Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur (Hardcover)

~ Sir Richard Branson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Sir Richard Branson is one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and his Virgin Group is one of the most recognised lifestyle brands, trusted and enjoyed by many millions of people. 

Now, in his trademark charismatic and honest style, Richard shares the inside track on some of his greatest achievements over forty years in business as well as the lessons he has learned from his setbacks. In Business Stripped Bare, he discusses why he took on one of the world’s biggest superbrands, how he built Virgin Mobile USA into the fastest growing company in history to reach a billion dollars in revenue, faster than Microsoft, Google or Amazon.com, and how Richard is the only person in the world to have built seven billion dollar companies from scratch in seven completely different sectors.

Richard tells the story behind the launch of Virgin America, his new airline in the USA, how Virgin Galactic is set to initiate a new era of space tourism from a spaceport deep in the Mojave desert, and what he has learned about business from a diverse group of leaders, including Nelson Mandela, Jack Welch, Herb Kelleher, Steve Jobs and the founders of Google. He also shares his thoughts on the changing face of the global economy and how businesses worldwide need to work together to tackle environmental challenges and invest in the future of our world.

Combining invaluable advice with remarkable and candid inside stories, Business Stripped Bare is a dynamic, inspirational and truly original guide to success in business and in life. Whether you are an executive, an entrepreneur or just starting out in the business world, Richard strips down business to show how you can succeed and make a difference.

About the Author

Sir Richard Branson is a hugely successful international entrepreneur and is chairman of the Virgin Group.  His autobiography, Losing My Virginity, and his second book, Screw It, Let’s Do It, have both been international bestsellers.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Virgin Books (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1905264429
• ISBN-13: 978-1905264421
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,763 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Encouraging, Motivating, and Inspiring (7.8/10), December 22, 2008

By	Viriya Taecharungroj "www.tedded.net" (Bangkok, Thailand) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"...enjoy your life. You only get one."

If you have read previous Sir Richard Branson's books; you have read most of it already. However, this book, "Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur", Sir Richard Branson focused solely on the business side of his life. Actually, all his life is about business! Unlike other business book writers, he has the first-hand experience in Virgin. In this book, he covered lots of topics. A quote from the book "So all I can do for you now (and I firmly believe that this is all anyone can honestly do) is map the territory I've seen. The good news is, I've covered a lot of territory."

Contents

- Introduction

- People: Find Good People - Set Them Free

In this chapter, he generally wrote about the culture in Virgin.

- Brand: Flying the Flag

Richard Branson wrote exclusively on Virgin Blue in Australia and how he fought hard to beat the competition and established the Virgin brand there.

- Delivery: Special Delivery

Among other things, he started the chapter with Virgin Trains and how it reshaped the industry in UK. He moved onto how he run Virgin Records and how he started Virgin Mobile in UK and in the US.

- Learning from Mistakes and Setbacks: Damage Report

Failure to acquire the bank, Northern Rock, is the focus of this chapter. Richard Branson is also subjected to mistake and he wrote on how to bounce back.

- Innovation: A Driver for Business

Virgin Galactic is going to be huge and tell me after you read this chapter that you don't want to travel into space!

- Entrepreneurs and Leadership: Holding on and Letting Go

He wrote about his experience with Nelson Mandela and how he set up Global Elders to tackle the humanity issues around the world.

- Social Responsibility: Just Business

This chapter is fantastically inspiring. He separated it into two parts. The first is about his activities to relieve Africa from HIV and Aids. He also wrote about Bill Gates and how they shared philanthropy to make the difference in the world. The other part is the climate change issue. You heard it all before but instead of pouring fear to you, Richard Branson offers you hope.

- Epilogue: Success

...

This book is not written as an autobiography. I think of an ideal business book and I'll compare Business Stripped Bare to it; a book that is easy to read, distinct, practical, credible, insightful, and provides great reading experience.

Ease of Understanding: 8/10: Richard Branson wrote it in plain language and make the readers follow him easily. The drawback of the book is that sometimes, the issues jump back and forth from mobile to records to airline to health clubs to finance and so on! Anyway, the part on Virgin Galactic (the rocket science) is not rocket-scientifically difficult to understand!

Distinction: 7/10: Although his life experience is one of its kind, there are other books on this already namely "Losing My Virginity" and "Screw It, Let's Do It" by... Richard Branson...! However, the way he explained the general ideas of people, innovation, brand, etc (the usual business terms) through his experience is unlike those typical business books that litter these contents with figures, theories, graphs, models, metaphors and so forth.

Practicality: 5/10: Richard Branson offers no solid steps to encourage people, enrich brand, turbocharge delivery, foster leadership, and so on. He believes that everyone has his/her own story and way. He did not say that following him is the best approach to business but he made you think of your own. However, his general comments (with his experience as the credentials) are valuable and you cannot really dispute them.

Credibility: 10/10: His ideas are proven; people, brand, delivery, leadership, and so on. He made it work. Where is the better place to find the idea of business and entrepreneurship other than the words of one of the greatest global entrepreneurs?

Insight: 7/10: Although Richard Branson do not describe the ideas of innovation, brand, people, social responsibility with academic researches and scientific findings, he wrote it from his experience which is more valuable than most researches. Not that researches are insignificant but his life should be taught as a module in business schools. But if you already read his other books, this book will offer you only few new contents.

Reading Experience: 10/10: This book is like a journey into one of the most adventurous businessmen in the world. Like he said, the book (his life) covers a lot of territory. If you like reading other people's life, there is no better person to read than Richard Branson. This book is like an adventure that it starts out with serious business contents with sparks of excitement and ends with good causes and social responsibility that we can make a difference not on but to Earth.

Overall: 7.8/10: This book is encouraging; it encourages you to go out and start a business. This book is motivating, it motivates you to make your business exciting. This book is inspiring; it inspires you to make you business meaningful and virtuous. This book will not make you want to be Richard Branson but it will make you want to have a great business life. This autobiographical business book is for everyone who loves business. If you have read Richard Branson's book before, do not expect it to be something totally new. If you have not, I don't see a reason why shouldn't you give it a try.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Helpful Saga, November 27, 2008

By	Peter Hudley - See all my reviews

Having attended high school with Richard Branson's first wife, and being an admirer of his "Virgin" empire and adventurous spirit, I try to read everything I can on him. This book is filled with detailed information on his latest Virgin experiences - sometimes it gets a bit too tedious, and Branson tends to "toot his own horn" on occasion. I think it's the kind of book you read in parts, and since the chapters are rather long, a reader may have to "cut the tale" down to shorter segments. I will say this- a few years ago, I invited an Virgin Atlantic official to speak to a foreign language class on how to utilize another language in a career. She did an excellent job in her presentation and also treated the students to "virgin" gift bags. I wrote to Mr.Branson in praise of his employee, and he immediately sent me a "thank you" note for supplying this onformation to him. I was forever impressed.. !!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for any entrepreneur, November 14, 2008

By	Raman Vaidyanathan - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am an aspiring entrepreneur. I was coming up with several business ideas and was looking to find a meaning and mantra for my business, and was looking to get some insight into other entrepreneurs experience. Came across this book and bought it, and read it. It is a valuable read for entrepreneurs and for others thinking about entrepreneurship. Do not forget to read the inside of the covers on the front and the back. Several valuable lessons that can be learnt from Sir Richard Branson's experience, while you are going about your startup. Make sure you have fun reading this book!

Do not miss this book! Must read for entrepreneurs. The book is rich with experiences and tips that will help you make your business a success!