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    Unavailable
    Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way
    Unavailable
    Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way
    Unavailable
    Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way
    Ebook674 pages10 hours

    Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way

    By Richard Branson

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The unusual, frequently outrageous autobiography of one of the great business geniuses of our time, Richard Branson.

    In little more than twenty-five years, Richard Branson spawned nearly a hundred successful ventures. From the airline business (Virgin Atlantic Airways), to music (Virgin Records and V2), to cola (Virgin Cola), and others ranging from financial services to bridal wear, Branson has a track record second to none. Many of his companies were started in the face of entrenched competition. The experts said, "Don't do it." But Branson found golden opportunities in markets in which customers have been ripped off or underserved, where confusion reigns, and the competition is complacent.

    In this stressed-out, overworked age, Richard Branson gives us a new model: a dynamic, hardworking, successful entrepreneur who lives life to the fullest. Branson has written his own "rules" for success, creating a group of companies with a global presence, but no central headquarters, no management hierarchy, and minimal bureaucracy. Family, friends, fun, and adventure are equally important as business in his life. Losing My Virginity is a portrait of a productive, sane, balanced life, filled with rich and colorful stories, including:

    - Crash-landing his hot-air balloon in the Algerian desert, yet remaining determined to have another go at being the first to circle the globe

    - Signing the Sex Pistols, Janet Jackson, the Rolling Stones, Boy George, and Phil Collins

    - Fighting back when British Airways took on Virgin Atlantic and successfully suing this pillar of the British business establishment

    - Swimming two miles to safety during a violent storm off the coast of Mexico

    - Staging a rescue flight into Baghdad before the start of the Gulf War

    And much more. Losing My Virginity is the ultimate tale of personal and business survival from a man who combines the business prowess of Bill Gates and the promotional instincts of P. T. Barnum.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateSep 1, 2010
    ISBN9780307481672
    Unavailable
    Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way

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    Reviews for Losing My Virginity

    4/5

    239 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      My father sent me this book with the accompanying message "he's (Branson) a bit of a wanker but even wankers say some useful things at times." And, so it proved.Branson talks about his upbringing and how he decided to quit school at 16 to start a newspaper, which eventually branched out to trains, music, air travel and other more mundane investments. Besides covering British Airway's dirty tricks campaign, Branson probably offers aphorisms that anyone wanting to become extremely rich would take to heart. As I am not such a person, "Losing my Virginity" was enough of a time distraction when I was in Seoul, trying to avoid the new age cult I somehow got involved with.
    • 4/5
      Love getting inside the mind of successful entrepreneurs to see why they tick. I made lots of highlights in this book.
    • 2/5
      A pretty bland memoir. There are some gems in it, though, and Branson is an impressive businessman. Most of the companies mentioned I'd never heard of, so it was interesting to see the range of Branson's brand venture capital investments. He presents himself as having consistent vision and values. I liked learning some of the business details behind Virgin Music and Virgin Airlines. The problem is that it is not very cohesive. Branson himself doesn't have a long attention span, and the book certainly shows it. The writing is very poor, and it mostly feels like dictation. The story bounces around, from paragraph to paragraph each introducing some new subject. There's little followthrough or organization, though Branson often doubles back on himself. Branson is very self centered and not very reflective, so some of the threads—for example, an excruciatingly detailed elaboration of his libel case against British Airways—are just boring.
    • 3/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      I rarely read biographies, but this is worth reading.
    • 3/5
      In general, well written and readable. It does come across as honest. The few things that come across clearly, is that he relies considerably on his instinct; he has great charm and networking ability; family means a lot to him; he is a hard competitor.The part where I felt a bit put-off was where he thought he could stop the Kuwait invasion because of a few telephone calls, and the part where he founded The Elders. While he tried to sound well-meaning, I could not help but feel the arrogance come through the words. How can a bunch of 6-8 people arrogate to themselves the right to be the conscience of the world?
    • 5/5
      An amazing story! Branson has nearly died more times than I can remember after reading this book -- all the while building an empire.
    • 4/5
      Educational & entertaining read - chuckled every 10 pages. Full of learnings about business and about how to live life to the full. Couldn't put it down.
    • 5/5
      Great book by a great guy. A good laugh a lot of times, a heroic story at others. Branson is my example for doing business: having fun, being creative, earning money, changing the world and staying honest and true to yourself at all times.
    • 5/5
      Branson is a man worthy of admiration. His love of life inspires awe and gives one motivation to "make a go of it". Richard has been a hero of mine since I was a teenager - for no apparent reason. I knew little of him personally aside from his business, the basics of his beginnings (dropout and magazine) and his public theatrics.From this book I have learned so much more and have a true reason to respect and emulate his attitude. he would be my first choice of men to spend a day chatting.This is a new classic in my personal library.