You've got to take risks if you're going to succeed. I would much rather ask forgiveness than permission.
Richard BransonWe have a business that some people feel pollutes, and I happen to agree with them. ... And so on the basis of trying to do good and, you know, hopefully turn a profit, what we did was we pledged that we'd put all the profits from our airline business into trying to develop clean fuels.
Richard BransonI love stirring the pot. I love giving big companies a run for their money - especially if they're offering expensive, poor-quality products.
Richard BransonTo launch a business means successfully solving problems. Solving problems means listening.
Richard BransonWhen I started Virgin from a basement in west London, there was no great plan or strategy. I didn't set out to build a business empire ... For me, building a business is all about doing something to be proud of, bringing talented people together and creating something that's going to make a real difference to other people's lives.
Richard BransonI have always looked on my businesses not just as money-making machines, but as adventures that can, I hope, make people better off.
Richard BransonHappiness doesn't come from making a fortune and owning lots of possessions. 'Stuff' doesn't bring happiness. Family, friends, good health and the satisfaction that comes from making a positive difference are what really matter.
Richard BransonThe jet stream is a very strong force and pushing a balloon into it is like pushing up against a brick wall, but once we got into it, we found that, remarkably, the balloon went whatever speed the wind went.
Richard BransonThe extraordinary thing about the record industry is how success can take off without warning.
Richard BransonFor 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.
Richard BransonIf 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.
Richard BransonI 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.
Richard BransonNobody'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.
Richard BransonAnd 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.
Richard BransonBusiness is what concerns us. If you care about something enough to do something about it, you're in business
Richard BransonEarly 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.
Richard BransonI believe that drudgery and clock-watching are a terrible betrayal of that universal, inborn entrepreneurial spirit.
Richard BransonI have learnt so much over my 40 years of business which would have been valuable to me when I was younger.
Richard BransonYour company should act as a springboard for ambitious employees, not a set of shackles.
Richard BransonSetting customer expectations at a level that is aligned with consistently deliverable levels of customer service requires that your whole staff, from product development to marketing, works in harmony with your brand image.
Richard BransonYou never know with these things when you're trying something new what can happen. This is all experimental.
Richard BransonIf you're looking to become an entrepreneur then don't waste your time going to university or business school - just get on and do it.
Richard BransonFailing can provide invaluable lessons and making mistakes and experiencing setbacks is part of the DNA of every successful entrepreneur.
Richard BransonExplore this next great frontier where the boundaries between work and higher purpose are merging into one, where doing good really is good for business.
Richard BransonEvery success story is a tale of constant adaption, revision and change. A company that stands still will soon be forgotten. Trying to provoke positive change is a principle we've embedded across the Virgin family for more than four decades.
Richard BransonAnd [we hope to sell] the clean fuels to other airlines. I mean, the exciting thing about the breakthrough with clean fuels for the airline industry is there's only 1,700 pumps in the world that fill up the airlines.
Richard BransonFortunately we're not a public company - we're a private group of companies, and I can do what I want.
Richard BransonKitesurfing is one of the greatest sports in the world. I highly recommend this to anyone who has access to the ocean. There is nothing more freeing than being out there and kitesurfing. When my schedule permits, it's the first thing I do in the morning, before I have breakfast. Tennis is also fun, especially against someone far better at the sport than I am.
Richard BransonMy 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.
Richard BransonI may be a businessman in that I set up and run companies for profit, but when I try to plan ahead and dream up new products and new companies, I'm an idealist.
Richard BransonI just think you need to spice up life every now and then with a bit of adventure and excitement.
Richard BransonWe love Formula One and think Formula One's great. But we think Formula E is different. We would be making a big mistake if we tried to compete with Formula One and be similar to Formula One, we have to be radically different to Formula One to have a chance of survival. I don't mean survival by beating Formula One but co-existing complimentary to Formula One.
Richard BransonOur 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.
Richard BransonActually, 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.
Richard BransonI've been in Africa, and I've been to hospitals of Africa, and they're not hospitals, they're places where people go to die. And rows and rows and rows of people just dying and the waiting rooms of the hospitals are full of people waiting to get into the beds of the people who died the night before, and they're dying from unnecessary diseases.
Richard BransonWe 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.
Richard Branson