Age: 63 years oldNet Worth: USD $4.6 BillionOccupation: Founder of Virgin

Group

Richard Branson

BackgroundRichard Charles Nicholas Branson was born on

July 18, 1950, in Surrey, England.

Richard, who struggled with dyslexia, had a hard time with educational institutions.

He nearly failed out of the all-boys Scaitcliffe School, which he attended until the age of 13.

He then transferred to Stowe School, a boarding school in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England.

Still struggling, Branson dropped out at the age of 16 to start a youth-culture magazine called Student.

The publication, run by students, for students, sold $8,000 worth of advertising in its first edition, which was launched in 1966.

Richard Branson married Kristen Tomassi in 1972 but the marriage ended in a divorce in 1979.

From his second and current wife (married in 1989), Lady Joan Templeman, Branson fathers two children, Holly and Sam Branson.

He’s one of the top 5 richest people in the UK. It ranked him as the 254th richest person in the world.

Branson is also known for his sporting achievements.

He was knighted in 1999 for his contribution to entrepreneurship, and in 2009.

He landed at No. 261 on Forbes' "World Billionaires" list with his $2.5 billion in self-made fortune, which includes two private islands.

Together with Nelson Mandela, Branson initiated The Elders, a human rights advocacy group, in 2007 to voice concerns and improvements in the areas of injustice and human suppression.

His struggleHis family nurtured his independence and

entrepreneurial spirit; however, many of his strengths were born out of struggles.

Dyslexia, for instance, made reading and understanding some concepts painfully difficult.

In his early years, his Virgin records shop continually experienced cash-flow problems, even despite its brisk sales.

To pay off an overdraft, 20-year-old Branson pretended to buy records for export to escape an excise tax on sales within Britain.

He was arrested and jailed for a night.

He had previously been arrested after founding his Student magazine for violating laws dating from 1889 and 1917.

But he was able to avert imprisonment with help from a good lawyer and was fined just £7. He emerged emboldened and vindicated.

Indeed, the airline business was fraught with plenty of other challenges.

To minimize financial risk, Virgin Atlantic started out in 1984 with a jumbo jet leased for a year.

But during the government certification flight, the unexpected happened: Birds flew into an uninsured engine, which exploded.

Virgin Atlantic’s competition with British Airways was perpetually difficult and financially draining.

Branson even waged a lengthy court battle claiming British Airways had played dirty tricks to steal Virgin Atlantic’s passengers.

But amidst the competition, rising fuel prices and global economic woes in the early 1990s, the price to keep Virgin Atlantic flying was too great.

Business Background It was during this time that Branson had the

idea to begin a mail-order record company called Virgin to help fund his magazine efforts.

With the success of the record shop, the high school drop-out was able to build a recording studio in 1972 in Oxfordshire, England.

His first artist on the Virgin Records label, Mike Oldfield, recorded his single "Tubular Bells" in 1973.

Branson expanded his entrepreneurial efforts, to include the travel company the Voyager Group in 1980, the airline Virgin Atlantic in 1984, and a series of Virgin Megastores.

By 1992, Virgin was suddenly struggling to stay financially afloat. The company was sold later that year to THORN EMI for $1 billion.

 In 1993, he founded the station Virgin Radio, and several years later he started a second record company, V2.

Founded in 1996, V2 now includes artists such as Powder Finger and Tom Jones.

He has expanded his businesses to include a train company, a luxury game preserve, a mobile phone company and a space-tourism company, Virgin Galactic.

Strategies

Right Staff and efficient DelegationStriking the right balance between empowering

the staff and being an example for them to follow

Delegation

Performance linked benefits

Diversification

diversify into as many markets feasible

extend the Virgin brand name further at a low cost

aim to provide better quality products than any competitor in a complacent market

Growing Market

Market Player and Not necessarily Market Leader

Must satisfy 4 out of 5 criterias: innovative, challenge authority, offer value for money by being better than competitors, be good quality and the market must be growing

New Businesses vs. Takeovers

Preferred Creating new businesses rather than buying existing ones.

Allowed employees to get in-depth knowledge

Provided Sense of Ownership

Wrong Decisions Made

Breaking the RulesIn his early years, his Virgin records shop continually experienced cash-flow problems, even despite its brisk sales. To pay off an overdraft, 20-year-old Branson pretended to buy records for export to escape an excise tax on sales within Britain. He was arrested and jailed for a night, released only after his mother secured his bail by pledging her home as collateral. Branson’s plea bargain called for him to pay £60,000 or face rearrest, trial and a criminal record.

Using Debt to Finance Virgin Atlantic Had to sell Virgin Music group

to pay-off the debt for Virgin Atlantic

Losing Virgin Music Group was a big loss as it was one of the first ventures by Richard Branson

Going Public

Virgin Group went public in 1985

Benefit of access to additional funds

Loss of control of Company

Discord between investors, market analysts

Buyback after 2 years

Taking on the Cola Companies Launched Virgin Cola in

1994

Heavy publicity and large marketing campaigns

Failure to take-off

Poor Distribution channel

1921-2012 Father of White Revolution Occupation: Founder of Amul, GCMMF, NDDB, IRMA

Timeline• Born on November 26, 1921 in Kozhikode, Kerala, Dr. Verghese

Kurien graduated with Physics from Loyola College, Madras in 1940.

• In February 1946 he underwent nine months of specialized training in dairy engineering at the National Dairy Research Institute of Bangalore.

• Dr. Verghese Kurien is famous for his role in making Amul a success story.

• Amul the co-operative registered on 1 December 1946 was a response to the exploitation of marginal milk producers by traders or agents of the only existing dairy, the Polson dairy

• Amul was started by Tribhuvandas K. Patel and further developed and managed by Dr.Verghese Kurien.

• Dr. Verghese Kurien returned from America in 1948 and joined the Dairy Department of the Government of India. In May 1949, he was posted as Dairy Engineer at the Government Research Creamery, a small milk-powder factory, in Anand, Gujarat.

• In 1965, the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri created the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) under the leadership of Dr. Verghese Kurien to replicate the success story of Amul throughout the country.

• In 1973, Dr. Kurien set up GCMMF (Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation) to market the products produced by the dairies.

Barriers faced by Dr. Verghese Kurien

• He knew little Gujarati• He was a graduate in steel and engineering.• He was an atheist in the land of blind faith keepers.• He had to make 500000 farmers understand.

Companies started by Dr. Verghese Kurien• He founded institutions of excellence (like AMUL, GCMMF,

IRMA, NDDB) which are owned, managed by farmers and run by professionals.

Finance• After looking at the blueprint of NDDB and its activities the

World Bank gave the doctor a loan without asking many questions.

Strategic advantageVerghese kurien style

The breakthrough• Dr. Kurien took charge of NDDB and began the herculean task

of replicating the overall pattern of the working at Anand to other parts of the country.

• By this time the demand for milk was growing at a faster rate than the supply of milk. India could have easily become the largest importer of milk like Sri Lanka were, had sufficient steps not been taken at that time by the Indian government and NDDB.

The breakthrough• Money was the biggest problem faced by NDDB during that

period and was a critical resource needed to revolutionize the milk industry.

• To deal with it, NDDB tried to pursue World Bank for loans and other grants with no conditions at all. When the President of World Bank came to India in 1969, Dr. Kurien told him – “Give me money and forget about it”. A few days later, World Bank approved the loan for NDDB without even a single condition.

The breakthrough• Tribhuvandas Patel's sincere and earnest efforts inspired

Kurien to dedicate himself to the challenging task before them, so much so, that when Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was to visit Anand later, to inaugurate Amul's plant, he embraced Kurien for his groundbreaking work.

• Meanwhile, Kurien's buddy and dairy expert H. M. Dalaya, invented the process of making skim milk powder and condensed milk from buffalo milk instead of from cow milk. This was the reason Amul would compete successfully and well against Nestle which only used cow milk to make them.

The breakthrough• In India, buffalo milk is the main raw material unlike Europe

where cow milk is abundant. The Amul pattern of cooperatives became so successful, that in 1965 Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, created the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to replicate the program nationwide citing Kurien's "extraordinary and dynamic leadership" upon naming him chairman.

• As the 'Amul dairy experiment' was replicated in Gujarat's districts in the neighborhood of Anand, Kurien set all of them up under GCMMF in 1973 to sell the combined produce of the dairies under a single Amul brand. Today GCMMF sells Amul products not only in India but also overseas.

The mistakes

The mistakes• Dr. Kurien stated that the biggest mistake he ever made was

making Amrita Patel as his successor of NDDB.

• He was quoted further saying “After grooming her for 35 years and thinking that she had imbibed the ethos and true spirit of the cooperative movement, I realized I was wrong.”

• He was against the Marketing of the Anand Cooperatives which Amrita had started.

Corrective measures• No corrective measures regarding the appointment of Amrita

Patel were taken.

• In fact, in 2002 awarded the Padma Bhushan.