Thomas J. Herman, Managing Director of Recognition Group

Mr. Herman has over 10 years of technical assessment and software development expertise. Prior to Recognition Group, Mr. Herman was the co-Founder, and Chief Technology Officer of govWorks, Inc., a NY-based company that helped create the global “e-government” marketplace. The govWorks transaction processing middleware products web-enable state and local government transactions like infractions and tax payments, business and recreational permit applications, government records retrieval and voter registration. Under Mr. Herman’s guidance, the firm designed, built, and launched the proprietary e-commerce payment engine to serve the $500b municipal payments market and a government resource portal rated “Best of the Best” by Forbes Magazine.  As CTO, he also led govWorks through the due diligence process on dozens of acquisition candidates, resulting in several consummated corporate acquisitions. He also was responsible for forging enterprise-wide technical and product development partnerships, including those with American Management Systems and Arthur Andersen.

Mr. Herman previously served as a Senior Web Architect for TVisions, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a leading Web design firm specializing in e-business solutions, undertaking responsibility, for the development of Analog Device Inc.’s electronic product catalog for engineers. He also served as the Executive Producer for Arepa Inc., an e-commerce software leasing company based in Cambridge. Mr. Herman has extensive experience in Internet-based database interfaces, e-commerce solutions, content management systems, business process re-engineering, and project management.

Mr. Herman is a private pilot, and graduated from Bates College with a degree in Psychology and Computer Science and is Fluent in French and English. Mr. Herman and Kaleil Isaza Tuzman have written a book, Living in the Bubble: Seven Sins of Early Entrepreneurship, which is due out this Fall.

Kaleil D. Izaza Tuzman,
Co-founder of Recognition Group

Prior to co-founding Recognition Group,  Mr. Isaza Tuzman was the Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of govWorks, Inc., a company that helped create the “e-government” marketplace globally.  As CEO of govWorks and Co-CEO of Recognition Group, Mr. Isaza Tuzman has become one of the most influential voices on entrepreneurship in the New Economy, particularly on the subject of lessons learned from the recent Internet boom.  Internet World recently named him one of the “25 unsung heroes of the Internet”. Under Mr. Isaza Tuzman’s leadership, govWorks raised $60 million in venture financing from firms such as the Mayfield Fund, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, the New York City Investment Fund, Hearst Corporation, Sapient Corporation and Vignette Corporation. Mr. Isaza Tuzman also navigated govWorks through a re-organization proceeding in the turbulent markets of late 2000, which included a 2/3 reduction in headcount, over 75% reduction in operating costs and, ultimately, a sale of the company’s core transaction processing business to eONE Global and American Management Systems.

Prior to founding govWorks, Mr. Isaza Tuzman founded eNicial Ventures, a venture capital firm investing a $45 million fund in Latin American and Hispanic-focused technology companies. In addition to his partnership in eNicial Ventures, he is also a General Partner in KIT Capital, an active angel-stage emerging technology fund.

Previously, Mr. Isaza Tuzman spent five years with Goldman Sachs where he worked in the Risk Arbitrage area of the Equities Division, and was responsible for a proprietary investment portfolio in Latin American and other emerging market securities. While at Goldman Sachs, he also held positions in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance.

Mr. Isaza Tuzman graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in Government and a master’s level certificate in Latin American Studies. He serves on the Boards of Directors of several technology companies, the Alumni Steering Committee of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) (a not-for-profit organization that places minority college students in corporate summer internships) and is on the Board of Junior Achievement. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, speaks several foreign languages fluently, and is a frequently published newspaper and magazine columnist on issues relating to technology and its impact on society. Mr. Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman have written a book, Living in the Bubble: Seven Sins of Early Entrepreneurship, which is due out this Fall. Mr Isaza Tuzman is fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Press Coverage

• Internet VC Watch - Turnaround Play, March 30, 2001
• Venture Capital Journal - Recognition Launches Second Chance Fund, Tuesday, May 1, 2001
• Venture Wire - Recognition Group Sails to the Rescue, Friday, March 30, 2001
• Venture Wire - Recognition Offers Counsel, Funds to Tech Firms in Trouble, Tuesday, March 27, 2001
• Silicon Alley Daily.com - GovWorks Founder Looks to Solve Problems for Troubled Tech Companies, Tuesday, March 27, 2001
• Bloomberg - Former GovWorks CEO Starts Firm to Work With Ailing Startups, Monday, March 26, 2001
• Recognition Group Press Release - Recognition Group Forms Advisory and Venture Capital Businesses, Sunday, March 25, 2001
• Wall Street Journal - Tech Chief Is Open About His Errors, Now Counsels Distressed Tech Firms, Thursday, March 7, 2001

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