes. The best plans start simple. A quick glance and
commonsenseshouldtelyouifthenumberswilwork.Therestaredetails.
Thisain'tnorevolution
FiveyearsafterIstartedCDBaby,whenitwasabigsuccess,themediasaidI
hadrevolutionizedthemusicbusiness.

But“revolution”isatermthatpeopleuseonlywhenyou'resuccessful.Before
that,you'rejustaquirkypersonwhodoesthingsdifferently.
Peoplethinkrevolutionneedstoinvolveloudprovocations,fistsintheair,and
bloodshed.
But if you think true love looks like Romeo and Juliet, you'l overlook a great
relationshipthatgrowsslowly.
If you think your life's purpose needs to hit you like a lightning bolt, you'l
overlookthelittleday-to-daythingsthatfascinateyou.
Ifyouthinkrevolutionneedstofeellikewar,you'loverlooktheimportanceof
simplyservingpeoplebetter.
When you're on to something great, it won't feel like revolution. It'l feel like
uncommonsense.
Ifit'snotahit,switch


Forthefirsttimeinmylife,Ihadmadesomethingthatpeoplerealywanted.
Before that, I had spent twelve years trying to promote my various projects.
Tryingeverymarketingapproach.Networking,pitching,pushing.Italwaysfelt
likeanuphilbattle,tryingtoopenlockedorslammingdoors.Imadeprogress,
butonlywithmassiveeffort.
Butnow...Wow!ItwaslikeIhadwrittenahitsong.Asongwritercanwritea
hundred songs; then suddenly one of them real y resonates with people and
becomesahit.Whoknowswhy?It'snotthatit'snecessarilybetter.Butthrough
somerandomcircumstanceormagiccombinationofingredients,peopleloveit.
Onceyou'vegotahit,suddenlyalthelockeddoorsopenwide.Peoplelovethe
hitsomuchthatitseemstopromoteitself.Insteadoftryingtocreatedemand,
you'remanagingthehugedemand.
Sowhat'sthelessonlearnedhere?
We'vealheardabouttheimportanceofpersistence.ButIhadmisunderstood.
Successcomesfrompersistentlyimprovingandinventing,notfrompersistently

doingwhat'snotworking.
We al have lots of ideas, creations, and projects. When you present one to the
world, and it's not a hit, don't keep pushing it as-is. Instead, get back to
improvingandinventing.
Present each new idea or improvement to the world. If multiple people are
saying, “Wow! Yes! I need this! I'd be happy to pay you to do this!” then you
shouldprobablydoit.Butiftheresponseisanythingless,don'tpursueit.
Don'twasteyearsfightinguphilbattlesagainstlockeddoors.Improveorinvent
untilyougetthathugeresponse.
No“yes.”Either“HELLYEAH!”or“no.”
You can use this same rule on yourself if you're often over-committed or too
scattered.
Ifyou'renotsaying“HELLYEAH!”aboutsomething,say“no.”


Whendecidingwhethertodosomething,ifyoufeelanythinglessthan“Wow!
Thatwouldbeamazing!Absolutely!Helyeah!”—thensay“no.”
Whenyousay“no”tomostthings,youleaveroominyourlifetothrowyourself
completelyintothatrarethingthatmakesyousay“HELLYEAH!”
Everyeventyougetinvitedto.Everyrequesttostartanewproject.Ifyou'renot
saying“HELLYEAH!”aboutit,say“no.”
We'realbusy.We'vealtakenontoomuch.Sayingyestolessisthewayout.
Justlikethat,myplancompletelychanged
When I first started CD Baby, I thought it was just a credit card processing
service.
Itwassupposedtobeawebsitethatmusicianswouldusetosay,“Goheretobuy
myCD.”Justclicktobuy,chargeyourcard,andthengobacktothemusician's
website.KindoflikePayPal,butthiswastwoyearsbeforePayPalwasinvented.
The day I launched cdbaby.com, my second customer was a guy in the
Netherlands.Aweeklaterheemailedtoask,“Anynewreleases?”

Newreleases?Ididn'tunderstand.Iaskedwhyhewantedtoknowwhichnew
peopleareusingmyservicetochargecreditcards.
Hereplied,“Oh,sorry;Ithoughtitwasastore.”
Astore?Oh!Interesting....HethinksI'mastore!Ihadn'tthoughtofthat.Maybe
if I set it up like a store, I'd actual y be doing my friends a bigger favor, by
gettingtotalstrangerstobuytheirmusic,too.
Andjustlikethat,myplancompletelychanged.
Fiveyearslater,whentheiTunesMusicStorelaunched,Appleaskedustobea
digitaldistributor.Ihadn'tthoughtofthat.ButIsaidOK.
Andjustlikethat,myplancompletelychangedagain.
Anytimeyouthinkyouknowwhatyournewbusinesswilbedoing,remember


thisquotefromSteveBlank:Noplansurvivesfirstcontactwithcustomers.


Theadvantageofnofunding
Havingnofundingwasahugeadvantageforme.
A year after I started CD Baby, the dot-com boom happened. Anyone with a
littlehotairandavagueplanwasgivenmilionsofdolarsbyinvestors.
Itwasridiculous.
Most business owners I knew would tel you about their businesses by talking
about their second round of funding, their fancy encrypted replicated loadbalancing database server, their twenty-person development team, their nice
midtownofficewithapooltable,andtheirweeklypromotionparties.Whenyou
askedwhatthebusinessactualydid,theycouldn'texplainitclearly.
ThentheywouldtalkaboutLOI,ROI,NDAs,IPOs,andalkindsofthingsthat
alsohadnothingtodowithactualyhelpingpeople.
I'm so glad I didn't have investors. I didn't have to please anybody but my
customersandmyself.Noeffortspentonanythingbutmycustomers.
I'd getweekly cals frominvestmentfirms,wantingtoinvestinCDBaby.My

immediateanswerwasalways“Nothanks.”
They'dsay,“Don'tyouwanttoexpand?”
I'dsay,“No.Iwantmybusinesstobesmaler,notbigger.”
Thatalwaysendedtheconversation.
Bynothavinganymoneytowaste,youneverwastemoney.
SinceIcouldn'taffordaprogrammer,Iwenttothebookstoreandgota$25book
on PHP and MySQL programming. Then I sat down and learned it, with no
programmingexperience.Necessityisagreatteacher.
Evenyearslater,thedeskswerejustplanksofwoodoncinder-blocksfromthe
hardwarestore.Imadetheofficecomputersmyselffromparts.Mywel-funded
friendswouldspend$100,000tobuysomethingthatImademyselffor$1000.


Theydiditsaying“weneedtheverybest,”butitdidn'timproveanythingforthe
customers.
Never forget that absolutely everything you do is for your customers. Make
every decision—even decisions about whether to expand the business, raise
money,orpromotesomeone—accordingtowhat'sbestforyourcustomers.
Ifyou'reeverunsurewhattoprioritize,justaskyourcustomerstheopen-ended
question, “How can I best help you now?” Then focus on satisfying those
requests.
Noneofyourcustomerswilaskyoutoturnyourattentiontoexpanding.They
wantyoutokeepyourattentionfocusedonthem.
It's counterintuitive, but the way to grow your business is to focus entirely on
yourexistingcustomers.Justthrilthem,andthey'lteleveryone.


Startnow.Nofundingneeded.
Watchoutwhenanyone(includingyou)sayshewantstodosomethingbig,but
can'tuntilheraisesmoney.

It usual y means the person is more in love with the idea of being big big big
thanwithactualydoingsomethinguseful.Foranideatogetbigbigbig,ithas
tobeuseful.Andbeingusefuldoesn'tneedfunding.
Ifyouwanttobeuseful,youcanalwaysstartnow,withonly1percentofwhat
youhaveinyourgrandvision.It'lbeahumbleprototypeversionofyourgrand
vision,butyou'lbeinthegame.You'lbeaheadoftherest,becauseyouactualy
started, while others are waiting for the finish line to magical y appear at the
startingline.
For example, let's say you have a vision of making an international chain of
enlightened modern schools. You picture it as a huge, world-changing
organization, with hundreds of employees, dozens of offices, and expensive
technology. But instead of waiting for that, you start by teaching somebody
somethingthisweek.Findsomeonewhowilpaytolearnsomething,meethim
anywhere,andbegin.Itwilbenothingbutyou,astudent,andanotebook,but