No one in today's modern day exemplifies the entrepreneur better than Sir Richard Branson. I had the distinct pleasure to be in a room with him, of course with a few thousand other people, and listen as he was interviewed on stage. He has built 12 - one billion dollar companies. When you do it once; then maybe you got lucky. When you do it twice; you might have an idea, but when you do it 12 times; you have it nailed.

He said his favorite saying was “Screw it, just get on and do it” meaning don’t waste time, just go for it. He talked about his failures and presented them as wins. He said he probably holds the world record for people being picked out of the ocean by a rescue helicopter. I believe he said it's happened 5 times.

He also talked about how he feels today's marketers probably wouldn’t be around if the internet didn’t exist. He talked about how he loves solving problems that others can’t/won’t solve or take on. He talked about how his daughter gave him business advice, he took it and it worked out amazing.

The advice was to treat all his employees like responsible adults and let them take off time whenever and however they want. Also to let them work from wherever they want. He said others thought of him as being too risky with this idea, but he says it’s paid off and has built more commitment among his employees and productivity is doing just fine.

He talked about when he takes over a company or builds a new brand, he makes sure that he brings in people from outside of the industry that this new venture is in. He said it’s always better to have fresh ideas and people who aren’t limited by what the industry does. He joked saying, of course when he built the airline he did bring in pilots that knew how to fly planes, and not just random people for those jobs.

He also talked about how he hires ex-convicts and gives them another chance. He said they are some of the most hardworking and most loyal people he has. He says that none of them ever became a repeat offender after he gave them the opportunity.

He talked about how if all businesses started figuring out first what problems they could solve for their customers. Then what problems they could solve for the communities they were in. Then what problems they could solve for the state and then the country they were in, they could solve a boatload of world problems and grow amazing businesses at the same time.

He talked about finding himself near death a few times in his life and that at first you tell yourself, "I’ll never do that again," but then about a week later for him, he starts thinking, "well maybe I just won’t do that the same way again."

He believes that determination and the willingness to look silly and be out there is what has allowed him to be successful at the level he is.

All in all, it was an honor to hear him speak, it was inspiring to see someone who has so much, be so humble and speak to everyone in a manner that told you that you could do what he’s done.

Marketing is a "people business" and you have to know, understand, and love the people you are marketing to really be successful.