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The Tim Ferriss Show
#125: Derek Sivers on Developing Confidence, Finding Happiness, and Saying "No" to Millions
Dec 13, 2015
01:58:44
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Quick takeaways
- Cultivating a strong brand identity through personalized and humorous customer interactions can lead to powerful word-of-mouth marketing and brand recognition.
- Learning to say no to opportunities that don't bring genuine excitement or fulfillment can help maintain focus and alignment with personal values.
- Maintaining a simple and profitable business model, while resisting the temptation to seek excessive funding or constantly pivot, can cater to a specific niche while staying true to the initial vision.
- Having a 'now' page on a personal website provides an up-to-date snapshot of current activities and projects, offering a more personal and current view than traditional 'about' pages or social media feeds.
Deep dives
Creating a Unique Email Experience
Seedy Baby, an online music store, gained attention by sending quirky and playful confirmation emails to customers. This personalized and humorous touch made customers share and talk about the emails, leading to widespread word-of-mouth marketing and brand recognition.
Staying True to the Vision
Despite numerous offers for investments and acquisitions, Seedy Baby's founder chose to decline them all. As the business was initially seen as a side project and a community service, he did not want the growth and financial pressure to distract him from his primary passion as a professional musician.
Valuing Time and Prioritizing
By adopting the 'Hell Yeah or No' approach, the founder learned to say no to many opportunities or requests that would not bring him genuine excitement or fulfillment. This enabled him to have more control over his time and focus on the few things that truly inspired him and aligned with his values.
Embracing Simplicity and Resisting Unnecessary Change
Seedy Baby's business model centered around a $35 setup fee and a $4 fee per CD sold. The founder resisted the temptation to seek huge funding or constantly pivot, sustaining a simple and profitable structure that catered to independent musicians while staying true to the initial vision.
The Power of Now Pages on Personal Websites
The speaker emphasizes the importance of having a 'now' page on a personal website. This page provides an up-to-date snapshot of someone's current activities and projects, giving a more personal and current view than a traditional 'about' page or social media feed.
How to Systematize and Delegate in Business
The podcast discusses the importance of systematizing tasks in a business to minimize personal involvement and create efficiency. The speaker shares their experience of delegating responsibilities and empowering employees to make decisions based on clear philosophies and guidelines.
The Power of Reading and Summarizing Books
The podcast explores the benefits of reading books and the value of summarizing the main points and insights. The speaker highlights their personal habit of taking detailed notes on books and how it helps them internalize the knowledge and retain key lessons. They also share strategies for selecting books and deciding what to read.
The Importance of Long-Term Thinking and Focus
The podcast emphasizes the need to prioritize long-term thinking and focus. The speaker advises against pursuing multiple directions simultaneously and encourages a sequential approach, investing dedicated time and effort into each pursuit before moving on to the next. This allows for deeper focus and higher chances of success.
Originally a professional musician and circus clown, Derek Sivers (@sivers) 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 5 million views of his talks. Since 2011, he has published 34 books, including “Anything You Want” which shot to #1 on all of its Amazon categories. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast. This podcast is brought to you by MeUndies. Have you ever wanted to be as powerful as a mullet-wearing ninja from the 1980’s, or as sleek as a black panther in the Amazon? Of course you have, and that’s where MeUndies comes in. I’ve spent the last 2-3 weeks wearing underwear from these guys 24/7, and they are the most comfortable and colorful underwear I’ve ever owned. Their materials are 2x softer than cotton, as evaluated using the Kawabata method. Check out MeUndies.com/Tim to see my current faves (some are awesomely ridiculous) and, while you’re at it, don’t miss lots of hot ladies wearing MeUndies. This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service, led by technologists from places like Apple and world-famous investors. It has exploded in popularity in the last 2 years, and now has more than $2.5B under management. In fact, some of my good investor friends in Silicon Valley have millions of their own money in Wealthfront. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams. Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you—for free–exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Or, as I would, you can set it and forget it. Well worth a few minutes: wealthfront.com/tim.
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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.
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