Looptail: How One Company Changed the World by Reinventing Business

Poon Tip recounts his path to founding his company, G Adventures, the world’s largest adventure travel agency, which focuses on helping people see the world without exploiting the communities that they visit, in this vanity project. As a child, Poon Tip’s family of nine moved from Trinidad to Calgary, Canada. Determined not to be hindered by the racism they experienced in their new country , he began founding businesses even in childhood, when he contracted other kids to run paper routes. Ultimately, his love of adventure led him to start his own company in 1990. The book is a love song to the business, covering the growth years, his extraordinary travels, and the company’s work to promote social responsibility and poverty alleviation. In this first-person account, Poon Tip offers suggestions on how best to structure a company, develop company culture to build a brand, and retain customers; he also discusses the importance of building a business that reflects your values. Unfortunately, he doesn’t manage to advance a convincing argument that his strategy is revolutionary enough to back up all the self-hype, and his story offers little substantive inspiration or direction. (Sept.)