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Richard Branson

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killah

killah

Free Member
Oct 16, 2009
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Bradford
Is the guy as humble and as nice as he makes out. Or is he the ruthless businessman one author called him. What's your take on him. Any interesting views?
 
Well marketed

Richard Branson is a brand and he is SOLD to us

FYI i have pitched him


He can play this role well but he does not register as a charity, he presents the face that works for him and his companies, brand Branson, just as Alan Sugars image works for some, ditto Trump

It is ALWAYS business with these guys
 
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Ruthless in a good or bad way. Would you say he is allot more clever and ruthless than he makes out in interviews and press?
 
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I bumped in to Chris Dawson (he owns "The Range" retail group and is placed at 135 on the Sunday Times Rich List with a £585 Million fortune) in a greasy spoon cafe a couple of weeks back - he came across as the most normal, down to earth person you could ever meet (except for the £250K Rolls-Royce Wraith parked out the front with the "De11 Boy" number plate on it.

Chris started off selling stuff out of the back of a truck in Plymouth 30 years back! I admire Chris a whole lot more than I admire Mr Branson
 
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british steve said:
I bumped in to Chris Dawson (he owns "The Range" retail group and is placed at 135 on the Sunday Times Rich List with a £585 Million fortune) in a greasy spoon cafe a couple of weeks back - he came across as the most normal, down to earth person you could ever meet (except for the £250K Rolls-Royce Wraith parked out the front with the "De11 Boy" number plate on it.

Chris started off selling stuff out of the back of a truck in Plymouth 30 years back! I admire Chris a whole lot more than I admire Mr Branson
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Wow never heard of him before. He give you any advice? Branson is still the best businessman in the uk.
 
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Would much prefer to have 500m than 3billion and people to say WOW NEVER HEARD OF YOU

That would be just fine by me
 
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Lots of very good advice and quite possibly a very large order!

Cant see Branson sitting in a cafe talking to normal folk and offering advice - can you?
 
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killah said:
Is the guy as humble and as nice as he makes out. Or is he the ruthless businessman one author called him. What's your take on him. Any interesting views?
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He has a good brand, he pushes innovation in his personal life and he's a good corporate citizen. He is also ruthless. Not in a corrupt way but in a strategic way. I studied him a few years ago on my business degree:

You get small airlines opening up frequently and there was one case where Virgin were approached by such a small startup wanting them to invest in the company. Branson knew the small startup would fail because they weren't asking for enough money but invested anyway.

When it folded Virgin evaluated the routes flown to see if they were profitable. They were so Branson said I'll clear the debts of the startup for something like 97% ownership. He got it too.
 
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killah said:
What was the advice?
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Most of the advice was about retailing. We are talking to a couple of large UK retailers about opening up a number of in-store concessions in their stores, what he had to say was an eye opener. Was good advice.

And as an added bonus we may start offering some of our services through his stores along with some other services we provide.
 
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Branson is the master of branding but it often leaves people disappointed.

There are two distinct types of Virgin companies. Virgin Atlantic and his space flight company are all about quality of service and stretching the boundaries - Branson is involved with these companies on a daily basis so they have his stamp of quality all over them.

Then you have the companies that he doesn't have his day to day input on. These companies are at the other end of customer care and service scale. These tend be the companies he has just attached the Virgin name to for a share of the profits.

I myself no longer know which brands he has control of or any real interest in, so I always think twice about buying anything with the Virgin name on it.

The exact same thing has happened with the Trump name. They are both over stretched brands that are now spoiling it for their core products.

As a human being though I'm sure if you bumped to him in a cafe he would shoot the breeze with you.

There are more realistic people to follow. The owner of the Range is one as is Theo Pathitis - both have clear paths you can follow to work out how they got where they are now and neither seem to have changed their core values in the process.
 
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Let's see... Typical rich fellow by the sounds of it. Tax avoiding, makes millions from the public purse. *shrug *
 
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british steve said:
Most of the advice was about retailing. We are talking to a couple of large UK retailers about opening up a number of in-store concessions in their stores, what he had to say was an eye opener. Was good advice.

And as an added bonus we may start offering some of our services through his stores along with some other services we provide.
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What was the advice. Pm me it if you want :)
 
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read the tom bower book. a real hatchet job on him.
or his own biography all one pr exercise for him.
take your pick.
 
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I think you will find negative stories about any business mentor or hero - it is kind of the nature of the beast; if you are a successful business man/woman it is doubtful you got their without standing on peoples toes. It is how you act when you do this that makes a difference.

I'm sure the likes of Theo and Branson and many other UK business mentors have put competitors out of business. Not out of malice but just chasing business. Here in the UK that is not shouted about and its apologies all around.

Over in the US people like Trump see it as a triumph and one less competitor to deal with. He has admitted on several occasions to putting others out of business just because he had the opportunity to and not because they were competing at the time
 
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Trump and Branson are quite similar in the way they licence their brand and marketing ability to get projects going. It is always doubtful how much money or how much of a particular project they actually own.
However bad Branson is and he may be a little sharp. He is not a complete F*&^&^&& like trump.
 
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The only difference I see between Branson and Trump is culture. It is not the British way to gloat over the misfortune of competitors or to be seen to be too aggressive in business. In the US it is different, being aggressive and ruthless are seen as being good qualities and things to be proud of.

As a result Branson and his PR people play down that side of things and try to keep a lid on it, where as in the Trump camp they couldnt care less who knows how ruthless they are, they even promote it.

I'm not saying either is better than the other here as I dont think we will ever get to hear the truth about their empires. I just think there is a culture difference when comparing British/European tycoons against American ones, which will cause us to think the Americans are bad/worse.
 
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Agree the cultural upbringing dictates how they present themselves for maximum ROI.

They would both crush you in a heartbeat if you were going to enter their market.

How they present their success so differently is interesting given they are the same TYPE, they are going to WIN and are driven to this, people lose their business, lifes efforts in the process, so be it.

Branson will not gloat, Trump will, the result for the poor guy who lost it all is still the same.
 
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Excel Dragon said:
I'm sure the likes of Theo and Branson and many other UK business mentors have put competitors out of business. Not out of malice but just chasing business. Here in the UK that is not shouted about and its apologies all around.
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How can you possibly stick Theo on the same level as Branson? Completely different kettle of fish. I don't want to appear to knock Theo - he has achieved well in retail but its nowhere near the level of depth of Branson.

Its not all as Branson is portrayed. he might be dyslexic and not academically bright, but its far off the average kid going to a state school from a working class background on a council estate, that happens to have learning difficulties. He comes from a relatively wealthy middle class family with money stashed abroad. He attended independent schools. His dad was a barrister, his granddad was a high court judge with a knighthood and his family had plenty of contacts.

Why would he not succeed? Dyslexia?
 
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For many, as a mentor Theo is actually better than Branson. He may not have the Branson empire but he has repeatedly proven he can drag companies out of the gutter and turn them in to successful businesses. IMHO He seems far more interested in educating others than Branson who seems to be only interested in educating others for a profit. (I've never been to a business event where you could listen to Branson without being charged an arm and a leg for the privilege. Theo I have heard loads of times on various topics for free).

Choosing a mentor to follow is of course down to taste. Some will prefer the Bransons and Trumps, some will prefer the Theo's and the Simon Woodroffes of the world.

I'm not knocking Branson as either a business man or as a mentor, he is clearly good at both. He is just not my cup of tea for a number of reasons.
 
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I've always found Richard Branson a really interesting guy, because he does come across in the majority of circumstances as this squeaky clean philanthropist supporting various social causes, but in an organisation the size of Virgin, he must have had to take some really difficult decisions that affect peoples lives, so there must be a hard edge to him.

I think with Branson, along with many other high profile figures, there is a large PR team assisting to sculpt, mould and craft the perfect image. Suppose if they didn't they would be bad at their job.

I also think that people buy from people and the better his image is, the more personable he seems, the more likely people are to buy from his business.

Nick
 
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He is a hard worker who thinks outside the box. VFestival to Island rentals and everything in between. Seriously one talented guy. As for his personality I don't think anyone but his closest will ever know. Think about it. We act certain ways all day, have interviews, meetings go out for lunch but when you are home in your slippers you are different.
 
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Branson got rich the Heseltine way. Paying his suppliers very, very slowly. I had to threaten court action before getting paid by Beardie.
 
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