Derek Sivers: Don't be afraid of failing (and learning)

Derek Sivers sold his CD Baby business in 2009 and set up a trust fund with his $22 million cash profit to return everything back to music education when he dies.  He has been sharing his insights that he learned over the years while running CD Baby amid competition from Amazon and other startups.  His 8-piece talk on YouTube titled Uncommon Sense covers the highlights of his lessons including some practical tips to humanize the business (see the part 8 of 8).

I like Sivers' advice because they are very practical.  He connects his earlier attempt at launching his music career with running CD Baby experience to discuss some important lessons that we can all learn from:



He also runs a blog.  I found the following blog entries to be refreshing.

• Smart people don't think others are stupid
• Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy
• Why I gave away my company to charity

Whenever I find an author like Derek Sivers, I am thrilled because it not only teaches me a few insights that I haven't been exposed to earlier, but also it proves to me that there are many paths to start your own business.  Raising VC fund and going big is certainly one way to start, but starting small to build your business is definitely another way for many others.

I hope that many can experience the same excitements as I did from watching Sivers' videos and can get inspirations to continue pursue their ideas.