Business Stripped Bare: Adventures Of A Global Entrepreneur (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
I'm a big admirer of Richard Branson and his business philosophy. I enjoyed this book because he doesn't lay out his philosophy on bullet points and lessons, rather, he tells stories. At the same time, he goes into a little too much detail at times. When he describes his dealings with the Nigerian government, my eyes glazed over a bit. At this stage in my own business, it's hard to relate to the problems in replacing CEOs of various Virgin-branded businesses.It does make for interesting reading at times. I also feel like when he attempts to share very personal thoughts from his journal, they come across as well-crafted publicity statements.I learned a few things from reading this, but I also expected less Virgin marketing and more of Branson truly stripped bare. Book Review: Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global EntrepreneurBy Richard BransonI think the best way to sum up this book is “He gets it.” One would think that a well-known business tycoon like Sir Richard Branson would not have a clue about how a small mom and pop venture works. The writing in this book indicates that he does get it.This book tells us some of the challenges that Branson has run into while being in almost every business imaginable. Branson’s Virgin Cola went up against Coca Cola and The Coca Cola Company fought him every step of the way. And that, sadly to say, is why most of us rednecks have never tasted a Virgin Cola. I really wish Virgin Cola had succeeded. If it had, maybe the mom and pop stores that made Coca Cola what it is today would not be bullied by Coke the way they are. Richard gets it.Richard talks about reviewing different business plans for possible investment. Sometimes he goes against the advice of the M.B.A.s and invests anyway. A business plan, with all its supporting data, is really just an educated guess. If the fundamentals are there, the business has a chance to succeed. If they aren’t there, sometimes the business will succeed anyway. I just wish Richard would invest in my business plan like he did many others he told us about in the book.The bottom line here is that Richard gives us some of the business education you can’t get at Harvard or anywhere else other than down in the trenches in the real world because Richard gets it.Book Review PolicyMy policy on book reviews is to give you my honest opinion of the book. From time to time publishers will give me a copy of their book for free for the purpose of me reading the book and writing a review. The publishers understand when they give me the book that I am under no obligation to write a positive review.If you will look at all my reviews, you will see that there have been occasions when I have written a negative review after having been given a book.I often provide links to books on Amazon.com where you can purchase books and help support the continued operation of this blog. However, I strongly encourage you to check out your local library. Many libraries now offer electronic borrowing for free.I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 I obtained this book through the Wharton County Library. whartonco.lib.tx.us
What do You think about Business Stripped Bare: Adventures Of A Global Entrepreneur (2008)?
Interesting and inspirational. Still like his autobiography the best, though :)
—Mindy
An interesting book but I find his practices a bit unethical.
—Gabigirl709
very insightful about how he runs his business empire.
—PaintedSilver
