Non-fiction 17 Jul 2005 01:41 pm
Losing my Virginity
Losing my Virginity
Richard Branson
This is a newly expanded version of a book that was first published in the early 1990s. The first version covered Branson’s story up to 1993, and the new one includes a chapter at the end with new developments since then.
It is a very interesting book. Of course, it is not exactly an unbiased version of Branson and the Virgin group (being written by Branson himself), but it does tell a great story. It starts with Branson still in school, and follows all his commercial ventures since then, starting with the “Student” magazine in the late 1960s and going on to Virgin Records, Virgin Music, Virgin Atlantic and all other virgins around.
Branson is a very interesting character. He is a serial entrepreneur, and also an adventurer who loves “radical” stunts such as trying to circle the world in a balloon. It makes for great story-telling, of course. He admits to making decisions against the advice of, well, mostly everyone, but those decisions usually turn out right.
As for his management style, anyone who saw the TV shows “Rebel Billionaire” and “The Apprentice” was able to notice that he is no Donald Trump; Branson is a child of the 60s, the “peace and love” generation. Can you imagine Trump smoking marijuana or shouting at an anti-war rally? But Branson did that, and more. He is more of a “people’s person”, and it shows; he claims to be distraught at the idea of firing people, for example (and, in his TV show, he did fire people in a very passive way).
By the way, one interesting thing is the sheer size of the Virgin group. They seem to do everything! Virgin Mobile, Virgin Money (credit card, insurance, investments), Virgin Cars, Virgin Rail, Virgin Active (health clubs), Virgin Travel, Virgin Hotels… and much, much more. Granted, some of them seem to exist mainly because the name sounds good (such as Virgin Brides). And at least their line of condoms uses a different name.
In all, a very good book. The inserts with pictures are very interesting as well, as you get to see the “family” side of Branson. Recommended.
Oh, by the way: the episode referred to in the title of the book is, indeed, described in one of the first chapters. It is an unusual event.
