Most people assume that a record shop's success lies in selling records. In fact, Virgin's success both in mail order and the record shops lay in skill at buying records.

If you do something for fun and create the best possible product, then the profit will come.

Half the art of ballooning is to make your crashes so gentle that you can fool yourself into calling them landings.

Sometimes I do wake up in the mornings and feel like I've just had the most incredible dream. I've just dreamt my life

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.

Business leaders take things far too seriously, and forget that most of the time people spend in their lives is at work, and it should be fun.

The jet stream is a very strong force and pushing a balloon into it is like pushing up against a brick wall, but once we got into it, we found that, remarkably, the balloon went whatever speed the wind went.