222. How Derek Sivers grew CD baby to $22m using a customer-focused and generous approach

Productive Insights Podcast — Actionable Business Growth Ideas — with Ash Roy

00:00 - Introducing ... Derek Sivers!

01:39 - How Derek built a $22m company by focusing purely on the customer

04:40 - The problem with external funding

13:52 - How to approach the world with a positive bias

16:49 - The story of the cab driver and the mob

29:12 - Derek Siver's approach to content creation

32:22 - How Derek Sivers edits

33:44 - How Derek Sivers sees the AI changes

37:46 - How to live

40:28 - The attitude Derek Sivers brought to CD Baby

43:03 - The struggle before launching CD Baby

44:15 - Why I do my own editing now

44:34 - Why you must pursue pain

44:45 - The difference between deep happy and shallow happy

48:38 - Derek's advice to a person starting off in entrepreneurship

49:00 - The Tarzan analogy

50:24 - The key thing about internal vs external focus

56:28 - Derek Sivers on SEO

57:33 - Derek Sivers' approach to writing anything