Richard Branson

This man is very definitely the hero of his own story, but on the other hand he's often disarmingly honest, and he also has a lot to feel heroic about.

His ballooning escapades seem very dangerous, not least because the balloons themselves seem shoddily put together, but that's probably a reflection of how the kind of ballooning where you cross the pacific at thirty thousand feet and two hundred miles per hour is not done very much.

Before reading the book I did not appreciate that Virgin is show more involved in a staggering range of businesses. It felt like the record business and then the airline were really his true passions though. A good chunk of the book is devoted to the struggle to overcome British Airways dirty tricks campaign, and how Branson is finally vindicated by winning a huge libel settlement against Lord King and BA. I didn't much like BA before but finding out about all of this and how they did similar things to put Freddy Laker, British Midland, Air Europe and a bunch of others out of business, really put me off them.

All in all a good story which was well read, recorded by the same people who do audiobooks for the blind. show less

Great book about a fascinating entrepreneur and human being. Especially loved the last part about his decisions to give back and to focus on earth's real problems. The book is extremely detailed as Richard has a habit of writing a constant diary in his notebook.

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 show more 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. show less

A well written and thought out book based on personal experience and beliefs. Richard Branson is an experienced and insightful man who believes in the entrepreneurial approach to business and life. Everyone should be an entrepreneur of one kind or another.