Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He founded the Virgin Group, which controls more than 400 companies.
I was fortunate enough, after many visits to many wonderful, weird people to come across Burt Rutan, who is a genius in the Mojave Desert. And SpaceShipOne was born and had three flights into space that won something called the X Prize. And from there, we're building SpaceShipTwo, which is. . . a beautiful spaceship that is very, very, very nearly completed and will be ready from about next Christmas onwards to start taking people into space.
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.
If you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it. You must love what you do.
Develop the business around the people; build it, don't buy it; and, then, be the best.
I have always lived my life by making lists: lists of people to call, lists of ideas, lists of companies to set up, lists of people who can make things happen. Each day I work through these lists, and that sequence of calls propels me forward.
In the beginning it was just about the business - now it's about the brand.
Every single astronaut who has come back from space comes back determined to do more to protect it.
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.
If you get your face and your name out there enough, people will start to recognize you.
By nature I am curious about life, and this extends to my business.
Loyal employees in any company create loyal customers, who in turn create happy shareholders.
If you can make peoples lives a lot better, you've got a really good business.
I think sometimes when you come from a conservative background, you want to rebel a little bit. I dropped out of school at 15 and learned early in life that saying yes was a lot more fun than saying no. If you have the opportunity to explore the skies and attempt something people haven't done before - well, I was damned if I was going to sit around watching television while someone else was doing it.
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
Play fair, be prepared for others to play dirty, and don't let them drag you into the mud.
Good customer service begins at the top. If your senior people don't get it, even the strongest links further down the line can become compromised.
Exploration is a wonderful way to open our eyes to the world, & to truly see that impossible is just a word.
I don't live my life thinking about "if only. " I just try to think positively about the future. We'll never know for certain what would have happened if we'd gone to Iraq. The important thing is that we've got to do everything we can to prevent other wars.
Look for the best in people to build a fantastic team
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.