The Tim Ferriss Show #202: Tools of Titans: Derek Sivers Distilled
The Standard Pace is for Chumps
- Derek Sivers' music teacher, Kimo Williams, emphasized rapid learning.
- By compressing two years of music theory into four lessons, Sivers graduated early.
Don't Be a Donkey
- Avoid being a "donkey" by focusing on one thing at a time, long-term.
- You can achieve multiple goals sequentially, not simultaneously.
Simple Business Models
- CD Baby's simple business model was inspired by a local record store's practices.
- A flat fee per CD and a setup fee, determined by valuing Sivers' time, fueled a $100 million business.
Derek Sivers(@sivers) is one of my favorite humans, and I call him often for advice. Think of him as a philosopher-king programmer, master teacher, and merry prankster. Originally a professional musician and circus clown (he did the latter to counterbalance being introverted), Derek created CD Baby in 1998. It became the largest seller of independent music online, with $100 million in sales for 150,000 musicians. In 2008, Derek sold CD Baby for $22 million, giving the proceeds to a charitable trust for music education. He is a frequent speaker at the TED Conference, with more than five million views of his talks. In addition to publishing 33 books via his company Wood Egg, he is the author of Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur, a collection of short life lessons that I've read at least a dozen times. I still have an early draft with highlights and notes. I posted the following on Facebook while writing this chapter: "I might need to do a second volume of [Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers], 100% dedicated to the knowledge bombs of Derek Sivers. So much good stuff. Hard to cut." Here's a bit of what made it into the first edition -- cherry-picked from the nuggets I've applied to my own life. Enjoy! Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast. This podcast is brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. I have two to recommend: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Vagabonding by Rolf Potts All you need to do to get your free 30-day Audible trial is go to Audible.com/Tim. Choose one of the above books, or choose any of the endless options they offer. That could be a book, a newspaper, a magazine, or even a class. It's that easy. Go to Audible.com/Tim and get started today. Enjoy. This podcast is also brought to you by FreshBooks. FreshBooks is The #1 cloud bookkeeping software, which is used by a ton of the start-ups I advise and many of the contractors I work with. It is the easiest way to send invoices, get paid, track your time, and track your clients. FreshBooks tells you when your clients have viewed your invoices, helps you customize your invoices, track your hours, automatically organize your receipts, have late payment reminders sent automatically and much more. Right now you can get a free month of complete and unrestricted use. You do not need a credit card for the trial. To claim your free month and see how the brand new Freshbooks can change your business, go to FreshBooks.com/Tim and enter "Tim" in the "how did you hear about us section."
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