When people are placed in positions slightly above what they expect, they are apt to excel.

To me, business isn't about wearing suits or pleasing stockholders. It's about being true to yourself, your ideas and focusing on the essentials.

I have always looked on my businesses not just as money-making machines, but as adventures that can, I hope, make people better off.

Remain focused on fulfilling your business mission. Never allow adversity divert your attention and efforts.

One night, I was chatting with a group of 16-year-old girls over a few drinks about a name for the record store ... A bunch of ideas were bounced around, then, as we were all new to business, someone suggested Virgin. It smacked of new and fresh and at the time the word was still slightly risqué, so, thinking it would be an attention-grabber, we went with it.

What can you do to make a difference? And why should you do it? (...) the scale of one's social investments doesn't matter. What matters is that you operate as a force for good at every scale available to you.

What matters is working with a few close friends, people you respect, knowing that if times did turn bad these people would hold together.