I never went into business just to make money - but I found that if I have fun, the money will come. I often ask myself, is my work fun and does it make me happy? I believe that the answer to that is more important than fame or fortune. If it stops being fun, I ask why? If I can't fix it, I stop doing it.
The years I would have spent at University, I spent building Student Magazine and Virgin Records. For me that was far more fun and satisfying. I have treated everyday as the University education I never had and think I learnt more about business and life than I would have at University in the process.
I have had fun running all of the Virgin businesses, so I never see a setback as a bad experience; it is just a learning curve.
I'm a true believer in working hard and partying hard. I'm fortunate to be one of those people who can have just as much fun partying without alcohol.
Actually, we did a fun April Fools' thing with Google a couple of years ago, which we called Virgle. And we looked for volunteers to go on a one-way trip to Mars.
I doubt that I would have been successful in my career and happy in my personal life if I hadn't prioritized health and fitness. Staying active ensures mental preparedness and the courage to try new things. It helped me to stay focused on work but also to have fun and try new approaches and explore new places. That's the spirit behind Virgin Sport - we wanted to introduce fitness activities that are enjoyable, accessible and part of your overall lifestyle.
Be authentic and organic. It can't be forced or it won't work. And most importantly, have fun.
If you do something for fun and create the best possible product, then the profit will come.
Kitesurfing is one of the greatest sports in the world. I highly recommend this to anyone who has access to the ocean. There is nothing more freeing than being out there and kitesurfing. When my schedule permits, it's the first thing I do in the morning, before I have breakfast. Tennis is also fun, especially against someone far better at the sport than I am.
I think sometimes when you come from a conservative background, you want to rebel a little bit. I dropped out of school at 15 and learned early in life that saying yes was a lot more fun than saying no. If you have the opportunity to explore the skies and attempt something people haven't done before - well, I was damned if I was going to sit around watching television while someone else was doing it.
And you know, I've had great fun turning quite a lot of different industries on their head and making sure those industries will never be the same again, because Virgin went in and took them on.
I have had a lot of fun pushing the boundaries on my balloon and kitesurf adventures, breaking some world records in the process, and I think this attitude of having fun whilst working hard is one that lends itself very well to successful entrepreneurship.
I'm a great believer that saying yes is a lot more fun than saying no.
"I think the most important thing is that in the last seven days we've just had the greatest adventure of our lifetimes." "I'm inquisitive ... and I love a new challenge... and if I feel that we can do it better than it's been done by other people, we'll have a go."
I prefer to have a great time and to keep my wits about me.
There are quite a few things I've done that even I thought might have been one step too far. But if you are willing to make a fool of yourself and make people smile, as long as you do it with a sense of fun, you can get away with it.
We've got an engaging, edgy, vibrant, fun product, ... It may or may not work, but we're going to give it our best shot.
