Reflections on Anything You Want by Derek Sivers

I found myself captivated by the simple, down to earth personality of the author. Unlike most authors from this genre, you can tell Derek has won the battle against his ego. He doesn't have something to prove, or sell. So the entire book sounds like you're listening to a friend tell his adventures.

Actually, before this book, I've been visiting his blog (sive.rs) every now and then. The book contains some of the same ideas from the blog (e.g. either hell yeah or no). At the same time, it tells a detailed story of CD Baby. More interesting, was the author's approach to business.

Staying small on purpose

The goal of a business in a capitalist world is simple: profit. Derek's approach, however, is quite different. He says he wanted to stay small ON PURPOSE. He does not prioritise money, but instead customer happiness. And the customer happiness is attained by putting their needs first.

For instance, in the chapter about delegation, he talks about how he set a guiding principle for his employees to make decisions independently. He said, if it was something that'd make customers happy and if it wasn't outrageous, they should do it. I'm familiar with that idea from the book Made to Stick. In the chapter titled "Commander's Intent," that's exactly what the authors of that book suggested.

However, that intent could only be arrived at from a bigger, more pervasive idea. The motivation. Why do you run a business? Besides from the obvious answer (money), what drives you to start a company? Derek asks readers to answer it for themselves, and provides his own answer as well. He started CD Baby because independent artists had no outlet to sell their music. They were turned down by big brands. So, as an independent musician himself he started his website to sell his music. Soon enough, his friends asked him to sell their music on his site too. And it just grew from there!

The organic origin story

The story behind the product really resonates with me. It's quite organic, in the sense that he took a problem he had. Solved the problem. And because it wasn't just a personal problem, the market found value in his solution, and his solution became popular. The motive was not to disrupt the music industry, or become a unicorn, or become rich.

So, I feel happy to see that message re-iterated: do what makes you happy. You don't have to become a behemoth. Have a clear purpose why you are doing things. And don't anyone else tell you differently.

Don't insist on one idea

Another point I took home from the book is: stop insisting on one idea. Everyone has multiple ideas. Some ideas catch on, while some others put you in despair. Doors shut on you, numerous things block the path. Derek says, just move on to the next idea in those cases. Don't insist, and waste time on one idea.

This also makes sense to me. Although I can see how the romanticised view of the entrepreneur is the exact opposite: sheer perseverance, never giving up, etc. I find that view too unrealistic and unproductive. I wouldn't want to blindly chase an idea and spend my entire life making a single bet.

Self-employed vs. business owner

Finally, he made me rethink the difference between being self-employed and being a business owner. When you're self-employed, it's still not much different than being employed. Instead of one boss, you have many bosses (read: clients). So, make yourself useless to the running of your business, he says.

I agree. That's the only way you can stop focusing on the work, and instead start focusing on the business. However, he also adds that you should choose whatever position you want in the company, and delegate the rest. These two ideas seem a bit contradictory, but I guess the gist of it is this: don't trap yourself or get stuck in routine work. Delegate those things, so you're free to do what you want to do. That's how you attain freedom as a business owner.

A very good read. Surely, I'll revisit these ideas this year multiple times, and hopefully implement some of them.