Who on Earth is Derek Sivers?

“A rule of capitalism: whoever takes the most financial risk gets the rewards.”

“Any business that’s in business to sell you a cure is motivated not to focus on prevention.”

“Anything you hate to do, someone else loves. So find that person and let him do it.”

“Are you helping people? Are they happy? Are you happy? Are you profitable? Isn't that enough?”

“Be different. Show who you are.”

“Business is not about money. It's about making dreams come true for others and for yourself.”

“Confidence attracts. Vulnerability endears.”

“Don't be on your deathbed someday, having squandered your one chance at life, full of regret because you pursued little distractions instead of big dreams.”

“Don’t confuse the word marketing with advertising, announcing, spamming, or giving away branded crap. Really marketing just means being considerate, looking at things from the other person’s point of view, and doing what’s best for them.”

“Don’t wait for permission.”

“Doubt each old thing you know. Require current evidence. Make it prove itself to be true today. Otherwise, let it go.”

“Every time you're making a choice, one choice is the safe/comfortable choice - and one choice is the risky/uncomfortable choice. the risky/uncomfortable choice is the one that will teach you the most and make you grow the most, so that's the one you should choose.”

“I usually get where I’m going by leaving where I've been.”

“Ideas are worth nothing unless executed.”

“If more information was the answer, then we'd all be billionaires with perfect abs.”

“If they wish I would have said a little more, I said just the right amount.”

“If you find even the smallest way to make people smile, they’ll remember you more for that smile than for all your other fancy business-model stuff.”

“If you think your life's purpose needs to hit you like a lightning bolt, you'll overlook the little day-to-day things that fascinate you. If you think revolution needs to feel like war, you'll overlook the importance of simply serving people better. When you're on to something great, it won't feel like revolution. It'll feel like uncommon sense.”

“If you want to be useful, you can always start now, with only 1 percent of what you have in your grand vision. It'll be a humble prototype version of your grand vision, but you'll be in the game. You'll be ahead of the rest, because you actually started, while others are waiting for the finish line to magically appear at the starting line.”

“If you’re not saying 'Hell yeah!' about something, say 'no'.”

“In a perfect world, would your website be covered with advertising?”

“Learning without doing is wasted.”

“Make sure you know what makes you happy, and don’t forget it.”

“Money is nothing more than a neutral exchange of value. If people give you money, it’s proof that you’re giving them something valuable in return.”

“Most people don't know why they're doing what they're doing. They imitate others, go with the flow, and follow paths without making their own. They spend decades in pursuit of something that someone convinced them they should want, without realizing that it won't make them happy.”

“Most people over-estimate what they can do in one year, and under-estimate what they can do in ten years.”

“Never forget that absolutely everything you do is for your customers. Make every decision—even decisions about whether to expand the business, raise money, or promote someone—according to what's best for your customers.”

“No business plan survives first contact with customers.”

“No matter which goal you choose, there will be lots of people telling you you're wrong. Just pay close attention to what excites you and what drains you. Pay close attention to when you're being the real you and when you're trying to impress an invisible jury.”

“Present each new idea or improvement to the world. If multiple people are saying, "Wow! Yes! I need this! I'd be happy to pay you to do this!" then you should probably do it. But if the response is anything less, don't pursue it.”

“Question the norms.”

“Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently pushing what's not working.”

“Success is your top priority. Never let anything stop you.”

“The first follower is actually an underestimated form of leadership in itself. The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader.”

“The standard pace is for chumps. The system is designed so anyone can keep up. If you’re more driven than ‘just anyone’ ,  you can do so much more than anyone expects. And this applies to all of life,  not just school.”

“The world changes. Some people don’t.”

“There's a big difference between being self-employed and being a business owner. Being self-employed feels like freedom until you realize that if you take time off, your business crumbles. To be a true business owner, make sure you could leave for a year, and when you came back, your business would be doing better than when you left.”

“To me, 'busy' implies that the person is out of control of their life.”

“To stay in just one country is like living in a huge house but never leaving the bedroom.”

“Trust, but verify. Remember it when delegating. You have to do both.”

“What’s obvious to you is amazing to others.”

“Whatever excites you, go do it. Whatever drains you, stop doing it.”

“When you make a company, you make a utopia. It’s where you design your perfect world.”

“When you sign up to run a marathon, you don’t want a taxi to take you to the finish line.”

“You can't please everyone, so proudly exclude people.”

“You only have a boss if you choose to! Nobody is making you serve these masters.”