“Anything You Want” by Derek Sivers
With easy-to-understand takeaways that you can implement today.
The book by Derek Sivers, “Anything You Want“ was a recommended book by many of my business idols. Similarly, the book was documented on several “CEO Library” suggestion sites (a commonplace to source my reading material).
With much surprise, the book contained endless marvelous concepts and proposed many recommendations for business owners and entrepreneurs. The book itself is considerably light. The read took no more than an hour, yet each sub-topic carried heavy significance with it.
I didn’t know much about Derek before reading this book, so I did some investigation and research (i.e. typed in his name on Google and searched videos lol). This is what I uncovered.
After “researching” I discovered that I knew him from some of my favorite TEDTalks. The guy is so grounded, I didn’t even realize that he had a company and sold it for $22 Million. After realizing this truth, I was excited to crush this book.
I usually deconstruct the title by definition format, but this title is less subliminal. Rather, the book eloquently suggests a plan of action to achieve Anything You Want. Although the book is profoundly oriented around entrepreneurship and business owners, the contents advise the reader to be self-aware (a constant running theme in these books). Be aware of what makes you happy. Do not attempt to create a massive organization because its “cool”, especially if you do not intrinsically desire that.
Let’s just dive right in . . .
Analysis
I have decided to change the layout of the article for this book because it was so short. I’ll deconstruct the book in a short summary with its supplementary lessons, listed. Finally, I will continue with the conclusion as usual.
Summary
Lesson 1:
Siver was simply a musician with a goal to sell his records online (circa PayPal and iTunes Music). He never intended to grow a massive corporation, rather, compliment his hobbies and interests. “Business is not about money. It’s about making dreams come true for others and for yourself”. Take into consideration that “Making a company is a great way to improve the world while improving yourself”. In this case, Sivers was helping himself (selfish) then helping his friends and other non-signed artists to sell their music independently (altruistic). This goes back to number one, it’s not about the money because he commands that you “Never do anything just for the money”.
Lesson 2:
You should consider answering the “calls for help” for the current now and the immediate 12 -18 months, rather than pursuing a self-serving mentality that only benefits you. Derek was bogged down by operations and menial tasks that he was taken away from his passions and congruently his ability to improve and invent. If a service or product is “not working” then persistent promotion and marketing will be inefficient methods for operations. Alternatively, you should strive to continually invent new solutions or improve current ones for problems — for “calls for help”.
Lesson 3:
This next major idea truly resonated with me, “You don’t need money to start helping people”. With PlutusX we were so ass-backward focused on cap raises and making the “finish line” appear at the “start line” that we failed to consider the alternative. I think we were disillusioned by the fantastic promises of ICOs. Well, reality kicked our ass and taught me that a business that needs money to start probably isn’t a business worth starting. We bootstrapped up and started our MAM Services and now we’re close to generating $50,000 profit a month (recurring and growing), 4 months later. After reading this book, I’m glad to recognize that the pain I experienced that motivated us to take action was one of Sivers main ideas.
Lesson 4:
This particular lesson is a reoccurring truth across many of the books that I have been reading and that is: “The real point of doing anything is to be happy, so do only what makes you happy”. This takes self-awareness. You cannot go into the fitness industry if you hate a healthy lifestyle (you shouldn’t so shame if you do :P). You should not start a business in x-industry if it does not make you happy. This takes some intraperspective investigation to discover your interests, your hobbies, your skills, and your weakness.
Lesson 5:
“When deciding whether to do something, if you feel anything less than ‘Wow! That would be amazing! Absolutely! Hell yeah!’ — then say ‘no.’” That is a no brainer. Similar to Lesson #4, you should “know thyself”. We are in 2019, we all have busy lives. We bear too much responsibility as it is, so if it doesn’t simply excite you just say no.
Sub-Topic Lessons & Summary:
Summary
Sivers’ first site only contained his album and a buy button (circa PayPal), that’s it. 10 years, 87 more employees, and hundreds-of-thousands of more albums later he sold his company for $22 million. He started the site with the sole objective to sell his music, as a professional musician who was not signed by a record label (my interpretation is that he did not like record labels). His friends kept asking if they could add their albums, and thus CDBaby was born (answering the calls for help in the now, with no money needed). This sentence really stuck out with me, especially as I continue working with a couple of buddies on an RFID solution for the Air Force. “When you’re onto something great it won’t feel like something great. It will feel like uncommon sense.”
Business Growth:
Although he continually prescribes the reader to pursue that which makes them happy, he also contradicts himself by saying that you don’t know what you want until you start doing it. This goes by the know thyself thing I keep talking about. Through experience, you can correct the model that is discovering what you love. I do want to add that if your desire is to “go big” you do not have to conform to the current “boring” business structure. Once again, “You might be much happier as a million dollar business than as a billion dollar business.”
You Don’t Need VC Money & Focus on Customer:
Sivers disdain for the VC world and record labels was very apparent especially by the end of the book, probably why he stresses “. . . don’t do it for money” so much. He continued his rant by stating, “Only please customers, not investors. Never forget that absolutely everything you do is for your customers.” this was also relevant to Lesson #3. You don’t need money to start, and when you pursue VC money you lose focus on the client, the customer, the reason you are in business! Similarly, if you “thrill” them, do a little above extra for them, they will tell everyone. Focus on the customer always. Adding onto the concept of the customer, consider opting out from “big clients” (Google, Apple, etc). This is coming from his experience as most of his clients later in the business were those companies. They create tons of headache and distract you from the customer, once again. Also, it is easy to fire a “tiny’ customer in a sea of millions that to fire a “big” client that supports have of your revenue.
Self Assess, Always:
Grade yourself, constantly. This is another concept that reoccurs through the business books that I’ve read, but it applies in all aspects of life. Find a way to quantify your progress and grade yourself often. I do quarter, semi-annual, and annual audits. I look at my goals for that time frame and see if I’m on track lagging or derailing. I use the grading system to check myself, correct my current model — my current plan of action — then I implement the newly revised plan. Use the right metrics and focus on elements that matter to you (or the goal).
Ideas & Execution:
Ideas are just that, intangible thoughts for intractable problems. Ideas are merely a multiplier of execution. That is, the most brilliant idea has no residual value without proper execution. On the topic of ideas, let’s consider placing them through various scenarios — like a stress test, so to speak. Sivers uses his experience with a vocal instructor who directed him to sing a song or verse in varying octaves or replicating numerous singers “signature” sound. This exercise was obviously used to train the vocal cords to operate in different ranges. We can take the same concept and apply them to our ideas, conducting stress tests.
Be Self-Sustaining:
This is a big concept, one talked about in the “The Cashflow Quadrant” by Robert K, and that is distinguishing the difference between a self-employed entrepreneur and a business owner. One is autonomous and the other id bottle-becked by you, the owner. The goal is to create a business that is self-sustaining. On the topic of self-sustaining, he recommends that you also become self-sufficient. Going back to not needing VC money, he taught himself how to code to create the site and the purchase button (circa PayPal). Though delegation would have been faster, the idea is not to become dependant on anyone. Sure delegate what you can but never become dependent.
Enjoy the Ride:
“Its a marathon not a sprint” is verbally vomited from Gary V’s mouth, daily. He is right! Business (any goal, really) takes tremendous amounts of effort and time, i.e. patience. Holy-shit I wish I could tell you how true this is in written format, maybe another article for another day. His “You don’t sign up for a marathon and hire a taxi to drive you to the finish line. The real point is what you want to be, not have.” When you sign up, you go in without taking shortcuts. You go in knowing that it will be tough and it will take time. Like the Dalai Lama suggested in last weeks book, fall in love with the “process” (Gary V. again).
You Are the Designer:
When you are building the business you are the architect and the designer. You make the laws (policies and conduct), you create the culture, and most importantly you create your role. Anything that isn’t your desired role can be delegated. This is running true for me now, as I have been playing Customer Support with clients non-freaking-stop. Sure, I will admit, some test my quickly diminishing patience (working on it) but the time taken away is whats MOST aggravating. If you’re reading this, delegate asap or suffer like me lol. The business, like an art piece, is a reflection of the creator. Keep that in mind. Always trust, but verify before delegating a role. Sivers offered a great example of this critical problem. He had allowed his employees to deal with rev share for various streams of revenue. Well turns out they were getting 100% of the rev share, leaving nothing for CDBaby and Derek. On a similar accord, he deligated legal questions to his bank-teller when creating the bank account for CDBaby. The accident cost him $3 million when needing to buy back the 90% of the company he sold to his dad for a $25k loan. Delegate tasks but verify.
Conclusion
Although the book was a light read, the information provided should not be disregarded. The key takeaways for me would be to become self-aware. Learn what excites you and pursue that. Dispose and repel that which drains you. Be aware of your interests and your dislikes. You have the ability to create what you want, you can make your dreams come true, so to speak. Learning about yourself will save a tremendous amount of time, as you will be able to turn down tasks and jobs that do not reward you intrinsically (assuming you are good on money and other needs). If you can, do what you love.
The motivation for starting a business should derive from one of two scenarios: 1) manifest from your inner desires, passions, or interest, or 2) answer someones “Call for help”. If you are starting a venture for money alone, you are doing it wrong. The motivation may be enough to propel you to adhere with the plan till you reach success, but you will never “have enough” — you’ll never truly be satisfied.
When you are starting a business make sure that you are continually improving existing solutions for current problems or investing something radically different. Sivvers said, “before you achieve major success with your business you are not a revolutionist you are merely a crazy person [to others].” If you are doing what you love, the intuitive nature that nourishes creativity will drive you to obtain new ideas for innovation and improvement. Better if you do not have a preconceived notion of how things work. You’re less constrained by “group thinks” in my opinion, or at the minimum unaware of the limitations.
Lastly, do not wait for the money to start a business. If you are waiting for money to start then you probably are not in the right field. So pack up and move on till you find something that better suits you, something that you could do every day for free and never feel like you are working. Then you will be satisfied, happy, and know that you have “enough”.
