It's good that the people Richard Branson and Bill Gates dealt with early in their careers didn't feel that way.

Branson pretended to be a big magazine company from a phone box (using the operator to appear to be a switchboard operator of sorts) and claimed to have sold lots of ads when he had sold none. The magazine was a success. Gates pretended he had a BASIC. This "lie" was the start of the accumulation of the world's biggest fortune.

Blagging and telling white lies is a big part of starting out, especially if you're an entrepreneur. Looking bigger than you are, looking more established, making your deals look bigger than they are, portraying a better image than your checkbook can support.. all deceptions.

Sure, there are many totally honest and straight talking folks who've made it big, but look at the stories behind most of the well known entrepreneurs and there was plenty of blagging and exaggeration going on at the start of their journeys. (Not to mention most of our dating careers..)