 In his political pamphlet "At your service"  which was published in 2006 he described his catholic and rural upbringing as unremarkable, with his parents' problematic marriage as a recurring theme.He obtained a degree in economics from Erasmus University in 1989 and from 1990 to 1993 he worked for "OV-studentenkaart BV" (a company managing public transportation for students) then headed by Pim Fortuyn, his future political ally.He then went on to work for Getronics and later on for Zenc (an IT provider for the public sector) of which he was a co-founder.