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At a time when Alberta’s energy industry is facing significant challenges, British billionaire Richard Branson says innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and a social conscience will be keys to moving forward.

The 67-year-old business magnate and Virgin Group founder spoke Tuesday at Calgary’s Energy Disruptors Unite conference, telling the crowd at a packed Big Four building at Stampede Park that in business, “you either curl up and give up or you fight to survive.”

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“To me, business is a child, a baby. You’ve got people working there and in the same way you don’t throw your child out when things aren’t going well, you don’t really want to stop a business,” Branson said. “In business, often when you start a business from scratch, it’s going to be times when you’re facing failure and you just got to fight tooth and nail to avoid it.”

Branson reflected on how much had changed since he left school as a teenager to run his own magazine about half a century ago, and the challenges that modern entrepreneurs now face.