For Richard Branson, being an entrepreneur has lots less to do with the hard-wired business side of things and every little thing to do with the distinctiveness of the thought at hand.
Entrepreneur recently attended a chat the billionaire gave at Virgin Hotels Dallas amid the relaunch of the corporate’s entrepreneur-focused program, RM72. The event brought together entrepreneurs, mentors, and mentees to assist foster business connections and hearken to Branson dole out his ever-coveted advice.
Through the gathering, Branson said that when he embarks on a latest endeavor or business with Virgin, he thinks less about how much it’s going to cost the corporate and more about whether or not the thought is powerful enough to separate itself from competitors.
Richard Branson speaks on the re-launch of RM72 at Virgin Hotels Dallas (Entrepreneur)
“My attitude is ‘Screw it, let’s do it’. Let’s have a look at if we are able to create something higher than anybody else has done it and the figures should stack up at the top of the yr — that is been my approach,” he said on the event. “And sometimes we have fallen flat on our face, but we have all the time, I feel, created something special. So even where things have not worked out, we’ve left our hopefully completely happy memories and what our team tried. And fortunately, more worked out than not.”
Branson, who founded Virgin Records in 1972, has since gone on to pursue multiple other endeavors under the Virgin Umbrella, including Virgin Hotels, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Voyages, and more.
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Branson said that the importance of branding and wanting to make use of that branding to be the very best in any given space or industry has been considered one of what he believes is any entrepreneur’s key to success — no matter budget and no matter industry.
“What matters is are you able to create the very best? The perfect hotel? Are you able to create the very best cruise line? Are you able to create the very best airline? Are you able to create the very best train company? Are you able to create the sexiest space company, and so forth,” he said. “Should you can, in the event you create something really, really special, generally speaking, so long as you have not completely f****d up, the figures will add up ultimately. And so, at Virgin, I feel our teams have created the very best in every field.”
Branson’s net value as of Wednesday afternoon was an estimated $2.9 billion.
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