Anything You Want

Derek Sivers built CD Baby into the world's largest independent online music store — $100 million in sales — then sold it for $22 million and donated everything to music education. Anything You Want distills that experience into 40 short lessons you can read in an hour. The philosophy is counter-cultural in the best way: put customers first, ignore growth for its own sake, build something that makes you happy. Sivers writes from real experience rather than theory, and the brevity is a feature, not a flaw. The honest caveat is that 40 short lessons cannot deliver tactical depth, and the CD Baby context (music retail, late 1990s) dates some of the specifics. But the principles — generosity, simplicity, personal fulfillment over profit — travel well across industries and eras. For entrepreneurs and small business owners, Worth It.