It's hard to remember a time when Richard Branson wasn't a larger-than-life business mogul. But he remembers, and he's happy to talk about it.
The billionaire founder of Virgin Group recently received a letter from a 12-year-old girl asking him what skills he needed when he was first starting out. He replied to her and took to LinkedIn on Thursday to share his response with the world.
"The key enterprising skills I used when first starting out are the very same ones I use today: the art of delegation, risk-taking, surrounding yourself with a great team and working on projects you really believe in," he wrote.
Branson also referenced his difficulties in growing up with a learning disability and how he learned to make the best of it when he started a publication called Student Magazine. "As you mentioned in your letter, I suffer from dyslexia but was able to turn this to my advantage. I delegated the areas I struggled with to people who also believed in the project. This freed up my time to focus on what I was good at -- the strategy of the magazine, making contacts and developing marketing."
The CEO, who is currently tackling space through Virgin Galactic, said a lack of money drove him to take risks in the past.
"We had very little money so had to take risks to get our magazine on the map. I approached to be in Student people like Mick Jagger and David Hockney, whom somebody with more experience may have been too intimidated to contact. For some reason, they said yes!"