TEDRichard BransonLife at 30000 feet中英.docx

TEDRichard BransonLife at 30000 feet中英.docx

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TEDRichardBransonLifeat30000feet中英

RichardBranson:

Lifeat30,000feet

ChrisAnderson:

WelcometoTED.

RichardBranson:

Thankyouverymuch.ThefirstTEDhasbeengreat.

CA:

Haveyoumetanyoneinteresting?

RB:

Well,thenicethingaboutTEDiseverybody'sinteresting.IwasverygladtoseeGoldieHawn,becauseIhadanapologytomaketoher.I'dhaddinnerwithherabouttwoyearsagoandI'd--shehadthisbigweddingringandIputitonmyfingerandIcouldn'tgetitoff.AndIwenthometomywifethatnightandshewantedtoknowwhyIhadanotherwoman'sbig,massive,bigweddingringonmyfinger.And,anyway,thenextmorningwehadtogoalongtothejewelerandgetitcutoff.So--（Laughter）--soapologiestoGoldie.

CA:

That'sprettygood.So,we'regoingtoputupsomeslidesofsomeofyourcompanieshere.You'vestartedoneortwoinyourtime.So,youknow,VirginAtlantic,VirginRecords--IguessitallstartedwithamagazinecalledStudent.Andthen,yes,alltheseotheronesaswell.Imean,howdoyoudothis?

RB:

IreadallthesesortofTEDinstructions:

youmustnottalkaboutyourownbusiness,andthis,andnowyouaskme.SoIsupposeyou'renotgoingtobeabletokickmeoffthestage,sinceyouaskedthequestion.（Laughter）

CA:

Itdependswhattheansweristhough.

RB:

No,Imean,IthinkIlearnedearlyonthatifyoucanrunonecompany,youcanreallyrunanycompanies.Imean,companiesareallaboutfindingtherightpeople,inspiringthosepeople,youknow,drawingoutthebestinpeople.AndIjustlovelearningandI'mincrediblyinquisitiveandIlovetakingon,youknow,thestatusquoandtryingtoturnitupsidedown.SoI'veseenlifeasonelonglearningprocess.AndifIsee--youknow,ifIflyonsomebodyelse'sairlineandfindtheexperienceisnotapleasantone,whichitwasn't,21yearsago,thenI'dthink,well,youknow,maybeIcancreatethekindofairlinethatI'dliketoflyon.Andso,youknow,sogotonesecondhand747fromBoeingandgaveitago.

CA:

Well,thatwasabizarrething,becauseyoumadethismovethatalotofpeopleadvisedyouwascrazy.Andinfact,inaway,italmosttookdownyourempireatonepoint.Ihadaconversationwithoneoftheinvestmentbankerswho,atthetimewhenyoubasicallysoldVirginRecordsandinvestedheavilyinVirginAtlantic,andhisviewwasthatyouweretrading,youknow,theworld'sfourthbiggestrecordcompanyforthetwenty-fifthbiggestairlineandthatyouwereoutofyourmind.Whydidyoudothat?

RB:

Well,Ithinkthatthere'saverythindividinglinebetweensuccessandfailure.AndIthinkifyoustartabusinesswithoutfinancialbacking,you'relikelytogothewrongsideofthatdividingline.Wehad--wewerebeingattackedbyBritishAirways.Theyweretryingtoputourairlineoutofbusiness,andtheylaunchedwhat'sbecomeknownasthedirtytrickscampaign.AndIrealizedthatthewholeempirewaslikelytocomecrashingdownunlessIchippedinachip.Andinordertoprotectthejobsofthepeoplewhoworkedfortheairline,andprotectthejobsofthepeoplewhoworkedfortherecordcompany,Ihadtosellthefamilyjewelrytoprotecttheairline.

CA:

Post-Napster,you'relookinglikeabitofagenius,actually,forthataswell.

RB:

Yeah,asitturnedout,itprovedtobetherightmove.But,yeah,itwassadatthetime,butwemovedon.

CA:

Now,youusetheVirginbrandalotanditseemslikeyou'regettingsynergyfromonethingtotheother.Whatdoesthebrandstandforinyourhead?

RB:

Well,Iliketothinkitstandsforquality,thatyouknow,ifsomebodycomesacrossaVirgincompany,they--

CA:

Theyarequality,Richard.Comeonnow,everyonesaysquality.Spirit?

RB:

No,butIwasgoingtomoveonthis.WehavealotoffunandIthinkthepeoplewhoworkforitenjoyit.AsIsay,wegoinandshakeupotherindustries,andIthink,youknow,wedoitdifferentlyandIthinkthatindustriesarenotquitethesameasaresultofVirginattackingthemarket.

CA:

Imean,thereareafewlaunchesyou'vedonewherethebrandmaybehasn'tworkedquiteaswell.Imean,VirginBrides--whathappenedthere?

（Laughter）

RB:

Wecouldn'tfindanycustomers.（Laughter）（Applause）

CA:

Iwasactuallyalsocuriouswhy--Ithinkyoumissedanopportunitywithyourcondomslaunch.YoucalleditMates.Imean,couldn'tyouhaveusedtheVirginbrandforthataswell?

Ain'tvirginnolonger,orsomething.

RB:

Again,wemayhavehadproblemsfindingcustomers.Imean,wehad--often,whenyoulaunchacompanyandyougetcustomercomplaints,youknow,youcandealwiththem.Butaboutthreemonthsafterthelaunchofthecondomcompany,Ihadaletter,acomplaint,andIsatdownandwrotealongletterbacktothisladyapologizingprofusely.Butobviously,therewasn'talotIcoulddoaboutit.Andthensixmonthslater,orninemonthsaftertheproblemhadtaken,IgotthisdelightfulletterwithapictureofthebabyaskingifI'dbegodfather,whichIbecame.So,itallworkedoutwell.

CA:

Really?

Youshouldhavebroughtapicture.That'swonderful.

RB:

Ishouldhave.

CA:

So,justhelpuswithsomeofthenumbers.Imean,whatarethenumbersonthis?

Imean,howbigisthegroupoverall?

Howmuch--what'sthetotalrevenue?

RB:

It'sabout25billiondollarsnow,intotal.

CA:

Andhowmanyemployees?

RB:

About55,000.

CA:

So,you'vebeenphotographedinvariouswaysatvarioustimesandneverworryingaboutputtingyourdignityonthelineoranythinglikethat.Whatwasthat?

Wasthatreal?

RB:

Yeah.WewerelaunchingamegastoreinLosAngeles,Ithink.No,Imean,Ithink--CA:

Butisthatyourhair?

RB:

No.CA:

Whatwasthatone?

RB:

Droppinginfortea.

CA:

OK.（Laughter）

RB:

Ah,thatwasquitefun.Thatwasawonderfulcar-boatinwhich--

CA:

Oh,thatcarthatwe--actuallywe--itwasaTEDstereventthere,Ithink.Isthat--couldyoustillpauseonthatoneactually,foraminute?

（Laughter）

RB:

It'satoughjob,isn'tit?

CA:

Imean,itisatoughjob.（Laughter）WhenIfirstcametoAmerica,Iusedtotrythiswithemployeesaswellandtheykindof--theyhavethesedifferentrulesoverhere,it'sverystrange.

RB:

Iknow,Ihave--thelawyerssayyoumustn'tdothingslikethat,but--

CA:

Imean,speakingofwhich,tellusabout--

RB:

"Pammy"welaunched,youknow--mistakenlythoughtwecouldtakeonCoca-Cola,andwelaunchedacolabottlecalled"ThePammy"anditwasshapedabitlikePamelaAnderson.Butthetroubleis,itkeptontippingover,but--（Laughter）

CA:

DesignedbyPhilippeStarckperhaps?

RB:

Ofcourse.

CA:

So,we'lljustrunacouplemorepictureshere.VirginBrides.Verynice.And,OK,sostopthere.Thiswas--youhadsomeawardIthink?

RB:

Yeah,well,25yearsearlier,we'dlaunchedtheSexPistols'"GodSaveTheQueen,"andI'dcertainlyneverexpectedthat25yearslater--thatshe'dactuallyknightus.Butsomehow,shemusthavehadaforgetfulmemory,Ithink.

CA:

Well,Godsavedherandyougotyourjustreward.DoyouliketobecalledSirRichard,orhow?

RB:

Nobody'severcalledmeSirRichard.OccasionallyinAmerica,IhearpeoplesayingSirRichardandthinkthere'ssomeShakespeareanplaytakingplace.Butnowhereelseanyway.

CA:

OK.Socanyouuseyourknighthoodforanythingorisitjust...

RB:

No.Isupposeifyou'rehavingproblemsgettingabookinginarestaurantorsomething,thatmightbeworthusingit.

CA:

Youknow,it'snotRichardBranson.It'sSirRichardBranson.

RB:

I'llgogetthesecretarytouseit.

CA:

OK.Solet'slookatthespacething.Ithink,withus,we'vegotavideothatshowswhatyou'reupto,andVirginGalacticupintheair.（Video）Sothat'stheBertRutandesignedspaceship?

RB:

Yeah,it'llbereadyin--well,readyin12monthsandthenwedo12monthsextensivetesting.Andthen24monthsfromnow,peoplewillbeabletotakearideintospace.

CA:

SothisinteriorisPhilippeStarckedesigned?

RB:

Philippehasdonethe--yeah,quiteabitofit:

thelogosandhe'sbuildingthespacestationinNewMexico.Andbasically,he'sjusttakenaneyeandthespacestationwillbeonegianteye,sowhenyou'reinspace,yououghttobeabletoseethismassiveeyelookingupatyou.Andwhenyouland,you'llbeabletogobackintothisgianteye.Buthe'sanabsolutegeniuswhenitcomestodesign.

CA:

Butyoudidn'thavehimdesigntheengine?

RB:

Philippeisquiteerratic,soIthinkthathewouldn'tbethebestpersontodesigntheengine,no.

CA:

Hegaveawonderfultalkheretwodaysago.

RB:

Yeah?

No,heisa--

CA:

Well,somepeoplefounditwonderful,somepeoplefounditcompletelybizarre.But,Ipersonallyfounditwonderful.

RB:

He'sawonderfulenthusiast,whichiswhyIlovehim.But...

CA:

So,now,you'vealwayshadthisexplorationbuginyou.Haveyoueverregrettedthat?

RB:

Manytimes.Imean,Ithinkwiththeballooningandboatingexpeditionswe'vedoneinthepast.Well,IgotpulledoutoftheseaIthinksixtimesbyhelicopters,so--andeachtime,Ididn'texpecttocomehometotellthetale.Sointhosemoments,youcertainlywonderwhatyou'redoingupthereor--

CA:

Whatwastheclosestyougotto--whendidyouthink,thisisit,Imightbeonmywayout?

RB:

Well,Ithinktheballoonadventureswere--eachonewas,eachone,actually,Ithinkwecameclose.And,Imean,firstofallwe--nobodyhadactuallycrossedtheAtlanticinahotairballoonbefore,sowehadtobuildahotairballoonthatwascapableofflyinginthejetstream,andweweren'tquitesure,whenaballoonactuallygotintothejetstream,whetheritwouldactuallysurvivethe200,220milesanhourwindsthatyoucanfindupthere.Andso,justtheinitialliftofffromSugarloafto