After meeting billionaire Richard Branson in the flesh for the first time on Thursday, a line of dialogue from the 1962 movie "Gypsy" comes to mind: "In this business, you either have it -- or you've had it."

The "it" is...charisma? Charm? Star Quality? In the best sense of the phrase, perhaps it's a "cult of personality" -- that ability of one individual to rally a group of people, all with their own opinions and personalities, and glue them together in a way that allows the achievement of seemingly impossible business goals.

Branson's name is usually mentioned in the same breath as another word: entrepreneur.

It's no accident that some of the biggest business 'personalities' I've met in my time with NBR have been classic entrepreneurs. Some are not well known. Few people outside the homebuilding industry know the name of Itchko Ezratti. He's the founder and CEO of GL Homes -- a company he grew into one of the larger privately-held homebuilders in the US. His bankers probably need lead-lined suits to shield themselves from Ezratti's contagious radiation of confidence and optimism.

I had the pleasure to interview Frank Perdue once, years ago. He walked into NBR's headquarters without any kind of retinue. He didn't need PR handlers. He spoke simply, yet powerfully. His voice was raspy, yet there was an earnest power behind it. It was easy to see how convincing he could be if you were a supermarket wholesale buyer and your chain had not yet gotten behind the Perdue brand.

And I'll never forget Ted Turner. I never actually interviewed him, but he spoke at a conference in Boca Raton in the 1990s, not long after selling his media empire to Time Warner. A bunch of us reporters tried to get him to slow down for a quick soundbite, to no avail. All I can say is, Ted Turner walking down the hallway of the Boca Raton Resort & Hotel is the same Ted Turner you see now -- rude, even obnoxious, and yet, powerfully charming too.

Compared to Ted Turner, Richard Branson is a much easier interview. They're at opposite ends of the personality spectrum, yet both have been equally successful in starting businesses and motivating their executives and employees to success.