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/jack-butcher
Derek Sivers vs Jack Butcher
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
Founder of Visualize Value: minimalist visuals, courses on leverage, and digital art
@jackbutcher United States
Derek Sivers vs Jack Butcher at a glance
Both Derek Sivers and Jack Butcher are bootstrapped solo founders. They overlap in Creators & Writers and Educators & Course Creators. Derek is based in New Zealand, Jack in United States. Derek started in 1997 and Jack in 2019. Derek Sivers has 3 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Jack Butcher's 3. Derek has sold 2 products. On X, Derek has about 286K followers and Jack about 354K.
Side-by-side comparison
- Based in
- Derek Sivers: New Zealand
- Jack Butcher: United States
- Started
- Derek Sivers: 1997 (29 yrs indie)
- Jack Butcher: 2019 (7 yrs indie)
- Revenue (self-reported)
- Derek Sivers: Not public
- Jack Butcher: Not public
- Products listed
- Derek Sivers: 3
- Jack Butcher: 3
- Product status
- Derek Sivers: 0 active · 2 acquired · 1 shut down
- Jack Butcher: 3 active
- X followers
- Derek Sivers: 286K
- Jack Butcher: 354K
- Categories
- Derek Sivers: Creators & WritersE-commerceEducators & Course Creators
- Jack Butcher: Creators & WritersEducators & Course CreatorsDesign Tools
- Style
- Derek Sivers: solobootstrappedexited
- Jack Butcher: solobootstrapped
- Courses & resources
- Derek Sivers: 6
- Jack Butcher: 6
Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.
Top products
Visualize Value
visualizevalue.com
Visual essays, courses, wallpapers, tools and merch about value creation and leverage.
Checks VV Edition
jack.art
Digital art edition launched in 2023 that became one of the most traded on-chain art projects.
jackbutcher.md
github.com
Open source writing-voice file distilled from roughly 50,000 of his tweets for use with AI.
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.
- Build once, sell twice: productize knowledge instead of selling time
- Permissionless apprenticeship: do the work before you're asked
- Constraints create clarity
- Daily practice compounds
Learn from Derek and Jack
- [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] The Fundamentals of Value · Free
- [course] How to Visualize Value · Free
- [course] The Permissionless Apprentice · Free
- [course] Build Once, Sell Twice · Free
- [course] Make Service Great Again · Free
- [course] Context is Capital · Free
Derek Sivers vs Jack Butcher FAQ
Who makes more money, Derek Sivers or Jack Butcher?
Neither Derek Sivers nor Jack Butcher has publicly reported a revenue figure that IndieMakerList tracks, so it's not public.
Who has built more products, Derek Sivers or Jack Butcher?
Derek Sivers has 3 products listed (CD Baby, HostBaby and Wood Egg); Jack Butcher has 3 products listed (Visualize Value, Checks VV Edition and jackbutcher.md).
What tech stack do Derek Sivers and Jack Butcher use?
Derek Sivers uses Ruby, PostgreSQL, OpenBSD and Vim. Jack Butcher hasn't shared a stack. They don't list any tools in common.
Where are Derek Sivers and Jack Butcher based?
Derek Sivers: New Zealand. Jack Butcher: United States.
Who has been an indie maker longer, Derek Sivers or Jack Butcher?
Derek Sivers started in 1997 (29 years indie); Jack Butcher started in 2019 (7 years indie).
Are Derek Sivers and Jack Butcher 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 Jack Butcher's profile.
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