Richard Branson

Life is a helluva lot more fun if you say yes rather than no.

I believe in benevolent dictatorship provided I am the dictator.

You don’t learn to walk by following rules, you learn by doing and by falling over.

Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.

It’s all too easy to miss out on the important moments in life because you’re too busy staring at your phone.

My philosophy is that if I have any money I invest it in new ventures and not have it sitting around.

Your business, and your brand must first let people know what you care about and that you care about them.

I own buildings. I’m a builder; I know how to build. Nobody can build like I can build. Nobody. And the builders in New York will tell you that. I build the best product. And my name helps a lot.

America is not a land of money but of wealth-not a land of rich people, but of successful workers.

Competition is the keen cutting edge of business, always shaving away at costs.

Machines were devised not to do a man out of a job, but to take the heavy labor from man’s back and place it on the broad back of the machine.

Our aim is to compete with any luxury brand. Candy & Candy will be a luxury brand, recognised in Rodeo Drive, New York, Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo and London. Those are the major centres in the world. It will be synonymous with the design of homes, houses, flats, yachts, aircraft and retail.

Entrepreneurs are always taking feedback, especially from their customers, bankers, workers, and sales force. Without straightforward feedback, entrepreneurs cannot make sound decisions.

In New York and Los Angeles, you can throw your car keys to the valet and he parks it. Same in Hong Kong and Singapore, the service is off the scale. In London it’s sub-standard to abysmal.

London has got better as it’s become more international – you only have to look at the quality of the restaurants to see how improved it’s become.

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.

It was impossible to operate in the aluminium business without krysha – very real physical protection.

Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.

When prices go up, business goes down.

Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.

If you go through some big corporate change, it’s just not going to be the same. If we sold to Yahoo, they would have done something different; if you want to continue your vision of the company, then don’t sell because there’s inevitably going to be some change.

The great need of the world has always been for leaders. With more leaders we could have more industry. More industry, more employment and comfort for all.