Billionaire Richard Branson says in his interview with Entrepreneur:
“We take a lot of calculated risk, but we make sure that no one risk is going to topple everything. Protecting the downside is critical. It wasn’t going to bankrupt our record company or the other things we’d started. So every decade, I have experience based on things that have gone wrong and gone right, and the little computer in my brain is computerizing everything that’s gone before.”
About guiding the people around him:
“If you look at most companies in the world, they abide by that rule they’re taught at business school: Stick with your onions and don’t stray. Most big brands in the world are like that. Coca-Cola, we know what it does. Microsoft, we know what it does. And so on. Very few become all-encompassing, way-of-life brands. And it’s a pity, because I think the people who work for those companies would have a lot of fun if some of their resources went to starting new companies or challenging people in new areas. But we’re very happy they’re not. We’ll carry on doing it ourselves.”
On selling companies:
“A company is simply a group of people, so what you’re selling is a group of people. If you’re a really close-knit company where people love working for you, and then you sell it to a company that doesn’t have the same culture, I feel that you’re letting people down. And obviously the classic example of that is Virgin America, where it was sold to Alaska [Airlines], and by selling it, a lot of people lost their jobs, which is very sad. Yes, there were great financial returns. But having a little bit more money in the bank is not the same as running a great airline.”
He adds: “Milton Friedman had the right idea of saying profit is important, but he should have added, ‘Your people are important. Your culture’s important. The moral way that you run your company is important. How you deal with the environment is important. Your responsibility to society is important.’
He talks about his approach to people:
When I was brought up, if I ever said anything ill about someone, my parents would put me in front of a mirror and make me stand there for 10 minutes and say how badly it reflected on me. So I always look for the best in other people. We should be out there to praise other people, to care for other people. It doesn’t matter which person it is [… ] If you deal with people properly, when you look in the mirror, hopefully it will reflect back on you in a positive way, and life’s that much more enjoyable as a result.
Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/302033
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