Losing My Virginity

Before I go any further, NO! it is not about that! It is about the book that I just finished reading. And no, it is not a book about journey into adulthood. I don't need a book to find out what adulthood is all about. I have all the knowledge that I need for that, hehe...'Losing My Virginity' (see above) is a book by Sir Richard Branson, who is the owner of the Virgin Group. Basically it is his memoir of his upbringings and how he drive the rising of the Virgin empire. He may not be famous here, but back in the UK you can see 'Virgin' name almost everywhere. From video stores to mobile service carriers to airplanes to trains to broadband! You can't help but wonder if all these 'virgins' are of the same company. And the answer is YES! You can see the list of his business ventures here

He started off his venture into business by setting up a magazine, 'Student' when he was only 16. His academic intellignence may be lacking (he suffered from dyslexia back during student days), but his tenacity for business is undeniable. He then set up Virgin as a mail order record retailer. Funny thing how he and his team came up with the brand name. Apparently, during that time all of his colleagues are basically new, naive into business ventures- hence the word 'Virgin'. From retailing company, 'Virgin' went to recording, undergone sheer amounts of struggle before emerged as one of the top recording companies in the world, signing up big names during that time like Boy George, Rolling Stones, and the Sex Pistols.

From there onwards, the branch of the Virgin tree keeps growing further and further. He expanded into airline travels (setting up and running Virgin Atlantic was probably the biggest challenge of his life, fighting against the ruthless British Airways who have been monopolizing British air travel business), rail business (setting up Virgin Trains), to the media business and currently, space travelling by setting up Virgin Galactic. All of his journeys have not been smooth sailing, and the heat can be felt reading this book. The way it was written is just so exciting.

Aside from business, he is also a sucker for adventures. He went for a boat trip attempting the fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing, hot air balloon challenge crossing the Atlantic & the Pacific...Goshh, only God knows what is going through in his mind, attempting all this dangerous attempts. But then, it is this sort of attitude which makes Branson exciting and admirable. He approached his life and business ventures with zest, exhiliration, and more importantly passion.

Upon reading this book, you can't help but to be green with envy towards Richard Branson. He has been living an exciting life (you will if you have two private Islands in the Carribean), his ventures have been going well, and he has the family to be there with him all the time! Woww, what a life he is having, and certainly this is one of the best books I've ever read. I highly recommend all of you to read this book.