Date and place of birth: 31/12/54 London
Residence: Notting Hill, London
Marital status: Disengaged
Education: BSc and MA in Maths
Career path: Erratic, via pop music and TV
Current posts: CEO of Caplin Systems Ltd

Q: What was your first job?
A: Taking blood from children at Great Ormond Street Hospital (I still have the fangs)

Q: Who is or was your mentor?
A: I’ve been lucky to have had many wonderful friends and colleagues who have taught me a lot and tried hard to keep me out of trouble. But if I had to single out one business mentor, it would be Brian Johnson, who was chairman of the Infinet Group when I was managing director.

Q: Which business leaders do you most admire?
A: Not a question I’ve ever thought about, but Steve Jobs springs to mind. His life and career have blended innovation, idealism, creativity, skill, fun and success in a way that is pretty much unmatched.

Q: If you weren't in your current job, which company would you most like to lead?
A: Models 1

Q: Do you read books on management theory? If so, which has influenced you the most?
A: Not many, but Crossing the Chasm (obviously) and The Innovator’s Dilemma are both essential reading for anyone trying to do something new with technology.

Q: Which competitors do you benchmark your company's performance against?
A: Microsoft, Google, the usual.

Q: What has been your best experience in business?
A: Every successful outcome is a great experience.

Q: What was your biggest mistake in business?
A: I’ve made many mistakes, but all the major ones have resulted from confusing what everybody wants to be the case with what actually is the case.

Q: What keeps you awake at night?
A: Very little these days, I’m happy to say.

Q: How do you relax?
A: Playing with my son, hanging out with friends, making music, dancing, going to parties, lying on beaches…

Q: What was the last gadget you bought?
A: Digital TV tuner for my Mac (I don’t have a TV, but it’s nice to be able to tape movies off air and watch them later projected on to the wall).

Q: Favourite Web site
A: www.trevorvanmeter.com/flyguy

Q: Desert island disc/book
A: That’s an old term for a collection of MP3s, right? So hard to choose just one, but to keep me chilled out on my island I’ll take something from the Buddha Bar collection. Just one book is equally challenging, but I’ll settle for the collected short stories of Charles Bukowski.