Derek Sivers
sive.rs · by Derek Sivers · clipped 2026-08-24
Clipped from the web into my Obsidian; formatting may be imperfect.
(Everything here is 100% me, no AI.)
me in 10 seconds
Xenophile, programmer, netizen, and conversationalist.
(1984-1997): Musician. Berklee grad, played 1000+ shows, guitarist for Ryuichi Sakamoto, wrote and recorded 120+ songs.
(1998-2008): Entrepreneur. Started and sold CD Baby. Paid $83M to musicians.
(2009-2025): Author, speaker. 5 books, 550+ articles, some TED talks, guest on 250+ podcasts.
(2026+):?
Me in 10 minutes?
See my /about page.
What am I doing now?
See my /now page.
Contact me
I like meeting people, and I reply to every email, so say hello.
newest articles
- 2026-08-18 Building without predicting
- 2026-05-14 Prepare your “no” and keep it handy
- 2026-05-12 My life was changed by four sentences in four books
- 2026-05-05 Geography is four-dimensional
- 2026-05-03 Netizen
… and more here.
my books
Useful Not True (2024) Doubt everything. No beliefs are true. Adopt what works for you now.
How to Live (2021) My masterpiece. Best thing I’ve ever made. My soul in a book.
Hell Yeah or No (2020) Useful wisdom. Simple profound mental models to guide your decisions.
Your Music and People (2020) Get your work to the world by being creative, considerate, resourceful, and connected.
Anything You Want (2011 → 2022) 40 lessons for a new kind of entrepreneur. My tales of starting, building, and selling CD Baby.
See the foreign publishers of my translated books.
interviews
You can listen to over 250 interviews, where I’m the guest.
Each one has audio, sometimes video, and a full transcript.
projects
detailed notes from the last 430+ books I’ve read
a collection of sites that have a “what I’m doing now” page
step-by-step instructions to set up your own server and break dependency on the cloud
when I travel, I meet with people who have emailed me
excerpts from books that have written about me
inspiring quotes about music, translated into Español, Français, Deutsch, Italiano, Português, Русский, العربية, 日本語, and 中文
my TED talks and other stage talks
tweets
- 2026-08-18 Building without predicting. (The story of how I built my perfect home.) sive.rs/fit
- 2026-07-27 I write to see what I can write. I code to see what I can code.
- 2026-07-03 17 conversations in Jakarta, Indonesia: sive.rs/met/at-14
- 2026-06-30 16 conversations in super-multicultural Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur: sive.rs/met/at-13
- India tech friends: I just bought my ticket to IndiaFOSS in BLR Sept 26-27: fossunited.org/indiafoss/2026 Want to meet? Email me: sive.rs/contact
… and more here.
