I was really looking forward to this book after reading Richard Branson's first book, but it ended up being a bit of a disappointment. A lot of the material about his life was obviously taken almost straight from Losing My Virginity, and it seemed to have been written for a 12-year-old. Plus Branson comes across as a little patronising. The 'lessons' for business life and entrepreneurship it presents, while sound, are a little basic – but it's the kind of book you would turn to for inspiration, rather than guidance. And Branson is certainly one of a kind.One thing I did find quite encouraging was that even though in some ways Richard Branson seems like an entrepreneurial force of nature, it still takes time for his various ventures to get off the ground... he plugged away for two years trying to get advertisers in his Student magazine (he was still at school, but even so), and it took five years for Virgin to get their trains up and running. So as well as boldness, courage and innovative thinking, persistence is obviously one of his greatest attributes – and I think that is something that gets missed in Branson's 'business cowboy' image.
Yes, you have just reminded me that this was something I took from the book too. One gets the impression Branson would be impatient for success. One would not be surprised if you heard he had a short attention span either. But clearly he had learnt the lesson of persistence and belief in a good idea. Lots of great ideas take time to take root and flourish.
ReplyDelete