I’ve just finished reading Richard Branson’s autobiography “Losing My Virginity” (the 2005 updated edition). It was a very enjoyable read: Branson’s life is undoubtely fascinating and the book is well written, quickly becoming a page-turner.

What I appreciate the most in Branson’s story is the mix of entrepreneurship, thirst for challenge and determination that you can find both in his business enterprises and adventurous challenges. Since the beginning of his life you can really spot a huge desire to accomplish new things and succeed (in a good way) and, the more time passed and accomplishments materialized, such desire simply built on itself and grew. It is amazing to see how conviction and determination for one’s ideas (and one’s intuition) can help handle great amounts of risk and overcome obstacles, frequently going against common judgment or others’ opinions.

In today’s business context I find this traits extremely valuable. Western markets’ maturity and globalization require to succeed new ideas, new ways of tackling demand and high flexibility to adapt to ever-changing market conditions. Branson’s entrepreneurship and drive allowed him to spot more than others a great deal of opportunities and pursue them in the face of complexity and plenty of obstacles.

Nonetheless, I believe the success of Virgin Group and his other ventures all comes down in having fun. All the projects he got into started from intuition that the challenge was possible and could achieve something new but my impression is that the final decision was based whether it was fun or not to do it. And since most of the time the venture really implied fun, this drove motivation, enthusiasm and attracted talented and resourceful people around it. A big lesson.

Finally, past all the hype and adrenaline and challenges, I was surprised to find a very thoughtful and concerned man, showing by the way a great deal of emotional intelligence. I guess this and having a loving family and friends, really helped keeping the right balance in his brilliant but also very demanding life.

If you’re interested like I am in both business and adventure, “Losing My Virginity” is really a good read.