Online store and distributor for independent musicians; became the largest seller of independent music online. Sold in 2008 for $22M.
diff ~/p/derek-sivers ~/p/florin-pop
Derek Sivers vs Florin Pop
Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.
Musician who accidentally built CD Baby, sold it for $22M, and writes books on how to live
@sivers New Zealand
Derek Sivers vs Florin Pop at a glance
Both Derek Sivers and Florin Pop are bootstrapped solo founders and have sold at least one product. They overlap in Creators & Writers and Educators & Course Creators. Derek is based in New Zealand, Florin in Romania. Derek started in 1997 and Florin in 2019. Derek Sivers has 3 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Florin Pop's 3. Derek has sold 2 products and Florin 1. Florin self-reports $445K lifetime across projects (as of 2026); Derek hasn't shared a revenue figure publicly. On X, Derek has about 286K followers and Florin about 203K.
Side-by-side comparison
- Based in
- Derek Sivers: New Zealand
- Florin Pop: Romania
- Started
- Derek Sivers: 1997 (29 yrs indie)
- Florin Pop: 2019 (7 yrs indie)
- Revenue (self-reported)
- Derek Sivers: Not public
- Florin Pop: $445K lifetime across projectsself-reported, as of 2026 · source for Florin Pop's revenue
- Products listed
- Derek Sivers: 3
- Florin Pop: 3
- Product status
- Derek Sivers: 0 active · 2 acquired · 1 shut down
- Florin Pop: 2 active · 1 acquired
- X followers
- Derek Sivers: 286K
- Florin Pop: 203K
- Categories
- Derek Sivers: Creators & WritersE-commerceEducators & Course Creators
- Florin Pop: Creators & WritersEducators & Course CreatorsSaaS Founders
- Style
- Derek Sivers: solobootstrappedexited
- Florin Pop: solobootstrappedbuilds in publicexited
- Courses & resources
- Derek Sivers: 6
- Florin Pop: 3
Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.
Top products
Frontend coding-challenge platform where developers practice by rebuilding real UI components.
~$67K lifetimeTrustMRR ↗
Content Copilot
trustmrr.com
Finds Instagram Reels that are outperforming in a niche and gives an AI breakdown of how to adapt each idea.
Indie Action
florin-pop.com
Gamified time-tracking app built to beat procrastination.
Tech stack
No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.
RubyPostgreSQLOpenBSDVim
No stack shared publicly.
How they build
- Hell yeah or no: if you're not wildly excited about something, say no.
- Business is about serving people, not chasing growth; make it a utopia for your customers.
- Don't need money? Then optimize for freedom and learning instead.
- Start tiny and stay focused on one thing at a time.
- Be tech-independent — prefer open, self-hosted tools you control.
- Share every revenue number publicly to build trust and accountability.
- Leverage an existing audience to launch products quickly.
- Ship scrappy launches straight from a tweet and validate with real sales.
- Quantity of attempts eventually produces quality.
Learn from Derek and Florin
- [book] Anything You Want
- [book] Hell Yeah or No
- [book] Your Music and People
- [book] How to Live
- [book] Useful Not True
- [template] Book notes
- [course] 50 Projects coding course
- [youtube] Florin Pop on YouTube
- [newsletter] Florin Pop Newsletter
Derek Sivers vs Florin Pop FAQ
Who makes more money, Derek Sivers or Florin Pop?
Florin Pop self-reports $445K lifetime across projects (as of 2026). Derek Sivers' revenue is not public, so a direct comparison isn't possible.
Who has built more products, Derek Sivers or Florin Pop?
Derek Sivers has 3 products listed (CD Baby, HostBaby and Wood Egg); Florin Pop has 3 products listed (iCodeThis, Content Copilot and Indie Action).
What tech stack do Derek Sivers and Florin Pop use?
Derek Sivers uses Ruby, PostgreSQL, OpenBSD and Vim. Florin Pop hasn't shared a stack. They don't list any tools in common.
Where are Derek Sivers and Florin Pop based?
Derek Sivers: New Zealand. Florin Pop: Romania.
Who has been an indie maker longer, Derek Sivers or Florin Pop?
Derek Sivers started in 1997 (29 years indie); Florin Pop started in 2019 (7 years indie).
Are Derek Sivers and Florin Pop bootstrapped?
Yes, both are listed as bootstrapped founders on IndieMakerList.
Full profiles
Read the full story, timeline and links on Derek Sivers's profile and Florin Pop's profile.
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Florin Pop vs Paweł Huryn