Virgin

Virgin's story begins with audacity disguised as naivety. In 1970, a 20-year-old Richard Branson operated from a basement, selling discount records by mail order with nothing but a phone and relentless hustle. "I didn't really know anything about business," Branson admits. "I just saw an opportunity to sell records cheaper than the big stores."

That simple arbitrage insight—undercut the established players on price—would become Virgin's operating principle across dozens of industries. But the early reality was far from the glamorous empire that followed. Branson and his small team worked around the clock, packing records into boxes and racing postal deadlines while cash flow remained perpetually tight.