Tim Denning(@Tim_Denning):Derek Sivers gets it: He built CD Baby from nothing, became the largest indie music distributor in the world, sold it for $22 million, and gave every penny to charity. Then he disappeared. No founder story podcast tour. No VC meetings. No personal brand. He moved to New Zealand with a laptop and started writing books that 10,000 people read instead of millions — and he prefers it that way. While every Silicon Valley founder was chasing unicorn status and ringing bells on CNBC, Sivers was asking whether any of it was actually worth wanting. The most successful exit in music tech history ended with a man who decided success was the wrong game entirely.

2026.05.27 18:19

Derek Sivers gets it: He built CD Baby from nothing, became the largest indie music distributor in the world, sold it for $22 million, and gave every penny to charity. Then he disappeared. No founder story podcast tour. No VC meetings. No personal brand. He moved to New Zealand with a laptop and started writing books that 10,000 people read instead of millions — and he prefers it that way. While every Silicon Valley founder was chasing unicorn status and ringing bells on CNBC, Sivers was asking whether any of it was actually worth wanting. The most successful exit in music tech history ended with a man who decided success was the wrong game entirely.