"I actually enjoyed most of it but because I skipped a year in school I missed out on some of the really advanced calculus," says Salmen who got into programming by writing code when he was 12 years old. 

He did not finish his university course, but instead embarked on a technology career, including technical support at Telecom Xtra and network engineering and later management, at Radionet. 

He went back to university two years ago, and achieved a qualification in business studies at the University of Auckland. "I just wanted to have a tertiary qualification of some description," he says on his decision to take up general business studies. "I don't know why because I never needed one of the past," he says. 

"It did help to give me get a good theoretical knowledge around some of the practical experience I picked up." His next goal is to pursue postgraduate studies in business but not in the next couple of years.

Salmen explains his family was not into technology when he was growing up. "My parents are very creative," he says. Salmen describes them as "artists" and reckons both have influenced his developing a "creative" side.