First and foremost, any business proposal I like must sound fun.

As much as you need a strong personality to build a business from scratch, you also must understand the art of delegation. I have to be good at helping people run the individual businesses, and I have to be willing to step back. The company must be set up so it can continue without me.

The key is to set realistic customer expectations, and then not to just meet them, but to exceed them - preferably in unexpected and helpful ways.

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.

A company's employees are its greatest asset and your people are your product

Listen. Take the best. Leave the rest.

A generation ago, the image was that you had to trample everyone else down to succeed; but I don't believe that makes good business sense.