Success Quote by Richard Branson

Branson’s brag isn’t really about skipping spreadsheets; it’s about claiming a moral and cultural edge over the dull machinery of “proper” capitalism. “I never get the accountants in” draws a cartoon villain - the numbers guy - so Branson can cast himself as the insurgent entrepreneur, moving faster than the rulebook. The line flatters risk as authenticity: gut feeling as a kind of truth serum that supposedly detects what the market “really” wants before the metrics catch up.

The sharper move is the justification clause: “especially if I can see that they are taking the mickey out of the consumer.” Branson isn’t just hunting profit, he’s hunting an enemy. The phrasing is pointedly British, informal, pub-ready; it suggests a con is obvious to anyone with common sense, and that Branson’s instinct is basically a consumer’s instinct with better financing. It’s a shrewd reframing of opportunism as public service: the entrepreneur as watchdog, not predator.

Context matters: Virgin’s mythology was built on puncturing complacent incumbents - airlines, record labels, telecoms - industries that often did treat customers like captives. Branson’s persona sells disruption as cheeky fairness. The subtext, though, is that “gut feeling” is also a brand strategy: it immunizes him against critique. If the gamble pays off, he’s visionary; if it fails, it’s romantic risk-taking. Accountants don’t just count costs. They count consequences, which is exactly what this swagger wants to keep offstage.