My business partner encouraged me to read this book while I was studying abroad in London. The Virgin brand is obviously a very big deal in the UK and Richard Branson is on the level of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, or Steve Jobs. I didn’t know all that much about Richard Branson before reading this book. I had a vague sense that he was some crazy rich guy who combined daredevil adventures with a wild sex life. As you might know, I always like to get different perspectives on business and life and since I was in London, I couldn’t think of a better opportunity to read his autobiography.
This book made me think about the difference between an entrepreneur and a businessman. I think the biggest difference between someone who is an entrepreneur at heart and someone who is a businessman at heart is how they approach business. When I think of an entrepreneur, I think of Steve Jobs, Marc Cenedella, and Richard Branson. When I think of a businessman I think of Warren Buffett, Donald Trump, and Andrew Carnegie. When I think of an inventor, I think of Steve Wozniak .
In my opinion, there are two types of entrepreneurs. One cares about delivering a great product or service that truly adds value to the world or revolutionizes an industry. Not only do they want to deliver innovative products or services, they also want to create enduring business around them. They don’t care as much about money as they do about their work and legacy. The other type of entrepreneur spots opportunities where consumer demand is unmet or there is possibility for product improvement. They then create a business around this opportunity. I think they definitely enjoy the game, but care more about money than the first type of entrepreneur. Obviously, individuals may have a little of both of these mentalities. I think the biggest difference between entrepreneurs and inventors is that inventors don’t work as hard to build businesses around their inventions and either give them away or sell them. An example could be Benjamin Franklin. Inventors have more of an engineer’s mentality than a business mentality.
Businessmen are much more interested in using money as a scorecard for their success. That doesn’t mean they are greedy or only care about money, but they definitely enjoy the game of buying, selling, and sometimes creating, and use money to gauge how successful they are at their endeavors. I think they are far less likely to “create” than to buy or sell or improve a business. Warren Buffett is probably the best example. He is clearly in the business of making money and will often give heavy weight to the numbers behind a business and the ability of the employees to grow and expand the business. He doesn’t create or directly foster the innovation of new products, he allocates capital. In the spectrum of entrepreneurs and investors, I think that businessmen have more of an investor’s mindset than an entrepreneur’s mindset.
All this being said, I see Richard Branson as the first type of entrepreneur. He is a creative visionary who cares less about money than he does about creating great products, services, and organizations.
“I am aware that the idea of business as being fun and creative goes right against the grain of conventions, and it’s certainly not how they teach it at some of those business schools, where business means hard grind and lots of discounted cash flows and net present values.”
There are four main lessons I learned from this book, despite Branson’s urging not to follow magic success formulas and to break the rules and do your own thing.
1. Hit the ground running. (Branson relies mostly on his instincts and intuition. Although he analyzes the situation, he executes before doubt sets in)
2. Build a great team around you. Reward them and praise them.
3. Have fun with it. (You can tell he thoroughly enjoys his work and makes sure to exercise the creative side of his brain)
4. Be on the consumer’s team. Work FOR the consumer. Don’t try to cheat the consumer out of their money or take advantage of them.
“My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable, challendges and trying to rise above them.”
““Above all, you want to create something you are proud of. That’s always been my philosophy of business. I can honestly say that I have never gone into any business purely to make money. If that is the sole motive, then I believe you are better off doing nothing.”
“Looking to the future, I had no idea whether Virgin Cola would become a global leader in soft drinks or not, but, as with all of our businesses, I keep an open mind…The decision to launch Virgin Cola was founded on three key things: finding the right people, the positive use of the Virgin brand name, and protection of the downside.”
