Losing My Virginity Book Summary - Losing My Virginity Book explained in key points

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Losing My Virginity summary

Name: Losing My Virginity
Rating: 4.4 (170 reviews)
Author: Richard Branson

Richard Branson

How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way

4.4 (170 ratings)

30 mins

Topics

Autobiographies Entrepreneurial Stories

Table of Contents

Losing My Virginity
Summary of 13 key ideas

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What’s in it for me? Learn how to make it big in business from self-made billionaire Richard Branson.

How can one person be the driving force behind an airline business, record store chain, record label, nightclub and railway company, and still find the energy and time to smash a world record in a hot-air balloon?

Richard Branson is certainly unique: an adventurous and fearless risk-taker, but with razor-sharp business acumen. This combination, wrought with imagination and determination, was his recipe for success, which came not without many failures and challenges along the way.

In Losing My Virginity, Branson describes the many life events that shaped his character – his naivety, his sense of adventure and steely resolve – and led him to revolutionize the music and airline industries.

If you tend to think of business as a tedious and dull endeavor, these blinks will change your mind. By immersing yourself in the stories of Branson’s exciting and unpredictable life, you will come to understand why choosing to not play by the rules can provide you with a massive advantage in business – and in life.

Also in these blinks, you’ll learn

how Branson flew into Baghdad to recapture British hostages from Saddam Hussein, just as the Gulf War broke out;
how to buy an island for a fraction of the initial asking price; and
how to balloon across the Pacific, after losing half your fuel on the first day.

Branson’s family pushed him to test his own limits, once even almost causing him to drown.

Born in 1950 to a family with an independent spirit, Branson was, from a very young age, pushed by his family to test the limits of possibility.

As a result, young Branson developed a taste for adventure, eagerly rising to the challenges that his mother, or life in general, presented to him.

When he was only eleven years old, his mother sent him to visit relatives who lived more than fifty miles away – on a bike and without directions. This was meant to teach him stamina and orientation. And, when finally he returned to his family home the following day, instead of a hero’s welcome he was greeted simply with the instruction to go to the vicar’s house to chop some logs.

But this wasn’t the first time his family had set him an arduous challenge. On a fortnight’s family holiday in Devon, when Branson was just four years old, his aunt bet him ten shillings that he couldn’t learn to swim by the end of their holiday.

Rising to the challenge, he spent hours upon hours in the sea. Unfortunately, by the time the final day arrived, he still couldn’t manage to keep on top of the waves.

But, to him, this was far from the end of the matter. When he spotted a river during the twelve-hour car journey home, he seized the opportunity and asked his father to stop the car.

Springing from the car, he tore his clothes off, raced toward the riverbank and, as soon as he reached the water’s edge, jumped in.

He immediately began to sink.

Gradually, however, by kicking slowly and regularly, he managed to push himself to the surface. As he made his way to the middle of the current, he saw that his family was clapping and cheering, and that his aunt was waving a ten shilling note.

When Branson emerged from the water, his father gave him a big hug, himself dripping wet. Seeing his son dive headfirst in the stream had greatly unnerved him, so much so that he had jumped in after him.

Branson struggled academically, and put most of his energy into his pop culture magazine.

Failing to achieve academic recognition in university – due partly to his independent attitude, and partly to his dyslexia – Branson began looking for alternative occupations.

He and fellow student Jonny Gems founded the magazine, Student. Initially intended as an outlet for criticisms of their school, it quickly turned into a celebration of pop student culture and contemporary issues.

Branson saw an opportunity in selling music records via mail, and so Virgin Mail Order was born.

Due to his insight in the music scene, Branson realized people were very excited about records, and noticed their distribution via record shops went unrivalled. Simply because there was no alternative, people who’d never spend 40 shillings on a meal would gladly pay that same amount for a new Beatles record at a large record store.

But Branson had an alternative in mind. He saw that a mail-order system would be popular with people his own age, who’d prefer to order records by mail at a lower price, than at retail price at a big store like WH Smiths.

Virgin’s record stores became very popular because customers felt relaxed and welcome there.

In 1971, the record departments of large retail stores were dominated by a bland interior and almost zero excitement for what was going on in rock music.

When the postal strike occurred, Virgin was impelled to set up their own record store. They wanted it to be an extension of what they’d established with Student: a place where customers were not merely encouraged to buy a record and leave, but a welcoming place where they could exchange views on their interests.

Virgin expanded its position in the music industry by founding a studio and record label.

Soon, Branson figured out that there were even greater profits to be made in running a recording studio and record label.

He also noticed that most studios did business in a very formal way. They operated with strictly appointed time slots, overbooked rooms and few musical instruments. Such formality was too strict for the wild and spirited pop and rock culture that had begun in the 1960s.

Virgin was sued for promoting the Sex Pistols album, but a savvy defense and a stroke of luck saved it.

In 1976, Virgin was headed towards trouble: aside from Mike Oldfield, all of the label’s acts had lost it money.

But the mid-1970s was the high point of punk in the UK, and Virgin was desperate to sign one of the new bands.

After some clever negotiating, Branson bought a beautiful £3 million tropical island for just £180,000.

In 1978, Branson was in New York, as he wanted to be close to Joan, his future wife, who was in the process of splitting up with her husband in New York. After the divorce was finalized, Branson was asked whether he had named his company after the Virgin Islands. Although that wasn’t the case, it certainly seemed like the perfect getaway for the pair.

He had heard that if one expressed genuine interest in purchasing an island, a local estate agent would put you up in a villa and provide a helicopter to fly around the islands.

The arrival of CDs and signing unknown but promising artists made Virgin Records hugely successful.

Although having signed the Sex Pistols and several young New Wave bands got Virgin into new musical territory, it proved far from profitable. In 1980, Virgin Music was running at a £900,000 loss.

Still, Branson gave the go ahead to keep signing new artists, such as Simple Minds, The Human League and Phil Collins, much to the dismay of the financial director who saw that Virgin was spending money it didn’t have on artists that weren’t known yet.

Going into the airline business almost bankrupted Virgin, but eventually Branson got Virgin Airways off the ground.

Having toyed with the name Virgin Airways in the late 70s, Branson was already keen on the idea of opening an airline. So in 1984, when a US lawyer named Randolph Fields called to inquire whether Branson would be interested in operating a transatlantic airline, he was ready for the challenge.

His senior management opposed the idea, however Branson remained adamant, arguing that if they could lease just one airplane for one year, they would limit the amount of money they could lose, and could retreat from the project if it became unsuccessful.

Despite severe adversities, Branson managed to sail across the Atlantic in record time on his second attempt.

In 1984, Ted Toleman was seeking a sponsor to cover the cost of a catamaran he was building to cross the Atlantic Ocean at a new record speed to recapture the Blue Riband Trophy for Britain. Branson was keen to sponsor, realising that being involved in a world-record Atlantic crossing would serve to attract attention to his transatlantic airline.

With round-the-world yachtsman Chay Blyth already on the team, Toleman and Branson started in New York and set off for England to beat the current record, which had been set at three days, 10 hours and 40 minutes.

During the Kuwait war, Branson flew humanitarian supplies into Jordan, and later rescued British hostages from Baghdad.

In 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. This left the world in a tailspin and doubled the price of aviation fuel, from 75 cents to $1.50 a gallon.

As Branson was about to take his children to school, his phone rang. It was Queen Noor of Jordan, whom Branson had met and befriended during one of his earlier adventures.

When he crossed the Pacific in a hot air balloon, Branson faced a lack of fuel, the loss of his radio and a fire.

Crossing the Pacific by hot-air balloon was an attractive challenge to Branson. He had attempted it once before, with Per Lindstrand in 1989, but their balloon fell apart just before lift off.

In January 1990, they met in Japan for a second attempt to cross the Pacific, by flying a hot-air balloon into the 200 MPH jet stream. Their goal was to arrive in California within two days and thereby secure the world record for fastest speed, and for being the first to cross the Pacific in a balloon.

British Airways resorted to dirty tricks to compete with Virgin Airways, but in the end had to settle and apologize.

In the 1990s, Branson was enjoying unrivalled success, but his success in the aviation industry wasn’t greatly appreciated by British Airways – the traditional British carrier – who started several campaigns to put him out of business. They had even put together a team whose sole purpose was to undermine Branson and Co.

Not only did BA contact Virgin customers, offering them cheaper flights, claiming that Virgin’s flights were overbooked or cancelled, but they also hacked into the Virgin database to gain access to their booking information. Additionally, they contracted several private detectives and public relations representatives to investigate Branson, his family and his company, in order to discredit his image.

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What is Losing My Virginity about?

Losing My Virginity is the internationally best-selling autobiography of self-made businessman Richard Branson. He details his lucrative adventures, beginning with dropping out of school, founding a record label and crossing the Atlantic ocean on a speedboat. In essence, the book is about how cleverness, determination and an adventurous mindset played a role in the making of one of the richest men on earth.

Best quote from Losing My Virginity

My headmasters parting words to me were: Congratulations, Branson. I predict that you will either go to prison or become a millionaire.

—Richard Branson

Who should read Losing My Virginity?

Anyone interested in the life of Richard Branson
Anyone interested in how Branson founded one of the most influential music labels, a transatlantic airline, and set several world records for ballooning and boating across oceans
Anyone who wants to read an entertaining tale of how one man broke the rules of business but excelled at it nevertheless

About the Author

Richard Branson is a self-made billionaire and the founder and CEO of the Virgin Group, one of the most successful business groups of the twentieth century.

On the path of his massive success, Branson founded and edited a magazine, created a record store chain, record label, and recording studio, founded an airline and even wrote a book.

Categories with Losing My Virginity

Biography & Memoir Entrepreneurship

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