About Appster

Luke Naeem

Growth Strategist

Luke is an accomplished, seasoned consultant with exceptional relationship building qualities. An expert in mobile and web technology determined to help clients find solutions to achieve their desired outcome. He is passionate about delivering outright driven solutions utilizing a Minimum Viable Product approach. He has a deep interest in Finance technology and in his spare time he goes spearfishing.

Chris Maher

Growth Strategist

Chris Maher is a half-breed. Half technical, Half business savvy. He has extensive experience in market research, decision making analytics and has been a trusted advisor to executives at some of Australia’s largest corporates. Almost paradoxically he has extensive knowledge of software quality methodology. This fusion allows him to assist clients to find best of breed solutions, design MVPs and go-to-market strategies that get results. He’s a product strategist you want on your team.

Chellie May

Project Manager

Chellie May is an experienced IT professional with nearly a decade under her belt. With a background in software engineering, quality assurance as well as product management she has been a catalyst behind hugely successful international tech startups. Today she focuses on internal projects as well as maintaining Appster’s core systems to keep our business humming as we scale globally.
She is also running Disruptive Startup Organisation, you can easily spot her in our Disruptive Startup meetups.

Thomas Wilding

Product Strategist

Tom is a Product Strategist with an awesome background in Software Engineering, who wants to be the catalyst that turns your idea into an explosive and disruptive app made to rock the mobile app world. His hobby of being the best at slaying internet dragons brings a funky perspective to the design table.

Esther Humphrey

Product Strategist

Esther has worked at Appster for nearly 3 years and built up a team of product strategists who take on all kinds of exciting projects. Having worked on over 200 different concepts herself, she is passionate about fleshing out ideas and building them into businesses that have the best chance of success. Esther is inspired by what technology is going to do for the world and wants to be involved with it in every way possible.

Mathew Barker

Growth Strategist

Chris Moretta

Growth Strategist

Chris is a well rounded consultant with over 10 years of client management experience. He is very passionate about innovative ideas & working with clients to achieve their desired outcome, utilising a Minimum Viable Product approach. Hailing from the UK, Chris has a keen interest in motorsport & also football (played with a round ball!). Further note, feel free to start a conversation about 80’s music – Chris’ guilty pleasure!!

Emilia Walerczak

Producer

As a Producer at Appster, Emilia eloquently coordinates a variety of UI/UX design and wireframe projects with designers. She’s very hands on with both team members and clients and is often a liaison between the two parties. When she isn’t prioritizing product features for maximum ROI, she is busy managing product updates. Because of her past experiences in business management, marketing and UX design, she’s able to grasp a client’s vision quickly and consult with them on strategies for optimum results.
Be careful, she has a Metalcore music obsession and doesn’t mind pulling others into the music vortex with her.

Emily Scott

Producer

Emily’s background in producing digital assets is what makes her such a talented Producer here at Appster. She develops and maintains projects throughout various stages for clients and also assists them in everything from wire-framing and troubleshooting to technical support and product management. Clients can depend on her to go above and beyond to ensure they are happily meeting their goals no matter how challenging, or deadline driven they are.
Emily is known as our “Fairy” as she is always there to give a hug when you need it most.

Ashkan Eskandari

Growth Strategist

Ashkan is a Growth Strategist who has been in sales since the young age of 16. With a keen business mind and an enthusiastic approach, he brings loads of experience to the team. He is often reading up on what’s new in the tech world and exploring various apps. “Mastering the art of communication is priceless” and “We never stop learning” are up there with some of his favorite quotes to go by. He strives to continuously grow as a professional and teach others what he knows. When not in the office, he can be found enjoying the sights, playing FIFA or just watching some sports. Oh what the heck…one more quote. “To improve is to change, to be perfect is to change often” Winston Chruchill said that one. Ashkan said the above two.

Zach Munn

Producer

Zach is a Product Manager with a background in Security and Computer Science. Zach works closely with our Senior Project team to review builds, test functional deliverables and coordinate with client’s to keep their projects on track. He is a strong believer in Lean Methodologies and User Experience practices. Zach has been known to work at ridiculous hours of the night to coordinate with our teams and clients all over the world. The secret to his productivity is his addiction to caffeine and in his spare time he likes to spend too many hours on Udemy learning new things.

Jessi Salonen

Producer

Jessi’s cross-industry background in production and management means she’s an all hands on deck type of Producer. Her focus in the digital sphere is as an advocate for her clients throughout their development journey. With her breadth of experience on multi platform projects, she leaves no stone unturned on the journey from inception to launch to maximise ROI.

And what’s that accent she has? Why that’s Nordic Viking of course!

Sebastian Petravic

UI/UX Designer

Passionate about creating unique, beautiful, and enjoyable digital experiences, Sebastian is a key member of Appster’s UI/UX Design team. Eager to learn and be challenged, he was a part of the first ever New Zealand start-up to attend YCombinator in San Francisco. In his spare time, Sebastian enjoys working on side projects, going to cafes and playing video games.
Sebastian has a flourishing Coffee addiction, so if you own stocks in Nespresso, it is his hand you need to shake.

Alan Blit

Account Executive

Alan Blit is an accomplished consultant who believes in the lean startup methodology and takes great pride in working with entrepreneurs by helping them bring their ideas to fruition. With over 12 years of experience in managing key accounts across different industry verticals, Alan is passionate about mobile technology and delivering solutions based on key metrics with a minimum viable product approach. When he is not busy working, he loves playing soccer and Chelsea is his favourite team. Ask him all about it if you ever bump into him.

Raffaella Cheruseo

Director of First Impressions

Raffaella is a vibrant member of our Client Services team whose daily focus is to facilitate the vital connection between our excited clients and our experienced sales team.
Coming from a professional background in events, Raffaella is well equipped to smooth any speed bumps in client services that are often disguised as concerns or issues. She is happy to help solve any problems where she can!

Raff has joined us from across the ditch & has fantastic pronunciation of “Fish & Chips” 😉

Jake Salonen

CCO - Chief Cuddle Officer.

Jake is highly experienced in the provision of unlimited hugs and cuddles. Jake’s wiggly tale and cuteness factor, guarantees satisfaction for both our staff and clients alike. When Jake is not busy giving cuddles, he enjoys walks in the park, his toy panda, and sleeping! *Warning* Jake causes sudden onset of happy feelings with uncontrollable smiling!

Ross Mudd

UX/UI Art Director

Ross is one of our brilliant UX/UI Art Director’s in the Melbourne office. Having worked at various agencies in the UK and creating mobile experiences for some major brands, Ross boarded a plane and headed to Australia to work especially for Appster after falling in love with the idea of helping people bring their ideas to life.

Being British he does moan about the weather all the time (he’s yet to find his Goldilocks moment as of yet – bless him) but he really enjoys his work and he’s at his happiest when he’s working on new and awesome projects. His attention to detail and love for visual design means your idea couldn’t be in better hands.

He also has one of the best laughs you’ll come across, so be sure to crack some jokes when you meet him – you won’t regret it.

Daniel White

UI/UX Designer

Daniel White is one of our UI/UX Designers here at Appster and another member of the “Design Den Coffee tribe”. Ever-passionate about design, Daniel loves creating work that is clean and minimalistic. On the surface seems to be the most quiet person around the office but never doubt his performance! Work ethic level – High. “Smashing it out” as he always says.
As the proud owner of a huge games collection on PS4, he spends most of his free time playing video games!

Daniel is often back at it again with the white Vans. Damn Daniel!

Rifan Thamrin

UI/UX Designer

Rifan is a superstar in our office. As a designer, he loves clean and minimal design. Rifan believes that any design work should be pleasing and remarkable without the strain of redundant clutter and diversion. With him, life is all about design, sports and good laughs. Have you seen him performing break dance in our office? Check out our Facebook page for the video clip, you will sure admire his multi-talents and have a good laugh. Rifan is also a die-hard fan of FC Barcelona, he loves them! And we love him.

An Tran

Market Research Analyst

Coming from a background in Psychology and Market Research, An mainly works alongside the Traction Labs team where he provides valuable insight on what early adopters and potential users are thinking. His main responsibility is conducting market research interviews and market validation for clients to ensure they have a good understanding of who their potential customers are.

A self proclaimed foodie outside of work he spends a lot of time looking for new restaurants and places to eat at and enjoys long walks on the beach.

Carlos Ribeiro

UI/UX Designer

Having recently finished his postgraduate degree in Digital Media & UX at Victoria University, Carlos is a pixel lover with a professional background in digital, branding, and advertising design. Carlos applies his design expertise to create flawless user experiences. As a member of Appster’s UX team, he works closely with our art director, our designers, and our producers to understand a client’s vision. Working with them, he produces interactive solutions tailored to client needs. Carlos enjoys a good coffee every morning, mountain biking, and bossanova. We regret to inform you that, despite his accent, he is not related to Antonio Banderas.

Soheb Sarwar

UI/UX Designer

Soheb is an experienced graphic and web designer with 4+ years communications design experience across medium to large organisations.
Over the course of his career, he has undertaken projects and clients from various sectors such as Professional Industry Associations, Education, Technology, Health and Law. He specialises in interpreting briefs and delivering bespoke services such as Collateral Design, Branding, Brand Positioning, Management & Development, Web Design, Design Management, Social Media Marketing and Digital Strategy.

He is extremely passionate about the design in everyday things and wishes his voice was smooth for Apple product voiceovers.

Manish Ahluwalia

Producer

Manish is an experienced IT professional with more than a decade experience in project and account management. With a background in software engineering, quality assurance as well as project management, he is also both Microsoft and Prince2 professional certified.
Manish is a strong believer in agile methodologies. He is great with people and building synergistic and mutually beneficial relationships within a team environment through a collaborative approach.
Manish has been known to work for ridiculously long hours of the night to coordinate with our teams and clients all over the world keeping their projects on track.
Apart from work in his spare time, he likes travelling and getting to know cultural diversity and people across the globe.
Manish is often paparazzied and published in the newspapers around Melbourne featuring in random stories about the weather!