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Richard Branson
Much like the public has come to expect the unexpected from this unpredictable British entrepreneur, so too is the Richard Branson (bio | blog | twitter) biography a story of ups and downs, antics and wild behaviour, and both successes and failures. To learn about this Virgin Knight is to understand more about a man who has refused to follow convention, who has pursued and achieved his dreams his way, and who seems to have had more fun than most along the way. Here's a selection of 42 quotes that showcase different facets of his personality.
- The anti-Academician
- 1.0
- I had bought some fact file cards on ancient history that contained all the necessary information about Greece and Rome. In preparation for the exam I cut edges off these and put them in various pockets and even slid one under my watch strap. When I looked at the questions in the exam, the most difficult was remembering which pocket the relevant facts were in. Then I pulled them out of the pocket and held them curled in the palm of my left hand as I wrote with my right.
Richard Branson cheated for his ancient history paper as he was too busy running Student magazine (his first business) - 2.0
- I once took an IQ test where the questions seemed absurd. I couldn't focus on any of the mathematical problems, and I think that I scored about zero. I worry about all the people who have been classified as stupid by these kind of IQ tests. Little do these people know that often these IQ tests have been dreamed up by academicians who are absolutely useless at dealing with practicalities of the outside world. I loved doing real business plans, even if the rabbits did get the better of me.
- 3.0
- So I think there's nothing - nothing wrong with a formal education as long as you don't let it stunt you if you want to become an entrepreneur when you actually go out and you are willing to take risk and you are willing to fall flat on your face and you are willing, you know, to have the embarrassment of actually going bankrupt.
- 4.0
- More than any other element, fun is the secret of Virgin's success. I am aware that the idea of business as being fun and creative goes right against the grain of convention, and it's certainly not how they teach it at some of those business schools, where business means hard grind and lots sof 'discounted cash flows' and 'net present values'.
- The Dyslexic
- 5.0
- I think my dyslexia has helped. When I launch a new company, I need to understand the advertising. If I can understand it, then I believe anybody can. Virgin speaks in normal language instead of using phrases that nobody understands, like "financial-service industry."
- 6.0
- I had barely spoken in public. I felt chronically nervous. Dry-mouthed, I mumbled a few words, gave a sick smile, and realized with a mounting feeling of panic that I could not do it. There was nowhere to hide. I gave a final inarticulate mumble, somewhere between a cough and a vomit, dropped the microphone, leaped off the podium, and disappeared into the safety of the crowd. It had been the most embarrassing moment of my life.
Richard Branson was invited for a public speech along with other well-known speakers. He was supposed to speak after activist Tariq Ali's speech. - The Family Man
- 7.0
- I cannot remember a moment in my life when I have not felt the love of my family. We were a family that would have killed for each other - and we still are.
- The People Person
- 8.0
- Employees first, customers second, and shareholders third.
- 9.0
- Having a personality of caring about people is important. You can’t be a good leader unless you generally like people. That is how you bring out the best in them.
- 10.0
- I believe in benevolent dictatorship provided I am the dictator.
- 11.0
- Ridiculous yachts and private planes and big limousines won’t make people enjoy life more, and it sends out terrible messages to the people who work for them. It would be so much better if that money was spent in Africa – and it’s about getting a balance.
- The Philanthropist
- 12.0
- I could sell the airline and those planes would carry on damaging the environment, or I could pledge 100% of the profits - which I have done - to developing clean fuels. Next year we plan to fly one of our 747s using a clean fuel to prove it can be done.
- 13.0
- There are numerous, numerous problems out there, and we just try to use our entrepreneurial skills to make sure that the money we give helps as many people as possible. I am terrible at saying no. At work, my nickname is Dr. Yes.
- The Virgineer
- 14.0
- Obviously, the David image has done Virgin no harm. And if we ever became a Goliath, I think another David would set up and take us on.
- 15.0
- Despite the name of our company, our planes and trains do go the whole way.
- 16.0
- At the outset, each of those individual ventures was a step into the unknown for the company - a bit like the loss of one's virginity. But, unlike really losing your virginity, in whatever world you make for yourself, you can keep embracing the new and the different over and over again.
- The Aviator
- 17.0
- If I was a businessman, or saw myself as a businessman, I would have never gone into the airline business.
- 18.0
- With the casino and the beds, our passengers will have at least two ways to get lucky on one of our flights.
- The Adventurer
- 19.0
- I liked Thunderbirds. I really liked the character of Peter Pan, because he didn't grow up and I didn't want to grow up and because he could fly and I wanted to fly.
Richard Branson talking about his favourite TV show - 20.0
- The balloons only have one life and the only way of finding out whether they work is to attempt to fly around the world.
Richard Branson puts his insatiable quest for adventure in perspective when asked to comment on his balloon travels - 21.0
- Right now I'm just delighted to be alive and to have had a nice long bath.
Richard Branson to BBC Radio in an interview from Hawaii. Branson and his two co-pilots - American Steve Fossett and Swede Per Lindstrand - were plucked from the sea off Hawaii on Friday after they aborted their round-the-world bid. - 22.0
- As an adventurer, if I try to do something man has not done before - like cross the Atlantic in a hot-air balloon - I try to protect against the downside. I make sure I have covered as many eventualities as I can. In the end, though, you've got to take calculated risks; otherwise, you're going to sit in mothballs all day and do nothing. Life is a helluva lot more fun if you say yes rather than no.
- 23.0
- People who really try to push boundaries often do not die in those pursuits. Lawrence of Arabia spent years fighting battles and got killed in a motorbike accident. When you're trying to achieve things man hasn't achieved before, you're trained for it. It's when you're off guard that things can be dangerous.
- The Rockstar
- 24.0
- The music industry is a strange combination of having real and intangible assets: pop bands are brand names in themselves, and at a given stage in their careers their name alone can practically guarantee hit records.
- 25.0
- I am lucky enough to still have it, so while I still do, I will keep as much as I can.
Richard Branson defending his hairstyle - The Philosopher
- 26.0
- I don't think of work as work and play as play. It's all living.
- The Entrepreneur
- 27.0
- I had no interest whatsoever in running a company. I was interested in being an editor of a magazine, things that I could be proud of. But in order to be an editor of a magazine I had to become a publisher as well. I had to pay the bills. I had to worry about the printing and the paper manufacturing and the distribution of that magazine.
- 28.0
- What's the quickest way to become a millionaire? Borrow fivers off everyone you meet.
- 29.0
- A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.
- 30.0
- I never get the accountants in before I start up a business. It's done on gut feeling, especially if I can see that they are taking the mickey out of the consumer.
- 31.0
- Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming.
- 32.0
- We look for opportunities where we can offer something better, fresher, and more valuable, and we seize them. We often move into areas where the customer has traditionally received a poor deal, and where the competition is complacent. And with our growing e-commerce activities, we also look to deliver ‘old’ products in new ways. We are pro-active and quick to act, often leaving bigger and more cumbersome organisations in our wake. When we start a new venture, we base it on hard research and analysis. Typically, we review the industry and put ourselves in the customer’s shoes to see what could make it better.
- The Visionary
- 33.0
- My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.
- 34.0
- We’re going where no one has gone before.
Richard Branson referring to Virgin Galactic’s partnership with the estate of New Mexico to build the world’s first commercial spaceport. - 35.0
- Fantasizing about the future is one of my favourite pastimes.
- The Maverick Businessman
- 36.0
- Business is giving people in their lifetime what they need and what they want. 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. Occasionally we'll come unstuck and you know, we'll learn from our mistakes but so far I think we've managed to get it right more often than we've got it wrong.
- 37.0
- Above all, you want to create something you are proud of.... That has always been my philosophy of business. 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 doing nothing.
- 38.0
- No one has ever accused us of lagging behind. In fact, I am willing to turn an entire company upside down if it's time to do that. We're in perpetual evolution.
- 39.0
- 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. Some people call that 'brand stretching' and say that this is not the way business should be done, and in the Western world generally it's not the way business is done. And I think to be perfectly frank the reason it's not done that way is that most big companies are public... they have fund managers who only specialise in one area... and so if you go and stray outside that fund manager's arena, the company gets criticised. Fortunately we're not a public company - we're a private group of companies, and I can do what I want.
- 40.0
- 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. I had never really focused on what a good name meant before, but that night in prison made me understand.
- 41.0
- And I think the - the thing to learn from that is the best — you know, the best never - never - never disappear. The best clubs are still here 21 years later, the best hotels, the best airlines, and so it is actually worthwhile not listening to the accountants sometimes. I mean accountants forever have said, you know, if you'd take out the bar in your plane you can put another six seats in.
- 42.0
- Screw it, let’s do it.
The title of Branson's best-selling book. David Tait, who runs the American side of Virgin Atlantic has suggested that Branson title the book "Virgin: The Art of Business Strategy and Competitive Analysis". Branson said "I'm not sure it's catchy enough." David replied: "Of course. The subtitle would be: "Oh! Screw It, Let's Do It.
