Anything You Want: 40 lessons for a new kind of entrepreneur

Written by Derek Sivers

Narrated by Derek Sivers and Naina Kader

You started a business. But why?

Entrepreneurs often lose sight of what matters. Are you helping people? Are they happy? Are you happy? Are you profitable? Isn't that enough?

Derek Sivers accidentally started a business by helping musicians sell their music. It became the largest online seller of independent music with over 150,000 musicians and $100M in sales. After ten years, he sold the company for $22 million and gave all the money to charity.

In “Anything You Want” he shares 40 powerful lessons, in two hour listen. Points include:

• When you make a company, you make your utopia — your perfect world.
• Business is not about money. It’s about making dreams come true for others and for yourself.
• Starting with no money is an advantage. You don’t need money to start helping people.
• Your business plan is moot. You don’t know what people really want until you launch.
• Don’t pursue business just for your own gain. Only answer the calls for help.

The book’s most memorable stories are from his horrible mistakes, like why saving ten minutes cost him $3.3 million dollars, and how he was attacked by Steve Jobs.

“Anything You Want” was first published by Seth Godin in 2011, then by Penguin/Portfolio in 2015. This third edition for 2022 was improved with eight new chapters.

Its surprisingly humanist approach to business, focusing on generosity and happiness more than profits, has helped thousands of entrepreneurs to re-focus on what matters and find their own path to success.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hit Media
• Release date: Apr 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781991153340

Derek Sivers

After making a living as a professional musician, Derek Sivers went looking for ways to sell his own CD online and ended up creating CD Baby, once the largest seller of independent music on the web with over $100M in sales for over 150,000 musician clients. Since 2008, Derek has traveled the world and stayed busy creating and nurturing creative endeavors, like Muckwork, his newest company where teams of efficient assistants help musicians do their “uncreative dirty work.” Derek writes regularly on creativity, entrepreneurship, and music on his blog: http://sivers.org/.

Reviews for Anything You Want

[Sundeep · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is awesome!!!!! Life lessons that every business owner should know.