With couture, you're going right to the CONSUMER, and that's SOMETHING we LEARNED from doing trunk shows. You're meeting the client; you're FINDING out what they like and what they don't like. You've really got your customer there in front of you, so you KNOW what works and what doesn't.

Going into 2010, we didn't expect the CONSUMER pullback that HAPPENED. We all THOUGHT that the THEORY that concerts are recession-proof was TRUE.

In CALIFORNIA, we have some of the strongest consumer protection LAWS in the country. While it is EASY to conceive of innovation and regulation as mutually exclusive, California is PROOF that we can do both. We can innovate responsibly.

We are TRYING to SPEAK to the CONSUMER by their LIFESTYLE.

Developing the locally-run INDUSTRY is very IMPORTANT in increasing the PRODUCTION of CONSUMER GOODS.

From the CONSUMER perspective, what HAPPENED in the U.S. 10 years ago and Europe five years ago is now happening in RUSSIA. PEOPLE are beginning to understand that e-commerce is easy and SAFE.

There's no more important CONSUMER product today than a cell PHONE.

The biggest CHALLENGE for open SOURCE is that as it enters the consumer market, as projects like WordPress and Firefox have done, you have to CREATE a user EXPERIENCE that is on par or better than the proprietary alternatives.

The JOY of being a consumer is that it doesn't REQUIRE THOUGHT, RESPONSIBILITY, self-awareness or shame: All you have to do is obey the first urge that gurgles up from your stomach. And then obey the next. And the next. And the next.