The Path to Global Success: Q&A with Richard Branson — exclusively for Printify
An untouched paradise on Earth — this is what we might call the 30-hectare Necker Island. It is located in the British Virgin Islands and belongs to none other than the world-famous business magnate and founder of the billion-dollar Virgin Group — Sir Richard Branson. In this exclusive interview with Printify founder and CEO James Berdigans on Necker Island just last month, Branson shares stories about his life on the island, the keys to success, and overcoming difficulties. The world-known entrepreneur also opens up about his thoughts on taking risks and sharing personal opinions publicly.
Virgin Group is among the main investors in the Printify Series-A funding round that was completed in autumn of last year.
James Berdigans: Thank you a lot for welcoming us at Necker Island. We are very honored that such a huge global company as Virgin Group has invested in a Latvian start-up. Can you tell us about your road to success — what are the most important steps for becoming a successful entrepreneur?
Richard Branson: First of all, I never thought of myself as being a businessman or entrepreneur. I was dyslexic, I left school at 15 to start a magazine and campaign against the Vietnam war. Throughout my life, I started things because I was frustrated about the way other people had been doing them. I went into the airline business because it was a terrible experience traveling on British Airways or other airlines. And then we went into the cruise business because we’d never wanted to go on a cruise, we went into space because governments weren’t interested in you or I going to space. Pretty much all the ventures we’ve done, we have done out of a passion. If you create something that is unique and really special, like Printify, there will be more money coming in than going out. But the most important thing is that you are enabling people to become entrepreneurs without any upfront risks. You are taking that risk upon yourself, and that’s the actual reason for Printify to exist. It’s an incredible service for thousands of people who might be working from home and want to create their own businesses.
JB: We are indeed very passionate about what we do, and I can see that you are also passionate about every single thing here on your island having invested your heart and soul into it. What can you tell us about your island to the people who might have not heard of it before?
RB: Necker Island is a little utopia in this world and we tried to create a microcosm of how the world should be in a couple of decades — powered by clean energy, the wind, and the sun, with the water coming from the sea through desalination plants and with incredible species living here on the island. On these 72 acres, we have more species than on most other islands in the world — hundreds of flamingos, llamas, giant tortoises, and lemurs. It is a magical place, and we have a lot of conferences here where we work on how species can be protected across the world, how conflicts can be resolved, and how climate change can be tackled. We bring some of the best people in the world here. We work hard in the mornings trying to solve these problems and enjoy evenings playing tennis or going kitesurfing and getting a good balance of everything this place has to offer.
JB: Another thing that really stood out to me is that you have been very vocal about your dyslexia. Just recently I have found out that I also have it myself after listening to your experience and starting to research more about it, as here in Latvia people didn’t really talk about it much when I was growing up. And in Post-Soviet countries it is still not a common practice to be open about such challenges, especially in a business environment. You are often expected to be tough and hide your weaknesses from the world, but you have inspired me to be more open about it too. How has dealing with dyslexia changed your life and why did you decide to be so open about it?
RB: First of all, I don’t see dyslexia as a disability. It sure makes conventional learning at school tougher, because sadly, schools are based on these simple things such as exams and they’re not based on being creative and imaginative. And dyslexic people are dyslexic thinkers — they think more creatively. For all the things they are not good at, they are really good at finding other good people who can deal with them. I wasn’t good at school, I dropped out at 15 and got my education in the real world. It was the best education I could have gotten. I was lucky and it really worked out. I learned about the Vietnam War, about gay rights and other important things that mattered in life, and that I wouldn’t necessarily have learned about at school. And then I spent my life trying to see if I can use the unique position I found myself in to improve some of the things that needed improving, like the failed war on drugs and how drugs should be treated as a health problem and not as a criminal problem. Or ending the death penalty in the US, Iran, North Korea or Saudi Arabia. I never understand why countries punish people for killing other people by killing them. That’s not setting a good example when, in fact, it is rather uncivilized. I love tackling all these challenges and seeing if I can use my position to make a difference.
JB: Speaking of how great you have been doing with that, people often see only this positive image of how successful you are. Virgin Group is a beacon of success these days, however in your books I have also read about the many challenges that you have faced and gone through. Entrepreneurship can surely be hard and you can end up constantly worrying about the hardships, but you come across as one of the most positive and delightful people I have ever met. What would be your advice to other entrepreneurs on how to retain this level of positivity while still being focused on business and making sure that it succeeds?
RB: I was lucky when I was a kid, and my parents brought me up to always look at the best in any situation and in other people. If I or my sisters ever said one bad word about somebody, we would be sent straight to the mirror and told how bad the reflection is. So we never speak ill of anybody, we never gossip about other people. And if somebody behaves badly towards us in our opinion, we’ll ring them up and say that obviously we’ve got different opinions, but we don’t want to fall out with anybody, so let’s have lunch, let’s talk about our differences. And I think that 99.99% of the time you can become friends with somebody who you thought was your enemy if you treat them right. Almost everybody in this world has a good side to them and it just takes finding it.
JB: How do you yourself deal with stress and big challenges in business?
RB: I am very lucky to have a great family and friends who support me. When the pandemic happened, Virgin was in all the wrong businesses — we were in cruises, we were in airlines, hotels, fitness clubs that got shut down. But if you have a great group of people around you from family to the people you work with, they are there to help you through the bad times, and then when the good times happen, they are there to enjoy it. Everybody has performed incredibly over the past 2.5 years. Our airlines are still flying, and I am actually going to Miami tomorrow to open a new cruise terminal for Virgin Voyages. I actually had a fun day today. My grandkids brought a petition to allow children traveling on our cruise line (which is adults-only). And I explained to the kids that they will be allowed to come on when they’re 18, but in the meantime, they will have to use Disney. So, they have been going around and getting everybody to sign a petition to force their granddad to allow kids on the cruise line [laughs].
JB: In Latvia young entrepreneurs are not that willing to take risks. I read in one of your books that luck favors the ones who are prepared to take a risk. What would be your encouraging words for Latvian entrepreneurs to start their own businesses?
RB: A business is simply somebody coming up with an idea to make other peoples’ lives better. Just like you came up with your idea because you thought that somebody should be doing it. And I am sure that there are lots of people who are frustrated with something in Latvia, and if that’s the case, they should keep their eyes open and just do it — register a name and give it a try. You don’t need lots of money to start in a small way like you or I did back in the day. It’s even possible to start without any money these days. And if it gets traction, you’ve got a business.
JB: Often businesses that start in Latvia, stay in Latvia. You built a global business that operates all around the world. What’s your advice for going global?
RB: I believe that you should think of the world as one world, one big marketplace, but obviously start in your own country, see if your idea is of interest to other people and then take it around the world ultimately. The way I did it — I flew around the world and found the right person to run our French, American, Australian and other companies. And it gave them a lot of freedom to build companies as they thought fit their local market. Some of these people were good managers and some were very entrepreneurial, as we needed both kinds of people. So if you have a good idea, don’t think of just your own country. You can go overseas, make a big difference in the world and then come back home.
JB: Building a business takes capital, and we were very honored to receive an investment from you and Virgin Group. That is also the first time your company has invested in Latvia, and I can see a growing trend that Venture Capital is becoming more comfortable with funding businesses outside of the UK and the USA. Would you recommend other entrepreneurs trying to raise money from VCs? How do you approach investing outside of your home country?
RB: We are very much investing in people. We also liked the Printify team very much and we were happy to invest in your idea. We are always open to supporting special people with great ideas who we feel can build successful businesses. As a group of companies, we decided internally that any spare money we have, we are going to invest in companies that make a real difference in this world to make it a better place.
JB: And to finish off, I would like to talk about a rather sensitive topic, especially for our part of the world — Ukraine and the brutal invasion from Russia. Do you think that entrepreneurs should take a stance and be vocal about it? And do you believe that they can make a difference in a situation like this?
RB: I think they should speak up and they can make a difference. I have spoken out quite strongly as a global entrepreneur to say why on earth is one country massing tanks and military personnel on the borders of another independent country in this day and age? It is really extraordinary. In my lifetime there have been a couple of wars that were big mistakes, such as the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, and the ill-advised Western intervention in Libya. So I think that every citizen of the world should speak out on this day. So should global business leaders. For all those who might be heard and feel they could make a difference, it would be irresponsible for us not to speak up.
