Episode

#125: Derek Sivers on Developing Confidence, Finding Happiness, and Saying "No" to Millions
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2:02:09
Published: Sun Dec 13 2015
Description

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.***If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Visit tim.blog/sponsor and fill out the form.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferrissPast 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.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chapters
Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby and author of "Anything You Want," shares his thoughts on ethics, including the importance of truth and the "golden rule."
00:00 - 16:46 (16:46)
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ethics
Summary

Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby and author of "Anything You Want," shares his thoughts on ethics, including the importance of truth and the "golden rule." He also discusses his experiences with music, entrepreneurship, and circus performing.

Episode
#125: Derek Sivers on Developing Confidence, Finding Happiness, and Saying "No" to Millions
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker talks about how they met a music teacher who used to teach at Berkeley College of Music and who gave them advice on how to graduate from the music school in two years instead of four by setting high standards and expectations.
16:46 - 26:34 (09:47)
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Music education
Summary

The speaker talks about how they met a music teacher who used to teach at Berkeley College of Music and who gave them advice on how to graduate from the music school in two years instead of four by setting high standards and expectations.

Episode
#125: Derek Sivers on Developing Confidence, Finding Happiness, and Saying "No" to Millions
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
Tim shares how he personalized the order confirmation emails for his company and how it aligned with his mission to make people smile.
26:34 - 42:03 (15:29)
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Personalization
Summary

Tim shares how he personalized the order confirmation emails for his company and how it aligned with his mission to make people smile. He also explains how he provided a cheaper alternative to musicians to get a UPC barcode by automating the process.

Episode
#125: Derek Sivers on Developing Confidence, Finding Happiness, and Saying "No" to Millions
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The personalized touch of a quirky email can add a lot of value to customer satisfaction, while also helping to humanize a website.
42:03 - 56:35 (14:31)
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Entrepreneurship
Summary

The personalized touch of a quirky email can add a lot of value to customer satisfaction, while also helping to humanize a website. But try not to idolize entrepreneurs based solely on their successes, and avoid paid placements which can create unequal footing.

Episode
#125: Derek Sivers on Developing Confidence, Finding Happiness, and Saying "No" to Millions
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
In this podcast, the speaker discusses the benefits of having a "now" page on your website and shares his experience in creating a website that helps people find others with now pages.
56:35 - 1:12:02 (15:27)
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Website
Summary

In this podcast, the speaker discusses the benefits of having a "now" page on your website and shares his experience in creating a website that helps people find others with now pages.

Episode
#125: Derek Sivers on Developing Confidence, Finding Happiness, and Saying "No" to Millions
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker explains how by revisiting previous books and lessons, he was able to internalize and memorize important points and how he is taking 10 minutes every morning to read the notes and write about the lessons he learned.
1:12:05 - 1:28:08 (16:02)
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Personal Development
Summary

The speaker explains how by revisiting previous books and lessons, he was able to internalize and memorize important points and how he is taking 10 minutes every morning to read the notes and write about the lessons he learned.

Episode
#125: Derek Sivers on Developing Confidence, Finding Happiness, and Saying "No" to Millions
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker shares his experience with fasting and how it helped him get through his day, as well as mentioning lessons from Marcus Aurelius and Charlie Munger on how to contend with difficult situations and avoid becoming too comfortable.
1:28:08 - 1:49:08 (20:59)
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Self-improvement
Summary

The speaker shares his experience with fasting and how it helped him get through his day, as well as mentioning lessons from Marcus Aurelius and Charlie Munger on how to contend with difficult situations and avoid becoming too comfortable.

Episode
#125: Derek Sivers on Developing Confidence, Finding Happiness, and Saying "No" to Millions
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker discusses how media often portrays men as always wanting sex, but in reality women also desire it.
1:49:08 - 2:01:29 (12:21)
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Gender Roles
Summary

The speaker discusses how media often portrays men as always wanting sex, but in reality women also desire it. Additionally, the importance of recognizing artists like Rakim who revolutionized music, and not taking their contributions for granted is emphasized.

Episode
#125: Derek Sivers on Developing Confidence, Finding Happiness, and Saying "No" to Millions
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show