No doubt the accomplishments of Richard Branson are impressive and inspiring. To be able to create, maintain, and prosper this amount of companies in well-tread industries must make Branson an entrepreneur, no? He certainly encompasses many of the characteristics listed on the Compaping program: Creativity, street-smart, and humble come to mind.
I too was extremely impressed by this man while watching his interview video in OB class, but as I thought and talked about it a bit more, my appreciation for his work dropped.
When I think about the brand Virgin, I don’t think of it as a “whole” company, like I would Nike, or Staples. Sure, I’ve heard Virgin Radio and seen Virgin Mobile phones, but passively, my mind hasn’t acknowledged Virgin as “real”. To put this another way, the fact that Virgin owns so many companies, but with so little market share in each industry, it’s insignificant. How ironic.
Personally, I would hold much higher respect for somebody whom ventures into a market, and steals half of it. Of course, not anybody can duplicate the wonders of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, and with all due respect to Branson, but is it really that hard, while backed with a mountain of cash, to enter an industry, create a company, and make some small profit?