Ruzwana Bashir

Whenever I was planning a trip or a holiday, flights and hotels were easy. But when it comes to the stuff you want to do when you get there, working that out was really hard.

Wouldn't it be amazing if we spent as much energy investing in experiences as we do investing in things?

I kept being told, 'If you really want to build a start up, you have to be in San Francisco,' so I ended up taking out a suitcase. It did occur to me to do it in London but it's very, very difficult to build a start up in London - so I guess I was being lazy.

You can be this super-successful woman who's smart and effective but still feminine. When I worked in finance, I didn't always think that was possible.

I fell in love with commerce and the opportunities that come with compelling visual storytelling.

What you do on travel holiday is what your memories are based on. People want to do cool stuff, and this is what will shape your entire experience.

A lot of our happiness is derived from experiences, not from buying products. People are twice as happy buying experiences as products. People are happy buying experiences. They don't want something that's commoditised.

Despite living in an increasingly digital world, there are a few things I still like to keep as physical reminders. So every time I see an exhibition, I make a pit stop at the museum gift shop to buy a postcard of something that inspired me.

The world of TV debates is antiquated. What looked smart and modern in 1960, with Kennedy versus Nixon, looks quaint and over-rehearsed between Obama and Romney. We need a new format; even if we have the same moderators and candidates, there needs to be a more nuanced way for audiences to connect with and shape presidential debates.

If millions of Americans choose to weigh in on the outcome of 'American Idol' through text messages and the Web, then why not harness similar technological tools to encourage discourse on the political landscape?