Seth Godin Archives • HERO Foundry

Derek Sivers, who I first met in Singapore in 2011, is a fascinating person who I really look up to — a hugely successful writer, entrepreneur, programmer, and ex-musician who founded CD Baby, and in 2008 sold it for $22 million.

Derek is hugely passionate about learning and teaching, he’s a frequent TED speaker, and writes extensively at Sivers.org. He’s also the author of Anything You Want and the Wood Egg startup guide series.

Below is my 2014 mentor call with him just for members, perhaps the best guest we’ve ever had! Watch to learn how Derek transitioned from overworked running a huge multimillion dollar business with 85 employees to resetting his operating system, how he then sold his $22 million dollar enterprise without paying anything in taxes, and his philosophies on how to have FUN doing business:

In this call, Derek joins us from his home in New Zealand and we discuss:

Living a different life before 1998 – as a musician and ringleader of a circus troop!
How he uniquely structured his charitable trust so that all his earnings will go to a music education charity and not to taxes
How to provide amazing customer service, with an example of the “packing specialist from Japan”
Why it’s okay to “borrow” ideas in business and in art, and all about his straightforward and easy “co-op business model” (which earned him millions of dollars)
Why you should say “Fuck Yeah!” to things… or how to decide what offers to accept and projects to work on
Choice overload, working on too man projects at once, and why you shouldn’t be a donkey!
What life is like in quiet New Zealand
A few insider tips on second passports and shortcuts to citizenship abroad
Mentioned: see Simon Black at Sovereign Man
Lessons learned from compiling extensive business startup guides on 16 countries across Asia
How he’s learning JavaScript right now… (all Derek’s code projects are public here)
Mentioned: Codeschool.com
The next project he’s working on…
About his book Anything You Want which follows 10 years of business lessons learned from CDBaby and other projects
It’s not about the money at all… it’s about making dreams come true for your customers and yourself.
How a business is your own world where you control the rules, etc.
Mentioned: Seth Godin, Philip Kaplan, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (free PDF download for members here), How to Win Friends and Influence People, Tony Robbins’ Awaken the Giant Within, Power Talk, and Personal Power II
Check out Derek’s fantastic book reviews (160+ of them!)

You can learn much more about Derek on his site, read his latest articles, and watch his great videos from the Anything You Want book and Uncommon Sense series.

Ramit Sethi was one of the earliest bloggers to inspire me when I first started writing my original site ‘Thrilling Heroics’ and building my professional network.

A Stanford alumni who studied technology and psychology, Ramit was one of the original co-founders of Silicon Valley startup PBworks, and runs the hugely successful I Will Teach You To Be Rich blog to help college students and young professionals take control of their personal finances and succeed with entrepreneurship.

I first met him in person in our hometown Sacramento, California, one chilly winter day in 2006 when he was home to visit his family, and I had the opportunity to interview him about his education, entrepreneurship experience, and his perspectives on new media.

One of the first bold moves Ramit made in his career was to call up Seth Godin and negotiate a job opportunity with him. He later consulted with Omidyar Network, the philanthropic social innovation firm started by Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar.

In March 2006, Ramit published his definitive personal finance book, which immediately hit #1 on Amazon and made him a New York Times bestselling author. His educational background in social psychology translated well into a thorough guidebook that helps readers make real behavioral change:

At last, for a generation that’s materially ambitious yet financially clueless comes I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Ramit Sethi’s 6-week personal finance program for 20-to-35-year-olds. A completely practical approach delivered with a nonjudgmental style that makes readers want to do what Sethi says, it is based around the four pillars of personal finance—banking, saving, budgeting, and investing—and the wealth-building ideas of personal entrepreneurship.

This week Ramit is adapting his bestseller into a six-week online bootcamp

After meeting recently with him in San Francisco, I’ve been wanting to bring him on for a video interview to share what has changed in the last three years. Here’s our fascinating discussion:

Check out the full video interview here for the following:

How Ramit turned his writing and personal expertise into a 6-week personal finance training program
The massive importance of TAKING ACTION
The value of FREE content versus INVESTING in your success
How to use a blog as a laboratory for launching your own business and life experiments
What defines a RICH life? (what Ramit values most)
How to leverage failures to reach SUCCESS
How Ramit made the leap from blogger to NYT best-selling author
Personal finance & entrepreneurship tips for travelers & expats

To learn more about Ramit Sethi, social psychology, technology in business, scrappy startups, and x-man abilities, make sure you also read my 2006 interview with him.

Tag Archive for: Seth Godin

From Struggling Musician to Multi-Millionaire — with Derek Sivers

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