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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.

-Richard Branson

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One Night, I Was

Richard Branson

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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.

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It Took Me Years To Work Out The Difference Between Net And Gross. In Meetings I Just Used To Say, 'tell Me If It's Good Or Bad News.

I Think That You're Going To Get So Much More Out Of Life If You Just Say Yes At Every Opportunity.

Innovation Happens When People Are Given The Freedom To Ask Questions And The Resources And Power To Find The Answers.

You Need Lucky Breaks To Be Successful.

Well, I Think That There's A Very Thin Dividing Line Between Success And Failure. And I Think If You Start A Business Without Financial Backing, You're Likely To Go The Wrong Side Of That Dividing Line.

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

Drive, Determination, Passion And Hard Work Are All Free And More Valuable Than A Pot Of Cash.

Never Go Into Business Purely To Make Money. If That's The Motive You're Better Off Doing Nothing.

Engage Your Emotions At Work. Your Instincts And Emotions Are There To Help You.

The Extraordinary Thing About The Record Industry Is How Success Can Take Off Without Warning.

Extraordinary Things

A Business Has To Be Involving, It Has To Be Fun, And It Has To Exercise Your Creative Instincts.

Doing Good Is Good For Business.

I've Obviously Been Born Fortunate. I Love People. I Enjoy Every Single Minute Of My Life.

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

Anyone Who Makes An Effort At Whatever They Hope To Accomplish Can, And Will, Seriously Improve Their Chances Of Succeeding.

If You're Hurt, Lick Your Wounds And Get Up Again. If You've Given It Your Absolute Best, It's Time To Move Forward.

Don’t Just Play The Game – Change It For Good.

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.

Not Enough People Realize The Satisfaction You Can Get From Really Pushing Yourself To The Limits.

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

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

Money Is Only Interesting For What It Lets You Do And Create.

Lavish Praise On People And People Will Flourish; Criticize People And They'll Shrivel Up.

However Small A Company, Its Founders Should Try To Expand People's Opportunities And Choices.

An Entrepreneur Is Somebody Who Is Taking Bold Risks, Is Often Doing Things That Have Never Been Done Before, Trying To Do Things Better. And An Adventurer Is Challenging Themselves, Often Doing Things That Have Never Been Done Before, Seeing What They're Capable Of. In Both Cases, You've Got To Protect Against The Downside.

Luck Is When Determination Meets Opportunity

You Know I Think If The People Who Work For A Business Are Proud Of The Business They Work For, They'll Work That Much Harder, And Therefore, I Think Turning Your Business Into A Real Force For Good Is Good Business Sense As Well.

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.

You're Offering A Great Service. People Are Tuning In. So Continue To Find Great People, Continue To Do What You're Doing. And Do It Better Than Your Rivals. I Know That's Easier Said Than Done.

I Believe That Today's Businesses - Regardless Of Their Size - Must Be Prepared To Do Good In Societies Around The Globe. I Am Cautiously Optimistic That We Can Make The World A Far Better, Safer And More Equitable Place - But Business And Enterprise Must Sit At The Heart Of This Process.

For A Successful Entrepreneur It Can Mean Extreme Wealth. But With Extreme Wealth Comes Extreme Responsibility. And The Responsibility For Me Is To Invest In Creating New Businesses, Create Jobs, Employ People, And To Put Money Aside To Tackle Issues Where We Can Make A Difference.

First And Foremost, Any Business Proposal I Like Must Sound Fun.

By Working Hard, By Making The Right Moves, You Can Create Your Own Luck, I Think. But Certainly Luck Plays A Part.

If You Can Make Peoples Lives A Lot Better, You've Got A Really Good Business.

Actually, We Did A Fun April Fools' Thing With Google A Couple Of Years Ago, Which We Called Virgle. And We Looked For Volunteers To Go On A One-way Trip To Mars.

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

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

I Think You Should Do In Life What You Think You'll Make A Real Difference At. And Generally, As A Businessperson, You Do Things You Don't Really Have Experience In.

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

Red Tape Will Often Get In Your Way. It's One Of The Reasons I Often Carry Scissors!

Meet Regularly With Your Business Team And Brainstorm. Intricate Business Problems Are Mostly Resolved At Brainstorming Sessions.

The Best Way Of Learning About Anything Is By Doing.

Money Gives You The Freedom To Do With Your Time What You Want To Do With It

People Are No Different From Flowers. If You Water Them, They Flourish. If You Are Not Nice To Them, They Shrivel Up

Learn To Live On The Edge.

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.

Companies Need To Have A Lot More Flexibility With Their People... . If Somebody Wants To Golf Around The World For Two Months, Okay, Well, Maybe On An Unpaid Basis, Let Them Do It. That Sort Of Flexibility I Think Is Incredibly Important Because Most Of Our Time, We Spend At Work.

As A Leader Of People, You Have To Be A Great Listener, A Great Motivator, Be Very Good At Praising And Bringing Out The Best In People.

I’ve Always Had A Soft Spot For Dreamers – Not Those Who Waste Their Time Thinking ‘what If’ But The Ones Who Look To The Sky And Say ‘why Can’t I Shoot For The Moon?’

And If After All This You Eventually Fail; Don't Take It Personal. Don't Be Ashamed To Start All Over Again.

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

Business Success

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

When You Are Ready To Make Your First Hires, Look For People Who Understand Your Passion, Want To Add To Your Ideas And Can Envision Ways To Make Improvements.

When You're First Thinking Through An Idea, It's Important Not To Get Bogged Down In Complexity. Thinking Simply And Clearly Is Hard To Do.

I Personally Don't Believe Anything Is Impossible. With Enough Determination And Effort, Almost Everything Is Possible.

I Have Never Had An Office That I Work Out Of And Work Has Become Intertwined With My Personal Life.

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

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

The War On Drugs Has Gone On For About Forty-five, Fifty Years - And It's Been A Complete Failure. If You Had A Business That Was Failing So Badly, You Would Change Course. And It's Just Incredible That Governments Continue Along The Same Course.

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.

One Thing Is Certain In Business: You Will Make Mistakes. When You Are Pushing The Boundaries, Mistakes Are Inevitable-how You React Is Important.

There Have Been Times When I Could Have Succumbed To Some Form Of Bribe, Or Could Have Had My Way By Offering One. But Ever Since That Night In Dover Prison I Have Never Been Tempted To Break My Vow.. My Parents Always Drummed Into Me That All You Have Life Is Your Reputation: You May Be Very Rich, But If You Lose Your Good Name You'll Never Be Happy.

Never To Be Frightened Of Taking Risks And Always Follow Your Instincts!

We Should All Seek To Innovate, Or Be Curious About Innovation. Innovation Truly Is One Of Our Greatest Gifts.

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.

Confidence Breeds Confidence And Negativity Breeds Negativity. Treat Those Around You With Respect And Dignity And They Will Thrive.

Wine, Like Life, Is Meant To Be Enjoyed.

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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.

I Am Constantly Pushing Myself And My Own Expectations And Have Always Found That I've Always Come Out Better For It. Fear Is Human Nature, But Turning Fear Into Opportunity Is What Will Make A Difference. I Would Much Rather Look Back At My Life Saying "i Can't Believe I Did That," Than, "what If I Had Done That?"

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.

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.

I Moved Into A Nice Houseboat In Little Venice When I Was 15 Years Old. I Found A Girlfriend Called Monday And A Houseboat Called Friday, So I Had The Week Sewn Up.

Fantasizing About The Future Is One Of My Favorite Pastimes.

When People Are Placed In Positions Slightly Above What They Expect, They Are Apt To Excel.

Growth Does Not Always Lead A Business To Build On Success. All Too Often It Converts A Highly Successful Business Into A Mediocre Large Business.

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

We Believe That Within Five Years, 96 Percent Of British Consumers Will Have Access To The Internet, Whether It Be Through A Personal Computer, A Set-top Box Or A Mobile Phone.

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Whether You Are Launching A Start-up Or Leading An Established Company, You Should Start Establishing Your Social Media Presence If You Haven’t Already.

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Records Are Made To Be Broken. It Is In Man's Nature To Continue To Strive To Do Just That.

We Will Eventually Build Space Science Labs And Hotels, Prodding The Capability For Missions Beyond The Orbit Of The Earth. Our Space-hotel Guests Will Be Able To Take Breath-taking Excursions, Flying A Couple Of Hundred Feet Above The Moon's Surface In Small Two-man Spaceships. In Time, We Will Launch Missions To Mars And Beyond.

We, We - As I Say, We Go In And Shake Up Other Industries And I Think, You Know, We Do It Differently And I Think That Industries Are Not Quite The Same As A Result Of Virgin Attacking The Market.

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

We'll Go Into Orbit. We'll Go To The Moon. This Business Has No Limits.

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

Some 80% Of Your Life Is Spent Working. You Want To Have Fun At Home; Why Shouldn't You Have Fun At Work?

Irreverence Ran On Both Sides Of Our Family...my Parents Brought Me Up To Think We Could All Change The World.

If You Take Care Of Your Workers They'll Take Care Of Your Business.

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

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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.

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.

Early On In Your Career, Find Someone Better Than Yourself To Run The Business On A Day-to-day Basis. Remove Yourself, Maybe Even From The Building, And From The Nitty-gritty. That Way, You're Going To Be Able To See The Bigger Picture And Think Of New Areas To Go Into.

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.

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.

There Is No Point In Starting Your Own Business Unless You Do It Out Of A Sense Of Frustration.

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If Young People Do See Me As An Example (i'm Very Flattered If They Do!) I Hope It Is As Someone Who Will Go Out There And Live Life To The Full.

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

A Successful Business Must Have A Sound Knowledge Of Its Market And Work On How Its Product Or Service Will Be Different, Stand Out And Improve People's Lives. If You Can Ensure It Responds To A Real Need In The Market Place, Your Business Can Punch Well Above Its Weight.

Remain Focused On Fulfilling Your Business Mission. Never Allow Adversity Divert Your Attention And Efforts.

Having Colleagues Nearby, Whether At The Beach Or In A Crypt, Means The Ideas Are Always Flowing

To Be A Great Leader, You Must Be A Great Listener

Self Improvement

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

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

I Had No Plans To Be An Entrepreneur. I Just Wanted To Be A Journalist And Write For A Magazine. At 15, I Just Decided To Leave School And Launch A National Student Magazine.

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.

I Have Had A Lot Of Fun Pushing The Boundaries On My Balloon And Kitesurf Adventures, Breaking Some World Records In The Process, And I Think This Attitude Of Having Fun Whilst Working Hard Is One That Lends Itself Very Well To Successful Entrepreneurship.

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.

If You Follow Your Dreams And Spend Your Life Doing What Brings You Joy, You Are More Likely To Find Success

If Family Or Friends Are Unwell Or Ill - It's Perhaps The Only Thing That Really Can Make One Feel Vulnerable.

And Ever Since Then [i] Have Set Up Businesses Basically Out Of Frustration. I Mean, I Set Up Virgin Atlantic With One Second-hand 747 Because I Hated The Experience Of Flying On Other People's Airlines. And I Thought, You Know, I Could Try To Create The Kind Of Airline That I'd Like To Fly On. And People Liked It.

I Just Wanted To Create Things That I Could Be Proud Of. Money Was Just An Evil Byproduct To Pay The Bills At The End Of The Year.

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

I Never Set Out To Be A Businessman

Entrepreneurship Is About Turning What Excites You In Life Into Capital, So That You Can Do More Of It And Move Forward With It.

I Enjoy The Company Of Other People. That's Where I Get Most Of My Satisfaction From

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

One Of The Best Bits Of Advice I Can Give Is, Early On, When You're Building A New Business, Try To Find Somebody To Run It On A Day-to-day Basis To Free Yourself Up To Look At The Bigger Picture.

Focus On Your Business Strengths And Keep Its Weaknesses Away From The Competition Or Public.

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

If People Are Crazy Enough To Dare, Impossible Things Happen.

Impossible Things

When You Are Starting A Business Or Going Down Any Challenging Endeavor, You Are Bound To Encounter Challenges. You Are Going To Hit Many Roadblocks And Obstacles. These Are Obstacles That Would Make Any Sane Person Want To Throw In The Towel And Quit. If You Want Your Business To Succeed, You Can’t Do That (duh).

I Learnt From An Early Age This Need To Delegate Responsibility Out To Other Team Members As There Is Just Too Much For One Person To Do Themselves. What Is The Point Of Hiring Talented Team Members If You Don't Give Them The Freedom To Make The Most Of The Chance You Have Given Them?

Most "necessary Evils" Are Far More Evil Than Necessary.

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.

Entrepreneursh Ip Is A Great Leveller, Since Having The Benefit Of A Wealthy Background Or A Generous Investor Isn't Always An Advantage. The Wonderful Thing Is That Money Is Not The Sole Currency When It Comes To Starting A Business; Drive, Determination, Passion And Hard Work Are All Free And More Valuable Than A Pot Of Cash.

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

To Succeed In Business You Need To Be Original, But You Also Need To Understand What Your Customers Want.

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.

My Biggest Motivation? Just To Keep Challenging Myself. I See Life Almost Like One Long University Education That I Never Had - Everyday I'm Learning Something New.

Self Confidence

Customers Shouldn't Just Think Of Your Business As A Place To Buy A Product Or Use A Service - It Should Be A Fun Place To Be.

Ideally, Since 80 Percent Of Your Life Is Spent Working, You Should Start Your Business Around Something That Is A Passion Of Yours

Any Successful Entrepreneur Knows That Time Is More Valuable Than Money Itself.

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

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

If Something Can't Be Explained On The Back Of An Envelope, It's Rubbish.

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.

Look For The Best In People To Build A Fantastic Team

Self Improvement

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.

So I Became A Publisher By Mistake - Well, Not Quite By Mistake, Because I Wanted To Be An Editor But I Had To Make Sure The Magazine Would Survive. The Point Is This: Most Businesses Fail, So If You're Going To Succeed, It Has To Be About More Than Making Money.

About 40 Percent Of My Time Is Spent On Social Issues And Building New Organizations, More For The Benefit Of The Climate Or Health Issues.

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.

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

I Have Had Fun Running All Of The Virgin Businesses, So I Never See A Setback As A Bad Experience; It Is Just A Learning Curve.

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.

I Never Went Into Business To Make Money, But I Have Found That If I Have Fun, The Money Will Come.

Listen To The Customer's Complaint And Act Fast.

As Much As You Need A Strong Personality To Build A Business From Scratch, You Also Must Understand The Art Of Delegation. I Have To Be Good At Helping People Run The Individual Businesses, And I Have To Be Willing To Step Back. The Company Must Be Set Up So It Can Continue Without Me.

If You Get Into Entrepreneurshi P Driven By Profit, You Are A Lot More Likely To Fail. The Entrepreneurs Who Succeed Usually Want To Make A Difference To People’s Lives, Not Just Their Own Bank Balances. The Desire To Change Things For The Better Is The Motivation For Taking Risks And Pursuing Seemingly Impossible Business Ideas.

To Get The Respect Of People, I Think You've Got To Roll Up Your Sleeves And Lead With Your People. The Absolute Key Is Treating Your People Well. Looking For The Best In Your People. Lots And Lots Of Praise, No Criticism.

With Space Travel, [it's] No Different. You Know, In 1990 I Read The Name Virgin Galactic Airways. Loved The Name. And Set Out To Try To Find An Engineer Or Rocket Scientist In The World Who Could Build A Safe, Reusable Rocket That Could Take People To And From Space And We Could Start A Whole New Era Of Commercial Space Travel.

If You Want To Stand Out From The Crowd, Give People A Reason Not To Forget You

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".

Communication: The Thing Humans Forgot When We Invented Words.

My Biggest Motivation? Just To Keep Challenging Myself

If You Are A New Startup Company, Try Not To Arouse The Interest Or Suspicion Of Your Competition; Especially If They Are A Bigger Company. They Can Crush You While You Are Still In Your Startup Phase. Lie Low While Still Strengthening Your Bottom Line.

Clearly In The Eyes Of The Consumer; The Brand Has Not Been Diluted, But We Must Guard Against That Happening At All Costs.

Entrepreneurial

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

Entrepreneurial

The Funny Thing Is People Won't Let Me Pay For Things. I'll Be In A Restaurant And The Manager Will Say, 'oh No, It's On The House.'

It Is The Satisfaction Of Doing It For Yourself And Motivating Others To Work With You In Bringing It About. It Is About The Fun, Innovation, Creativity With The Rewards Being Far Greater Than Purely Financial.

You Must Have The Courage To Trust Your Instincts And Be Ready To Question What Other People Don't. If You Do That, You Can Seize Opportunities That Others Would Miss. Believe In Yourself, And Use Everything You Can - Including The Obstacles - To Propel You Along The Road To Success. Who Knows What You Might Achieve?

Do Not Be Embarrassed By Your Failures, Learn From Them And Start Again.

You Never Know With These Things When You're Trying Something New What Can Happen. This Is All Experimental.

Trying Something New

Having No Regrets Makes Way For The Best Piece Of Advice I Can Give - Don't Be Afraid Of Failure.

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

I Decided There Must Be Room For Another Airline When I Spent Two Days Trying To Get Through To People Express.

Brave People Don't Live Forever, But Cautious People Don't Live At All.

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.

A Good Idea For A New Business Tends Not To Occur In Isolation, And Often The Window Of Opportunity Is Very Small. So Speed Is Of The Essence.

With All My Employees, I Listen To Them, Trust In Them, Believe In Them, Respect Them And Let Them Have A Go! I Never Believe I Know Better Than They Do And Have Been Fortunate Over The Years To Build Up A Very Strong Management Team Whom I Can Trust And Take Advice From.

No Failure Means No Risk, Which Means Nothing New

It Is Important In Life To Turn Adversity To Success

Self Improvement

If A Chairman Of A Company Visits Seattle, That Chairman Should Take All The Staff Out In The Evening And Have A Few Drinks Together, Talk Together And Party Together And Not Be Embarrassed About The Staff Seeing The Weaker Side Of You.

The Balloons Only Have One Life And The Only Way Of Finding Out Whether They Work Is To Attempt To Fly Around The World.

Finding The One

To Me, Business Isn't About Wearing Suits Or Pleasing Stockholders. It's About Being True To Yourself, Your Ideas And Focusing On The Essentials.

It Is Important To Remember That Life Is Not A Dress Rehearsal And That None Of Us Should Waste Our Time On Doing Things That Don’t Spark Fires Within Us. My Golden Rule For Business And Life Is: We Should All Enjoy What We Do And Do What We Enjoy.

The Best Way Forward Is To Give More People Everywhere Greater Power To Build Their Own Destinies.

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

I Love The Freedom Of Movement That My Phone Gives Me. That Has Definitely Transformed My Life.

When People Screw Up, Give Them A Second Chance.

At The End, Entrepreneurship Is Not About Wearing Expensive Suits And Earning A Lot Of Money. It Is All About Being True To Yourself, To Your Values In Life. Your Dreams.

I Am A Great Believer That You Need Passion And Energy To Create A Truly Successful Business.

One Day Offices Will Be A Thing Of The Past

There Is No Greater Thing You Can Do With Your Life And Your Work Than Follow Your Passions – In A Way That Serves The World And You.

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

I'm A True Believer In Working Hard And Partying Hard. I'm Fortunate To Be One Of Those People Who Can Have Just As Much Fun Partying Without Alcohol.

Consider Getting Smaller In Order To Get Bigger.

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.

Remember It's Ok To Be Yourself.

I'm A Great Believer In Life To Saying Yes And Not Saying No, And Hopefully Making People Smile And Just Having Fun In Life.

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

You Only Live Once

Those People Who Spend Their Time Working On Things They Love Are Usually The Ones Enjoying Life The Most. They Are Also The Ones Who Dared To Take A Risk And Chase Their Dreams.

We Need Government And Business To Work Together For The Benefit Of Everyone. It Should No Longer Be Just About Typical "corporate Social Responsibility" Where The "responsibility" Bit Is Usually The Realm Of A Small Team Buried In A Basement Office - Now It Should Be About Every Single Person In A Business Taking Responsibility To Make A Difference In Everything They Do, At Work And In Their Personal Lives.

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.

So Unlike Having To Convert, You Know, All The Cars' Or All The Lorries' Petrol Stations, Once You've Actually Got The Clean Fuels, It's Relatively Easy To, You Know, Get It To The Airplanes.

I Don't Think So, In That Virgin Is Already A Global Brand. Brands Like Amazon Have Had To Spend Hundreds Of Millions Of Pounds You Know, Building Their Brands, Whereas Virgin Is Already Well-known Around The World.

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