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Business is at the heart of America and always has been.

I do believe that any successful business starts from the top and works its way down.

I'm a big fan of small business ownership. I think it's the backbone of American innovation. But to be successful, you first have to have the courage to go for it.

The American economy has been built and sustained by risk-taking entrepreneurs whose pioneering ideas and hard work gave birth to flourishing businesses.

I've been in this business now for almost ten years. I've done a lot of stories. I have a pretty good track record.

I have a foundational belief that business results start with culture and your people.

I'm proud we have built a billion-dollar business from scratch here in the US. It has been done very much in a slow, building way. It wasn't an instant type of thing. America is a huge market where persistence is very important, and I am a builder by nature.

I eventually settled in Washington, where my partners and I have been fortunate to build a restaurant business that now employs thousands of Americans across the country.

Some of the companies we helped start are names you know. An office supply company called Staples - where I'm pleased to see the Obama campaign has been shopping; The Sports Authority, which became a favorite of my sons. We started an early childhood learning center called Bright Horizons that First Lady Michelle Obama rightly praised.