The subtitle of the original version reads, “How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way”. Branson certainly delivered the goods. I can’t imagine anybody else having more fun doing business than he has. He described his strategies and adventures in such a straightforward and engaging manner, that I’m convinced this is how all business should be done. Life is a series of challenges for Branson, […]
Read moreCategory: Business and Finance
“Blue Ocean Strategy” by W. Chan Kim
This book is more about business philosophy than about strategy. The basic concept is simple: Instead of focusing on the technological, operational aspects of the business, or even the final products, rather focus on what type of service you’ll be providing, how does it meet the customers’ needs, and wants and how can you streamline your business to provide more value to the customers (in terms of functions delivered and […]
Read more“The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson
Book Summary With the advent of the Internet and new technologies, the means of manufacturing and distributing consumer products (notably music, videos and books) have become so inexpensive and commonly accessible that they are decentralized and diversified to a great extent. Traditional manufactures built around old business models (newspapers, publishers, and music labels) are facing severe competitions from electronic commerce. Consumers, now presented with unlimited choices, no longer gravitate towards […]
Read more“Purple Cow” by Seth Godin
What I’ve Learned 1. Invest in developing remarkable products, not in mass advertising, as the potential customers are either too busy or too saturated to pay attention. 2. Target people with discriminating taste and enthusiasm to seek out and spread unique, extraordinary products. They are called “otaku” in Japanese. Not all customers are equal in this case. Otaku are the best, because they not only buy the product but also […]
Read more“Creating a World Without Poverty” by Muhammad Yunus
Because poverty denies people any semblance of control over their destiny, it is the ultimate denial of human rights. Forty-two People, Twenty-Seven Dollars Muhammad Yunus was not a banker, but an economics professor, who felt the emptiness of the economics theories and “wanted to do something immediate to help” the poor. He talked to many poor people and found out, to his shocking surprise, that they needed just a little […]
Read more