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/sahil-lavingia
Derek Sivers vs Sahil Lavingia
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 Sahil Lavingia at a glance
Derek Sivers and Sahil Lavingia are both indie makers listed on IndieMakerList. They overlap in Creators & Writers, E-commerce and Educators & Course Creators. Derek is based in New Zealand, Sahil in Brooklyn, United States. Derek started in 1997 and Sahil in 2011. Derek Sivers has 3 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Sahil Lavingia's 3. Derek has sold 2 products. Sahil self-reports $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025); Derek hasn't shared a revenue figure publicly. On X, Derek has about 286K followers and Sahil about 394K.
Side-by-side comparison
- Based in
- Derek Sivers: New Zealand
- Sahil Lavingia: Brooklyn, United States
- Started
- Derek Sivers: 1997 (29 yrs indie)
- Sahil Lavingia: 2011 (15 yrs indie)
- Revenue (self-reported)
- Derek Sivers: Not public
- Sahil Lavingia: $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025)self-reported, as of 2025 · source for Sahil Lavingia's revenue
- Products listed
- Derek Sivers: 3
- Sahil Lavingia: 3
- Product status
- Derek Sivers: 0 active · 2 acquired · 1 shut down
- Sahil Lavingia: 3 active
- X followers
- Derek Sivers: 286K
- Sahil Lavingia: 394K
- Categories
- Derek Sivers: Creators & WritersE-commerceEducators & Course Creators
- Sahil Lavingia: E-commerceCreators & WritersEducators & Course CreatorsOpen Source Makers
- Style
- Derek Sivers: solobootstrappedexited
- Sahil Lavingia: builds in public
- Courses & resources
- Derek Sivers: 6
- Sahil Lavingia: 1
Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.
Top products
Gumroad
gumroad.com
Platform for creators to sell digital products, memberships and courses directly to their audience.
$17.8M in 2025TrustMRR ↗
Flexile
flexile.com
Open-source tool for paying contractors and managing equity, spun out of how Gumroad runs its team.
Helper
helper.ai
Open-source AI-powered customer support tool from the Antiwork family.
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.
- Start with a community you are already part of, then build for it.
- Do things manually before you build software, and build as little as possible.
- Profitability gives you the freedom to make your own decisions.
- Run the company in public: open metrics, open board meetings, open source.
- Creators should own their audience and get paid directly.
Learn from Derek and Sahil
- [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
Derek Sivers vs Sahil Lavingia FAQ
Who makes more money, Derek Sivers or Sahil Lavingia?
Sahil Lavingia self-reports $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025). Derek Sivers' revenue is not public, so a direct comparison isn't possible.
Who has built more products, Derek Sivers or Sahil Lavingia?
Derek Sivers has 3 products listed (CD Baby, HostBaby and Wood Egg); Sahil Lavingia has 3 products listed (Gumroad, Flexile and Helper).
What tech stack do Derek Sivers and Sahil Lavingia use?
Derek Sivers uses Ruby, PostgreSQL, OpenBSD and Vim. Sahil Lavingia hasn't shared a stack. They don't list any tools in common.
Where are Derek Sivers and Sahil Lavingia based?
Derek Sivers: New Zealand. Sahil Lavingia: Brooklyn, United States.
Who has been an indie maker longer, Derek Sivers or Sahil Lavingia?
Derek Sivers started in 1997 (29 years indie); Sahil Lavingia started in 2011 (15 years indie).
Are Derek Sivers and Sahil Lavingia bootstrapped?
Derek Sivers is listed as bootstrapped; Sahil Lavingia isn't tagged as bootstrapped on IndieMakerList.
Full profiles
Read the full story, timeline and links on Derek Sivers's profile and Sahil Lavingia's profile.
Derek Sivers vs Florin Pop
Derek Sivers vs Jack Butcher
Sahil Lavingia vs Nathan Barry
Sahil Lavingia vs Kent C. Dodds
Sahil Lavingia vs Justin Welsh
Sahil Lavingia vs Daniel Vassallo
Sahil Lavingia vs Jeffrey Way
Sahil Lavingia vs Ali Abdaal