Anything You Want (Derek Sivers) - Book Review

Published: March 23, 2021, 6:45 p.m.

How can you grow a huge company while simultaneously trying to keep it as small as possible? 'Anything You Want' by Derek Sivers explains this paradox while reflecting on his time running CD Baby (an online music store). It's a mini memoir of sorts, a condensation of 10 years of entrepreneurship into 40 lessons. He details the whole process of starting, growing, delegating, managing and finally selling a company. The core themes that emerge are about establishing a compass (knowing what you want) and actually executing your ideas (getting what you want).


I summarised the book as follows. "Wisdom can indeed come in bite sized pieces as each lesson is one or two pages long & the book can be read in less than an hour. Derek's personality shone through the book, which is also reflective of his business philosophy. I found it refreshing to hear the thoughts of someone who didn't get swept away by the superficial bullshit and followed his values/ethics to the end."

As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!


Timeline:

(0:00) - Synopsis

(1:58) - Your Compass: Knowing what you want

(3:33) - Execution: Getting what you want

(5:33) - Personal Observations

(8:23) - Summary

(10:21) - Pragmatic Takeaway: Allow myself to put in more Easter Eggs


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