Richard Branson

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book from Richard Branson. This is a good inspirational and motivating book that is very easy to read. I knew that there were a number of Virgin companies prior to reading this book, however I was not aware of how many different industries Virgin is involved with (music, mobile, space travel, planes, trains, finance, health clubs, ...).

The culture of Virgin is a key component of the why the Virgin companies have been successful. Whilst there is not a step by step guide for how to build a successful company, there are many useful insights and lessons learnt. Caring and Encouraging your people, Customer-focus, Innovation, Embracing leadership, Fun, Learning from mistakes and Social Responsibility are key attributes I now associate with the Virgin brand.… (más)

I read this autobiography because I heard Branson interviewed on the Freakonomics podcast. He had made a comment that he was dyslexic and dropped out of school. He seemed to suggest that struggling students don't really need school to succeed as he did. This raised a question for me: So how do you start a company with a reading disability? The question really wasn't answered but he did surround himself in the early days with smart friends who helped first with the publication Student and then starting Virgin Records. It is an entertaining, sometimes enlightening read but got repetitive.… (más)