The following themes were just some of the subjects tackled by Sir Alan Sugar:

• Are entrepreneurs born with that magic spark, or can they be taught?
• Do all successful businessmen make enemies?
• How do you judge pitches for investment funding?

Sir Alan went into business selling products such as cigarette lighters, intercoms and TV aerials, and in 1968 founded the home electronics group Amstrad. He is 25th of The Times Rich List in 2004, and this year he entered the world of reality TV with the BBC's version of Donald Trump's The Apprentice.

An enthralled audience of 140 students, alumni, faculty and senior Imperial staff listened to the man who left school at 16 talk about what motivates him, in an hour-long question and answer session. Sir Alan is notorious for being a straight talker, and he didn't disappoint.

Despite his lack of formal education, Sir Alan Sugar has nothing but deep respect for engineers and those unsung heroes slaving away in R&D.

He said, "Institutions such as Imperial that produce great engineers and great R&D mean that we have some of the greatest inventors and innovators. Yet, engineers are under-recognized, underpaid and not seen as a true profession."

Unsurprisingly, Sir Alan wasn't as supportive of business education: "You may learn the XYZ of good managerial practice, but it can't give you that bit of radar that recognizes things that makes you different from everyone else."

When asked by one of the participants what motivated him, he replied:

"Making money has always been interesting to me, and innovating and developing new products that no one else has thought about also drives me.
The electronics industry was the start of something new, and it's still so leading edge that we don't know what we'll be selling in two years' time - so there's always something new."

However, if I don't understand something, I don't go near it," advising the listeners to "Stick to what you know."

Sir Alan was also asked about his relationship with the City: "I have no problem with the City. They think they have a problem with me. I don't do the private little chats any more. And that honest approach has made it costly, because those in the know in the City don't like this."

On Branding, Sir Alan displayed his suitably dry humor:

"I don't do brand well - we have a different mentality. Amstrad as a brand was ruined by its very nature - ask people what they thought of us and the reply was "Cheap computers". Yet look at iPod. Technically it's nothing special but Apple has created a "Got to have one" feeling about it.

Our vision: 'Pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap'."

As someone who understands entrepreneurial reflexes, Sir Alan has faced many tough challenges, and admitted to being under pressure much of the time. He was equally frank when asked about his biggest mistake: "We didn't invest enough in R&D and rushed a product out to market when it wasn't ready. That cost us.

"We make a lot of mistakes. I would challenge any of you to try and earn in a lifetime the amount of money we've lost through mistakes. But at some point you have to take your punishment, and just cut and run."

On handling stress, he stipulated:
"In my line of work there are valleys and mountains of stress. You can get on a high and think you're untouchable. But if you're not keeping your eye on the ball, suddenly you turn around and realise that you're in to the banks for £300 million.

In the September of a particular year, the banks asked for their money back. Forget working on products and innovation. I had to put my management hat on, stop buying and manufacturing, and get it sorted. By the following February we had £140 million in the bank."

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