10/15/2026
My number one piece of advice for anyone thinking of starting a business? Find a mentor (and actually lean on them).
When I was young, I had no trouble asking people for help. If someone had done something I was trying to do, I would pick up the phone and ask how they’d gone about it. I didn’t think of that as finding a mentor. I was curious, perhaps a little naive, and I knew there was a great deal I didn’t know.
Starting Virgin Atlantic brought that realisation to 30,000ft. I loved the idea of making flying better, but I had never run an airline. So, I reached out to someone who had - Sir Freddie Laker. He (very generously) gave me his time, told me what he had learned from building Laker Airways and spoke frankly about what they had gotten wrong. For example, he was extremely clear-eyed about the challenges we would face from our competitors. When British Airways tried to destroy us with their Dirty Tricks campaign, Freddie’s wisdom was invaluable. He helped us make decisions when the stakes were high, and he became a trusted friend along the way.
Over the years, I’ve learned from all sorts of people. My parents shaped the way I approached life long before I started a business. My sisters were my sounding board in the early days of Student Magazine. Freddie helped me when my head was above the clouds. Their mentorship was invaluable, and I’m not sure where I’d be right now without them all.
One of the key reasons we started Virgin StartUp was to provide mentorship. In the lead up to National Mentoring Day on October 27, the team will be sharing some mentoring opportunities with some of the biggest founders and industry leaders in the founder world. Rare opportunities like this are there to be seized - this is what being a founder is all about. To get involved, join more than 4,000 founders on the Virgin StartUp Digital Community - a platform for practical support, mentorship opportunities, and networking events. Take a look: https://www.virginstartup.org/community/
