British entrepreneur and founder of Virgin Group Richard Branson has urged Russian businessmen not to be afraid of failure as he spoke at the Synergy Global Forum in Moscow on Monday.
“Russians historically have a fear of failure. I hear this might be changing now, and that is important,” Branson said.
The British tycoon stressed that young people from the UK and the US get over their fears.
“If you try something and fail, you just up and try again until you succeed. I think Russia needs people, who will try again, even if they fail on the first try,” he said.
The billionaire drew on his past and advised to learn from his experience. “I literally risked my life to get my business off the ground,” he said, referring to his attempted flight across the Atlantic in a hot air balloon to promote Virgin Airlines.
According to Branson, the first step to success is learning to say “screw it!”
This year, the Synergy Global Forum, one of the biggest business forums in the world, hosts speakers such as former boxing heavyweight champ and the founder of Iron Mike Promotion Mike Tyson, economist and the author of the black swan theory Nassim Taleb and Australian motivational speaker Nick Vujicic. Organizers expect about 20,000 participants.