Jamal Edwards interview: The online music entrepreneur on Richard Branson, bike races and living like a caveman

Edwards is the founder of SB.TV, a broadcasting company that makes music videos and features them on its YouTube channel

Edwards says: 'Too much social media gives you a headache, damages your eyes. It upsets the whole system' (Getty Images)

I don't think I was born an entrepreneur; I became one I dreamt up lots of business initiatives as a kid, but it was never about making money. I just liked having good ideas.

School grades don't define your life I wasn't very good at school. I didn't get the grades I needed to get into college, so I had to do an extra year. But the subjects didn't interest me. I preferred practical stuff to theoretical.

The world's a stage My mum [Brenda Edwards, who came fourth in the second series of The X Factor] got me into stage school when I was a kid. I think she wanted me to go down her route into acting and drama. It wasn't really my thing, but it kept me occupied. If I hadn't had stage school, I'd have been getting into trouble on the estate.

Create a platform, and run with it I started [the web-based youth broadcaster] SB.TV to help get my friends online because they couldn't do so via mainstream channels. It's a digital music discovery platform, and its underlying theme is self-belief. It's an enabler.

I'm meticulous about my diary Every day is different: brand meetings with agencies one day, trying to get young people to engage with political initiatives the next. So the first thing I do every morning is consult my diary.

I burned out three years ago At that stage, I was having meetings about meetings, being pulled in too many directions. So I cut all that out. I was too reactive back then. I'm more proactive now.

Meditation isn't always closing your eyes and saying 'om' For me, meditation is removing myself from social media, switching off the phone, reading a book, chilling out. Too much social media gives you a headache, damages your eyes. It upsets the whole system.

I crave the countryside I like escaping the city, breathing in clean air rather than exhaust fumes, eating food that has been grown locally. It's the modern caveman existence, and I love it.

Money isn't the thing People come to me all the time saying they've had an amazing idea but they haven't made any money from it. I always tell them it's not about the money. Just follow your passion.

My ambition is to be an inspiration Kids say to me they want to look up to someone like Richard Branson, but it's hard as he is not within their reach. I tell them that I'm friends with Richard Branson. He is within my reach, and I am in their reach. He inspires me, and I hope I inspire others likewise.

I've got hundreds of baseball caps I buy them and people give them to me, even if I don't ask. I always say thank you because I like a good cap. Especially if I haven't had a haircut.

Chase your dreams, not the competition is the best advice I ever received. I also like this [from Bobby Kennedy]: "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask, why not."

I like to cycle – fast There's an app [called Strava] which allows you to see how fast you are on certain routes compared with other cyclists. I always want to know who has done a faster time, which routes they've taken, and how I can beat it.

Jamal Edwards, 25, is the founder of SB.TV, a broadcasting company that makes music videos and features them on its YouTube channel. His company is launching a youth-focused news service with Press Association. Edwards was awarded an MBE in 2014 for services to music