This book provides insight into why some people rise above the crowd to succeed. Richard Branson's voracious appetite for life is on display here. Great financial success here was not the result of a great intellect, but great charisma, curiosity, and drive. Branson's creed is keep it simple, and it's not what you know, but who you know: contacts, networking. Branson makes much of how busy he is, but I don't believe he's that much busier than any professional person, where 12-16 hour workdays are the norm. His rewards (and risks) have just been much greater than the average guys. Despite the apparent youthful greed that got him arrested for tax evasion, and that almost got him to sue John Lennon for breach of contract after the death of Lennon's unborn child, Branson comes across as deserving as anyone of his financial success. He's aware "success" is an illusion, and is willing to lose it all, his family, his wealth, in an agnostic balloon crash. The balooning extracts in the book were the most exciting, though the financial juggling to keep the various Virgins afloat as overdrafts were about to be withdrawn was entertaining reading. Hooray for Branson's wealth and interesting life, but Virgin Cola like Coca Cola doesn't do much for the vast mass of humanity out here in the third world. Who know's why some do so well, and those in the third world, even if they are ambitous, suffer. Not a boring read. Branson is refreshingly forthright.
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