On Sunday, 11th July 2021, a 71 year old maverick billionaire, Richard Branson flew into space in an incredible spacecraft built by his own Virgin Group company.
He beat another maverick billionaire Jeff Bezos by 9 days (Bezos is to fly to space on July 20th). Another ‘larger than life’ innovator Elon Musk has been launching satellites at 1/10th the cost of NASA by using re-usable Rockets & by manufacturing these not as ‘Projects’ but as standard machinery.
WHY have these Entrepreneurs succeeded in the most difficult domain of manned flights to space where even the most successful Govt. Enterprise (NASA of USA) has been retreating?
WHAT can Indians learn from Richard Branson and HOW will it help TRANSFORM the nation?
Branson has 3 secrets of success, each bigger than the previous:
#1: AMBITION:
Born in 1950, Branson struggled in School because he suffered from Dyslexia, a serious learning disorder and had to drop out of school at the age of 16. Despite being a dropout, he started a youth culture magazine ‘Student‘ in 1966 and got $8,000 worth of advertisement and released 50,000 copies for free. He went on to open a record shop and start Virgin Records. After the success of this venture many others followed including Virgin Atlantic Airline & Virgin Galactic for Space travel.
#2: TAKING CALCULATED RISKS:
Richard Branson’s risk-taking exploits are the stuff of legend. Not surprisingly his advice would always be to take risks and not to avoid them. “If you allow the fear of failure to become a barrier you’re already putting road blocks in your way,” he says.
“Risky decisions require bravery but also courage to stand up and face harsh truths when they don’t go quite the way you’ve planned. I’m not saying be reckless; make sure your risks are calculated, that you manage the downside and there is reason to your decision making, but as I’ve always said, no one ever reached for the stars from the comfort of their couch!”
#3: PERSEVERANCE:
Richard Branson does not know the meaning of ‘Give up’. He has failed many, many times, and he always picks himself up & starts again.
He experienced many problems at the beginning of his career. Some of these included cash-flow problems, tax issues, law violation and even a night in jail. Instead of giving up, he chose to learn from his mistakes and use them to guide him later in life. It also inspired him to educate himself in certain areas of business so he could persevere and succeed.
Virgin Galactic faced a disaster in October 2014 when its spaceship crashed and co-pilot lost his life.
Many people all over the world called it the ‘End of the Dream’. Some even questioned the wisdom of an Entrepreneur daring to dream so big. Richard Branson & his team persevered and succeeded in achieving a successful space flight in 2018 and then several more. And on 11th July 2021, Richard Branson became the first owner of a space company to fly into space.
As he floated in the spaceship, watched by hundreds of millions on the earth, he PROVED that Ambition, Risk-taking & Perseverance can make anyone reach the skies!
WHAT ‘We the Citizens‘ Should Learn:
WHAT ‘We the Entrepreneurs’ Should Learn:
CONCLUSION: China’s rulers have decided to ‘cut to size’ its great Entrepreneurs like Jack Ma (Founder of Alibaba Group), Guo Guangchang (often called the Warren Buffet of China) and many others. This is a fatal mistake in my view, and will have disastrous consequences.
If we can nurture thousands of Entrepreneurs who have the vision, spirit & grit of Richard Branson, India can achieve exponential growth and reduce ‘asymmetry’ with China by 2030 and exceed it in Prosperity, Strength & Global Stature by 2045.
JAI HIND
Gaurav Sarup
