Things you can learn from Richard Branson

Alexis Dormandy who worked for Richard Branson from he (Alexis) was 24 years old:

“I think many large businesses think the products are just one thing, one thing of many, whereas at Virgin the product is everything.” It made all the difference in terms of the company's success.

“The customer is focused on with a level of detail you wouldn’t believe,” Dormandy says. “[Richard] cared about the customer experience. And if he does, then everybody else does.”

Isn't it interesting how we see, time and again, that there really is no "secret" to success, on than doing the right thing, day in and day out, even if it's difficult, painful, and slower than whatever shortcut you think you may have found?

Caring about your product and your customers, setting your expectations for yourself incredibly high, and throwing yourself at things that others think are impossible. Seems pretty obvious, yet the temptation to believe in snake oil and shortcuts is just too big sometimes, because doing the work is hard.