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I Learnt Earlier On That If You Can Run One Company.you Can Really Run Any Company.a Company Is All About Finding The Right People And Inspiring Those People,drawing Out The Best In People

-Richard Branson

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I Learnt Earlier On

Richard Branson

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I Learnt Earlier On That If You Can Run One Company.you Can Really Run Any Company.a Company Is All About Finding The Right People And Inspiring Those People,drawing Out The Best In People

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A Company Is Simply A Group Of People. And As A Leader Of People, You Have To Be A Great Listener, You Have To Be A Great Motivator, You Have To Be Very Good At Praising And Looking For The Best In People. People Are No Different From Flowers. If You Water Flowers, They Flourish. If You Praise People, They Flourish. That's A Critical Attribute Of A Leader.

If I'm Setting Up A New Business I'll Spend Three Or Four Months Learning Everything There Is About That Business, Everything There Is About That Subject And Then I Will Find Good People To Run It On A Day-to-day Basis, But Whilst They're Running It At Least I Know What They're Talking About When They Come Back To Me.

Please Be Polite. Nothing In Life Should Erode The Habit Of Saying Thank You To People Or Praising Them.

You Need Lucky Breaks To Be Successful.

I'd Like To See The Government Back A Programme Of Research Into The Medical Properties Of Cannabis And I Do Not Object To Its Responsible Use As A Recreational Relaxant.

Well, I'm Somebody Who Is Just Living ...living Life, And If I Get Frustrated By Something, Then I Like To Try To Put It Right.

Many Assume My Business Success Has Brought Me Happiness. But The Way I See It, I Am Successful Because I Am Happy.

Business Success

My General Attitude To Life Is To Enjoy Every Minute Of Every Day. I Never Do Anything With A Feeling Of, 'oh God, I've Got To Do This Today.'

As We Drifted To Earth I Sat Up On The Glass Roof Of The Capsule, Watching The Beauty Of The Golden Dawn As It Broke Over The Desert. This Was A Day I Never Thought I'd See And The Rising Sun And Growing Warmth Of The Day Seemed Very Precious. It Made Me Aware That Hard-won Things Are More Valuable Than Those That Come Too Easily. It Reminded Me To Always Enjoy The Moment.

I Have Always Lived My Life By Thriving On Opportunity And Adventure. Some Of The Best Ideas Come Out Of The Blue, And You Have To Keep An Open Mind To See Their Virtue.

I Have Always Been A Huge Believer In The Inestimable Value Good Mentoring Can Contribute To Any Nascent Business

Don't Wait Till You Are Big Before You Begin Building Your Brand. Build A Brand From Scratch Alongside Your Business.

One Key To Entrepreneurial Success Is To Get A Great Group Of People Around You Who Believe In Your Idea.

You Can't Do A Good Business With A Bad Person. Find The Right People To Work With And You Can't Go Wrong.

What Does The Name Virgin Mean? We Are A Company That Likes To Take On The Giants. In Too Many Businesses, These Giants Have Had Things Their Own Way. We Are Going To Have Fun Competing With Them.

Like Getting Into A Bleeding Competition With A Blood Bank.

Exploration Is A Wonderful Way To Open Our Eyes To The World, & To Truly See That Impossible Is Just A Word.

Success Comes From Listening To Your Customer.

Dream Big And You Will Be Presented With The Opportunity To Lead The World On An Incredible Adventure.

I Myself Have Benefited From Many Mentors Throughout My Life.

I Can Honestly Say That I Have Never Gone Into Any Business Purely To Make Money. If That Is The Sole Motive Then I Believe You Are Better Off Not Doing It. A Business Has To Be Involving, It Has To Be Fun, And It Has To Exercise Your Creative Instincts.

I Doubt That I Would Have Been Successful In My Career And Happy In My Personal Life If I Hadn't Prioritized Health And Fitness. Staying Active Ensures Mental Preparedness And The Courage To Try New Things. It Helped Me To Stay Focused On Work But Also To Have Fun And Try New Approaches And Explore New Places. That's The Spirit Behind Virgin Sport - We Wanted To Introduce Fitness Activities That Are Enjoyable, Accessible And Part Of Your Overall Lifestyle.

Surprisingly, A Large Number Of People Who Fell Out With Their Partners Contacted Us, Saying That They Would Love To Fly On A Virgle Spaceship. But Out Of April Fools' Jokes Come Real Things, And I Wouldn't Be Surprised, Within The Next 50 Years, [if] There Are One-way Trips Heading Out Into Space With People On It. It Would Be Very Exciting.

It Always Pays Off To Focus On Things That Will Make You Feel Proud. Remember This During Every Difficult Decision You Face.

If You Don’t Enjoy It, Don’t Do It. You Must Love What You Do.

The Best Advice I Ever Received? Simple: Have No Regrets.

We Must Rapidly Wean Ourselves Off Our Dependence On Coal And Fossil Fuels.

It Is Only By Being Bold That You Get Anywhere. If You Are A Risk-taker, Then The Art Is To Protect The Downside.

I Think In Life The Key Thing Is Just To Fight Really Hard To Make Sure Something Survives. If It Looks Like You've Done Everything You Can To Avoid Failure, Just Move Forward, Move On And Learn From It.

Your Company Should Act As A Springboard For Ambitious Employees, Not A Set Of Shackles.

I Believe That Drudgery And Clock-watching Are A Terrible Betrayal Of That Universal, Inborn Entrepreneurial Spirit.

Our Model Is To Develop Each Business Separately With Its Own Shareholder And Management - This Way We Can Concentrate On The Job In Hand, Rather Than Be Part Of Some Enormous And Faceless Conglomerate.

Whatever You And Your Team Decide Your New Brand Will Stand For, Deliver On That Promise. That's The Only Way You'll Ever Control Your Brand. And Beware: Brands Always Mean Something. If You Don't Define What The Brand Means, Your Competitors Will.

Bakers Bake Bread, Accountants Manage Accounts And Entrepreneurs Turn Ideas Into Reality.

Above All, You Want To Create Something You're Proud Of.

Business Success

Fortunately We're Not A Public Company - We're A Private Group Of Companies, And I Can Do What I Want.

Never Take Your Eyes Off The Cash Flow Because It's The Life Blood Of Business.

We Spend Most Of Our Lives Working. So Why Do So Few People Have A Good Time Doing It?

Success Comes From Delegating, Risk-taking And Having A Good Team!

Screw It, Just Do It!

"i Think The Most Important Thing Is That In The Last Seven Days We've Just Had The Greatest Adventure Of Our Lifetimes." "i'm Inquisitive ... And I Love A New Challenge... And If I Feel That We Can Do It Better Than It's Been Done By Other People, We'll Have A Go."

I Think It's Important We Continue To Find New Ways For Start-up Businesses To Get Access To Funding, Mentorship And Business Advice.

I Felt Uneasy About Making The Rapid Decisions I Have Always Made, And Wondered Whether Every Decision Should Be Formally Ratified And Minuted At A Board Meeting.

Business Has To Give People Enriching, Rewarding Lives...or It's Simply Not Worth Doing.

Fun Is At The Core Of The Way I Like To Do Business And It Has Been Key To Everything I've Done From The Outset.

You've Got To Take Risks If You're Going To Succeed. I Would Much Rather Ask Forgiveness Than Permission.

Explore This Next Great Frontier Where The Boundaries Between Work And Higher Purpose Are Merging Into One, Where Doing Good Really Is Good For Business.

If We Can Just Get Young People To Do The Same As Their Fathers Did, That Is, Wear Condoms

My Number One Rule In Business, And In Life, Is To Enjoy What You Do. Running A Business Involves Long Hours And Hard Decisions; If You Don't Have The Passion To Keep You Going, Your Business Will More Than Likely Fail. If You Don't Enjoy What You Are Doing, Then You Shouldn't Be Doing It.

Publicity Is Absolutely Critical. A Good Pr Story Is Infinitely More Effective Than A Front Page Ad.

There's No Better Satisfaction Than Watching The People Around You, Who Have Worked Day And Night To Get Something Right, Realising The Dream.

No Matter How Big You Are, Details Count!

I Am No Stranger To Healthy Competition-wor King Hard And Playing Hard

Only A Fool Never Changes His Mind.

Don't Become A Slave To Technology - Manage Your Phone, Don't Let It Manage You.

To Stand Still Today Is To Go Backwards...and Quickly...!

We Hope To Create Thousands Of Astronauts Over The Next Few Years And Bring Alive Their Dream Of Seeing The Majestic Beauty Of Our Planet From Above, The Stars In All Their Glory And The Amazing Sensations Of Weightlessness And Space Flight.

If You're Bringing Up Kids, You Just Want To Smother Them With Love And Praise And Enthusiasm. So I Don't Think You Can Mollycoddle Your Kids Too Much Really.

I Believe In Myself. I Believe In The Hands That Work, In The Brains That Think, And In The Hearts That Love.

Every Single Astronaut Who Has Come Back From Space Comes Back Determined To Do More To Protect It.

Play Fair, Be Prepared For Others To Play Dirty, And Don't Let Them Drag You Into The Mud.

We Will Be Producing Supersonic Planes Which Will Go Far, Far Faster Than Concordes. New York To Tokyo Could Be Less Than An Hour. You Could Be Traveling At 19,000 Miles An Hour Orbitally.

Be Swift To Take Advantage Of Business Opportunities. Bigger Companies Are Too Cumbersome To Move Quickly; This Can Be A Competitive Advantage For You.

My Parents Brought Me Up With This Philosophy. You Must Do Things. You Mustn't Watch What Other People Are Doing. You Must Not Listen To What Other People Are Doing.

My Philosophy Is That If I Have Any Money I Invest It In New Ventures And Not Have It Sitting Around.

I Believe A Good Leader Brings Out The Best In People By Listening To Them, Trusting In Them, Believing In Them, Respecting Them And Letting Them Have A Go.

If People Aren't Calling You Crazy, You Aren't Thinking Big Enough.

Money Is For Making Things Happen.

Virgin Could Never Have Grown Into The Group Of More Than 200 Companies It Is Now, Were It Not For A Steady Stream Of Intrapreneurs Who Looked For And Developed Opportunities, Often Leading Efforts That Went Against The Grain.

There Are No Quick Wins In Business - It Takes Years To Become An Overnight Success.

Overnight Success

I Think That Being A Business A Leader That Treads All Over People To Get To The Top Is Actually Not The Way I Think To Become A Successful Business Leader.

You Don't Learn To Walk By Following Rules. You Learn By Doing, And By Falling Over.

If You Want Milk, Don't Sit On A Stool In The Middle Of A Field In The Hope That A Cow Will Back Up To You.

If You Love What You Do And If You Believe In What You Do, Others Will Share Your Enthusiasm. Passionate People Find Their Way To The Virgin Group, And When They Do, We Snap Them Up And Try To Keep Them Within The Family.

Once A Changemaker, Always A Changemaker But Only A Few Swim Against The Tide.

We Need A New Way Of Doing Business To Get Out Of The Present Crisis ... Absolute Greed Has Come Close To Bankrupting The World. Thanks To The Crisis That Certain Businesses Have Dumped On Everyone A Lot Of People Are Going To Suffer On A Global Scale. All Of Us Must Learn. It Is All The More Important That Those Business Leaders That Are Left Standing Try To Be A Force For Good.

If You Create Something That Makes A Difference In People's Lives, You Are Likely To Become A Business Success As Well

Self Improvement

Take A Chance - It's The Best Way To Test Yourself, Have Fund And Push Boundaries.

Happiness Is The Secret Ingredient For Successful Businesses. If You Have A Happy Company It Will Be Invincible.

Whenever I See People Getting A Bad Deal I Want To Step In And Do Something About It. Of Course, This Is Not Pure Altruism - There's A Profit To Be Made Too.

I Think Business Leaders All Over The World Should Not Just Think Of How We Can Make Lots Of Money, Which Is Fine, But To Take Some Of The Problems In The World And Get Out There And Tackle Them Using Business. I Think That If Businesses Do That We Can Get On Top Of These Problems.

I Like To Set Myself A New Adventure Challenge At Least Once Or Twice A Year Because I Love That Side Of My Life. I Love Getting Fit And Training For It.

Virgin, Is How Good You Are With People. If You're - If You're Good With People And You've Got - You Know, And You Really Care, Genuinely Care About People Then I'm Sure We Could Find A Job For You At Virgin. I Think, You Know, That, You Know, That The Companies That Look After Their People Are The Companies That Do Really Well. I'm Sure We'd Like A Few Other Attributes, But That Would Be The Most Important One.

I Think Business Needs To Have A Heart And To Have A Heart A Company Must Be More Than Just A Moneymaking Machine.

If You Run Your Business Fairly; If You Treat People Well; If You Try To Move Your Business Into Areas That Are Making A Real Positive Difference To Other Peoples Lives; I Think You'll A. Have Much Pleasant Life, But B. I Think You'll Have A Much More Successful Business.

You See, It's Essential That One Of Us Stays Awake During The Flight [ballon]. So, Rather Than Using The Comfortable Virgin Seats Which We Used To Cross The Atlantic, We've Asked British Airways For Two Of Theirs.

As An Entrepreneur, You've Got To Protect Against The Company Going Bust. And As An Adventurer, You've Got To Protect Against Losing Your Life. It's Even More Important As An Adventurer To Get It Right.

Don't Think What's The Cheapest Way To Do It Or What's The Fastest Way To Do It. Think What's The Most Amazing Way To Do It.

I've Used The Phoenix Centrifuge To Replicate What The Body's Going To Go Through On The Flight Up. I've Also Done Some Gravity Tests With Zero-g [a Charter-flight Service In Arlington, Va., That Uses Modified Boeing 727s To Simulate Weightlessness], Which Went Great.

Believe In Yourself And Back Yourself To Come Out On Top. A Fulfilling Career Is Waiting For Those Brave Enough To Find It.

My Mother Always Taught Me Never To Look Back In Regret But To Move On To The Next Thing. The Amount Of Time People Waste Dwelling On Failures Rather Than Putting That Energy Into Another Project, Always Amazes Me. I Have Fun Running All The Virgin Businesses-so A Setback Is Never A Bad Experience, Just A Learning Curve.

Life Is A Series Of Ups And Clowns. Make It Worth Your Wild!

I Know Enough To Know That No Man Is An Island.

Good Brands Reflect The Histories Of The Time And The Group Of People That Made Them. They Can Not Be Copied. They Can Not Be Recycled.

You Only Live Once, And I Just Don’t Want To Waste A Minute Of My Life.

You Only Live Once

I Set Up This Magazine Called Student When I Was 16, And I Didn't Do It To Make Money - I Did It Because I Wanted To Edit A Magazine. There Wasn't A National Magazine Run By Students, For Students. I Didn't Like The Way I Was Being Taught At School. I Didn't Like What Was Going On In The World, And I Wanted To Put It Right.

Throughout My Business Life I Have Always Tried To Keep On Top Of Costs And Protect The Downside Risk As Much Possible. The Virgin Group Has Survived Only Because We Have Always Kept Tight Control Of Our Cash. But, Likewise, I Also Know That Sometimes It Is Essential To Break These Rules And Spend Lavishly.

Have Passion For What You Do; Believe In Yourself And Your Product And Your Customer; Persevere; Delegate; Listen. Have Fun. Today, I Add: "do Good".

It's Incredible To Get People To Turn Out Right In The Middle Of No Where.

I Myself Have Invested In Uber And Hailo, I Think They Offer Great Alternatives To Disrupt Markets That Have Remained Unchanged For Many Years.

Universities Are Fantastic Places To Gain Knowledge On A Subject, Develop A Personal Network, Explore Your Character And Learn New Techniques To Approach Problems.

The Brand Is Only As Good As Your Products, So.. If People Have A Good Experience On Virgin Atlantic Or If They Have A Good Experience On Virgin Trains Or.. If They Have A Virgin Mobile Phone And They Can Get Straight Through To Our People And They're Well Looked After And Then They'll Try The Next Product That We Launch.

Too Many Companies Want Their Brands To Reflect Some Idealised, Perfected Image Of Themselves. As A Consequence, Their Brands Acquire No Texture, No Character And No Public Trust.

We Experiment Endlessly, With New Products, New Methods, New Companies And New Marketing. A Successful Business The Emphasis Is On Experiment And Development, Ideas Are The Lifeblood Of Business.

Don't Bother Doing Something Unless You're Radically Different From The Competition.

I Don’t Think Of Work As Work And Play As Play. It’s All Living.

It Is Not For Me (to Decide). It Is Up To The Company To Decide Whether The Price Is Fair Or Not.

Kite Surfing Is A Great Way Of Keeping Fit. Kiting Is Great Because You're Bouncing Over The Waves And You're Surfing The Waves. I Do Quite Long Kite Surfs-50 Miles In A Day.

If You Spot An Opportunity And Are Really Excited By It, Throw Yourself Into It With Everything You've Got.

The Ability To Bounce Back After A Setback Is The Single Most Important Trait An Entrepreneurial Venture Can Possess.

Entrepreneurial

I Was Trouble - And Always In Trouble. Aged Eight I Still Couldn't Read. In Fact, I Was Dyslexic And Short-sighted. Despite Sitting At The Front Of The Class, I Couldn't Read The Blackboard. Only After A Couple Of Terms Did Anyone Think To Have My Eyes Tested. Even When I Could See, The Letters And Numbers Made No Sense At All.

You've Got One Go In Life, So Make The Most Of It.

I Am Passionate About Many Things But Conserving Our Planet And Its Species Is A High Priority Of Mine.

All You Have In Life Is Your Reputation: You May Be Very Rich, But If You Lose Your Good Name, Then You'll Never Be Happy. The Thought Will Always Lurk At The Back Of Your Mind That People Don't Trust You.

Building A Business Is Not Rocket Science, It's About Having A Great Idea And Seeing It Through With Integrity.

In Business, As In Life, All That Matters Is That You Do Something Positive.

Meaningful Work

Learn To Raise Capital By Any Means Necessary. That's Your Primary Job As An Entrepreneur. You Must Continually Raise Capital From Family And Friends, Banks, Suppliers, Customers And Investors.

We've Always Had A Pretty Competitive And Pretty Ferocious Battle With British Airways... It's Lasted Now About 14 Years, And We're Very Pleased To Have Survived It.

If You Look For The Best In Your Employees, They'll Flourish. If You Criticize Or Look For The Worst, They'll Shrivel Up. We All Need Lots Of Watering.

And In The Process, We Have Come Up With Fuels - Algae-based Fuels, Isobutanol-based Fuels And Other Fuels - That We Think Will Power The Planes In The Future So That, You Know, By 2020 I Hope That Our Planes Will Be Powered On Fuels That Are Clean Fuels And Are Not Polluting The Environment So That We'll Have A Green Airline And An Airline That Actually Has Fuels That Will Be Hopefully Cheaper Than The Dirty Fuels Of The Past. So [we're] Doing Good And Also Turning A Profit At The Same Time.

We Had An Electrical Fault About 500 Miles Into The Trip And Lost More Than Half Our Fuel. We Had A Fire On The Roof. And Missed Los Angeles By 3,500 Miles At The End Of The Trip And Ending Up In The Arctic In A Snowstorm.

I Am Always Working On The Go.

So I've Seen Life As One Long Learning Process. And If I See - You Know, If I Fly On Somebody Else's Airline And Find The Experience Is Not A Pleasant One, Which It Wasn't In - 21 Years Ago, Then I'd Think, Well, You Know, Maybe I Can Create The Kind Of Airline That I'd Like To Fly On.

Unless You Dream, Nothing Will Happen. If You Dream, You Might Be Able To Make Your Dreams Come True.

Having A Good Network Can Be Invaluable. It Opens Doors For You And Allows You To Enter Into Opportunities That Are Beneficial To Your Business.

I Like Challenges In Life And Pushing Myself Out Of My Comfort Zone.

Just Start. You Will Learn So Many Lessons Just By Doing.

Universities Are Fantastic Places To Gain Knowledge On A Subject, Develop A Personal Network, Explore Your Character And Learn New Techniques To Approach Problems. I Do However Believe That There Is A Strong Argument For Students Who Have An Idea They Are Passionate About To Just Try And Turn It Into A Reality. I Fell Into This Category And I Don't Regret Not Going To University.

By Nature I Am Curious About Life, And This Extends To My Business.

I Always Tell Other People To Protect Against The Downside, And Not Risk Roughing On New Ventures, But I Never Stuck To That Rule Myself.

If You Do Something For Fun And Create The Best Possible Product, Then The Profit Will Come.

You Can Create A Business, Choose A Name, But Unless People Know About It You're Not Going To Sell Any Products.

A Company Is People … Employees Want To Know… Am I Being Listened To Or Am I A Cog In The Wheel? People Really Need To Feel Wanted.

I Think You Can Get Happiness Through Making A Real Difference In Other People's Lives By Setting Out To Make Other People's Lives Better And Setting Out To Right The Wrongs In The World.

You Can Never Go Too Far Wrong By Thinking Like A Customer Who’s New To The Business.

An Exceptional Company Is The One That Gets All The Little Details Right.

Two Heads Are Definitely Better Than One And By Sourcing Ideas From Each Other, You Have A Better Chance Of Coming Up With A Strategy That Will Allow Your Business To Overcome A Setback Or Challenge.

If You Are Seizing On A New Business Opportunity, Deliberately Move Your Customers' Expectations Up A Few Notches And Consistently Over-deliver On Your Promises - You Will Leave Your Competitors Struggling To Catch Up.

You Shouldn’t Blindly Accept A Leader’s Advice. You’ve Got To Question Leaders On Occasion.

Our Generation Has Inherited An Incredibly Beautiful World From Our Parents And They From Their Parents. It Is In Our Hands Whether Our Children And Their Children Inherit The Same World. We Must Not Be The Generation Responsible For Irreversibly Damaging The Environment.

The Virgin Brand Is Not A Product Like Coca-cola Or Famous Grouse Whisky. It's An Attitude And A Way Of Life To Many. That Attitude Is About Giving Customers A Better Time And Better Value In A Fun Way That Embraces Life And Seeks To Give The Customers Something New.

We've Got An Engaging, Edgy, Vibrant, Fun Product, ... It May Or May Not Work, But We're Going To Give It Our Best Shot.

I Think Because I Have Great Difficulty Saying The Word, 'no,' Almost Every Day's A Different Adventure.

I Think The Thing About Capitalism Is It's An Evil Necessity, Capitalism. Communism Has Been Tried And Failed, And Socialism, That Doesn't Work Very Well. Capitalism Works, But The Problem About Capitalism Is It Does Mean That A Few Individuals Become Very Wealthy. Therefore, I Think Those Individuals Have Enormous Responsibility To Redistribute That Wealth Either By Creating New Businesses Or Creating New Jobs And Making Sure That Money Just Doesn't Lie In A Bank Account For Future Generations.

Business Is The Force Of Change. Business Is Essential To Solving The Climate Crisis, Because This Is What Business Is Best At: Innovating, Changing, Addressing Risks, Searching For Opportunities. There Is No More Vital Task

Look, I Think That When We Started Virgin Atlantic 30 Years Ago, We Had One 747 Competing With The Airlines That Had An Average Of 300 Planes Each. Every Single One Of Those Have Gone Bankrupt Because They Didn't Have Customer Service. They Had Might, But They Didn't Have Customer Service, So Customer Service Is Everything In The End.

I Just Think You Need To Spice Up Life Every Now And Then With A Bit Of Adventure And Excitement.

Fun Is At The Core Of The Way I Like To Do Business And It Has Been Key To Everything I've Done From The Outset. More Than Any Other Element, Fun Is The Secret Of Virgin's Success. I Am Aware That The Ideas Of Business As Being Fun And Creative Goes Right Against The Grain Of Convention, And It's Certainly Not How The They Teach It At Some Of Those Business Schools, Where Business Means Hard Grind And Lots Of 'discounted Cash Flows' And Net' Present Values'.

Learn From Failure. If You Are An Entrepreneur And Your First Venture Wasn't A Success, Welcome To The Club.

If You Aim Higher Than You Expect, You Could Reach Higher Than You Dreamed.

When I Started Virgin From A Basement Flat In West London, I Did Not Set Out To Build A Business Empire. I Set Out To Create Something I Enjoyed That Would Pay The Bills.

Respect Is How To Treat Everyone, Not Just Those You Want To Impress.

A Business Can Be Started With Very Little Money.

Nobody's Ever Called Me Sir Richard. Occasionally In America, I Hear People Saying Sir Richard And Think There's Some Shakespearean Play Taking Place. But Nowhere Else Anyway.

Look, If You Can Indulge In Your Passion, Life Will Be Far More Interesting Than If You're Just Working. You'll Work Harder At It, And You'll Know More About It. But First You Must Go Out And Educate Yourself On Whatever It Is That You've Decided To Do - Know More About Kite-surfing Than Anyone Else. That's Where The Work Comes In. But If You're Doing Things You're Passionate About, That Will Come Naturally.

To Launch A Business Means Successfully Solving Problems. Solving Problems Means Listening.

Every Business, Like A Painting, Operates According To Its Own Rules. There Are Many Ways To Run A Successful Company. What Works Once May Never Work Again. What Everyone Tells You Never To Do May Just Work, Once.

I Have Enjoyed Life A Lot More By Saying "yes" Than By Sayings "no".

If You Don't Make Bold Moves, The World Doesn't Move Forward.

Of Course, A Lot Of Businesses Want To Reach Students, So I Funded The Magazine By Selling Advertising. I Sold Something Like $8,000 Worth Of Advertising For The First Edition, And That Was In 1966. I Printed Up 50,000 Copies, And I Didn't Even Have To Charge For Them On The Newsstand Because My Costs Were Already Covered.

Whatever Business You Are In, Every Company Can Shoot For The Start In Their Own Way.

Just Watching Israel Bombarding Palestine And Palestine Sending One Or Two Little Rockets Over To Israel - It's Just Too Sad For Words.

I Wanted To Be An Editor Or A Journalist, I Wasn't Really Interested In Being An Entrepreneur, But I Soon Found I Had To Become An Entrepreneur In Order To Keep My Magazine Going.

Being Dyslexic Can Actually Help In The Outside World. I See Some Things Clearer Than Other People Do Because I Have To Simplify Things To Help Me And That Has Helped Others.

Have Fun, Work Hard And Money Will Come. Don't Waste Time - Grab Your Chances. Have A Positive Outlook On Life. When It's Not Fun, Move On.

I'm Not The Sort Of Person Who Fears Failure.

People Who Think And Say We More Often Than I Are A Lot More Likely To Succeed.

Fantasizing About The Future Is One Of My Favorite Pastimes.

I Was The Kind Of Entrepreneur That Never Really Felt I Made It. When Mike Olefield's "tubular Bells" [virgin Records' First Release] Sold 8 Or 10 Million Copies, I Suppose, At Age 19, I Could've Possibly Retired On The Money. Instead, I Immediately Pushed The Boat And Took That Risk Again.

What Matters Is Working With A Few Close Friends, People You Respect, Knowing That If Times Did Turn Bad These People Would Hold Together.

Although My Spelling Is Still Sometimes Poor, I Have Managed To Overcome The Worst Of My Difficulties Through Training Myself To Concentrate.

Success Cannot Be Measured In Wealth, Fame Or Power, But By Whether You Have Made A Positive Difference For Others.

It Can Be A Challenge Not To Let Failure, Or Negativity From Others, Prevent You From Going After What You Believe In And What In Your Gut You Know Can Work. However It Is Important To Face These Challenges Head On And Give Them A Go And Importantly Don't Beat Yourself Up If You Fail - Just Pick Yourself Up, Learn As Much As You Can From The Experience And Get On With The Next Challenge.

Please Don’t Get Hung Up On This Question Of Whether You Need To Have Experience In An Industry Before You Launch Your Startup.

When I Was 15, I Left School To Start A Magazine, And It Became A Success Because I Wouldn't Take No For An Answer. I Remember Banging On James Baldwin's Door To Ask For An Interview When He Came To England. Then I Got Jean-paul Sartre's Home Phone Number And Asked Him To Contribute. If I'd Been 30, He Might Have Said No, But I Was A 15-year-old With Passion And He Was Charmed. Making Money Was Always Just A Side Product Of Having A Good Time And Creating Things Nobody'd Seen Before.

Government And Business Must Come Together On The Interlinked Issues Of Conservation, Economic Development And Renewable Energy. There Are Literally Thousands Of Businesses, Many In The Tourism Industry, That Depend On An Intact Marine Environment For Their Long-term Survival.

Choose Great People And Shine In Their Shadows

There Are Millions Of People Out There Who Would Love To Become Astronauts, Who'd Love To Go To Space - They'd Love To Look Back At This Wonderful World From Space. That Will Be The Engine That Will Enable Us Then To Develop Spaceships To Transport People Around The World At Tremendous Speeds In An Environmentally Friendly Way.

There's Nothing Like The Endorphins From Being Fit, And The Incredible Endorphin Rush That Goes With That. It Beats Drugs, Drink, And Almost Anything Else I Know.

In The '80's My Gut Feeling Was That Airlines Were Crap. I Hated Spending Time On Planes. I Thought We Could Create The Kind Of Airline I'd Like. So We Got A Secondhand 747 And Gave It A Go.

My Mother Was Determined To Make Us Independent. When I Was Four Years Old, She Stopped The Car A Few Miles From Our House And Made Me Find My Own Way Home Across The Fields. I Got Hopelessly Lost.

We'll Not Be Sending Anyone Into Space Before It Is Safe And The Vehicle Is Well And Truly Tested.

The Companies That Look After Their People Are The Companies That Do Really Well. I'm Sure We'd Like A Few Other Attributes, But That Would Be The Most Important One.

Complexity Is Your Enemy. Any Fool Can Make Something Complicated. It Is Hard To Keep Things Simple.

And From, You Know, Small Ideas, Bigger Ideas Emerge. So We're Starting With Suborbital Space Flights And We'll Then Go Into Orbital Space Flights And, You Know, Maybe One Day We'll Send People On A One-way Voyage Into The Depths Of Space As Per The Science Fiction Trips.

Learn To Use Your Brain Power. Critical Thinking Is The Key To Creative Problem Solving In Business.

Be The Best At What You Do

Self Improvement

Right Now I'm Just Delighted To Be Alive And To Have Had A Nice Long Bath.

And You Know, I've Had Great Fun Turning Quite A Lot Of Different Industries On Their Head And Making Sure Those Industries Will Never Be The Same Again, Because Virgin Went In And Took Them On.

Conflicts Often Stem From A Couple Of Leaders On Both Sides That Are Badly Brought Up. They'd Rather Go To War Than Compromise. And In Business, You're Competing With Other Companies All The Time, But You Don't End Up Going To War With Each Other.

Talent Comes From Experience And Failure

Self Improvement

One Night, I Was Chatting With A Group Of 16-year-old Girls Over A Few Drinks About A Name For The Record Store ... A Bunch Of Ideas Were Bounced Around, Then, As We Were All New To Business, Someone Suggested Virgin. It Smacked Of New And Fresh And At The Time The Word Was Still Slightly Risqué, So, Thinking It Would Be An Attention-grabber, We Went With It.

I Was Born Under A Lucky Star, And I Have Nothing Whatsoever To Regret. I Wouldn't Change A Thing About My Life.

Every Success Story Is A Tale Of Constant Adaption, Revision And Change.

To Be Successful, You Have To Be Out There, You Have To Hit The Ground Running, And If You Have A Good Team Around You And More Than A Fair Share Of Luck, You Might Make Something Happen. But You Certainly Can't Guarantee It Just By Following Someone Else's Formula.

To Have Created One Of The Most Respected Companies In The World. Not Necessarily The Biggest.

Breaking The Rules And Challenging Convention Is In The Dna Of Every Successful Entrepreneur.

Making The Extra Effort To Say Thanks In A Genuine, Personal Manner Goes A Long Way. It Is Pleasurable To Do, And It Encourages More Of The Same Good Behavior.

The Brands That Will Thrive In The Coming Years Are The Ones That Have A Purpose Beyond Profit.

Free Publicity And Word Of Mouth Is Probably The Best And Cheapest Form Of Advertising. Learn To Use It To Your Advantage.

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