Windsor Mountain | Recognition Group | Lessons Learned | Summer Jobs  | govWorks

Public Data Systems was the original name of the company govWorks, Inc. which was featured in the movie Startup.com.  Many people come to this site looking for unanswered questions about the govWorks, the movie, and the people in it. The most common questions asked are

1. What happened with the "break-in" to the Gov Works offices?
2. What would you have done differently if you had it to do again?
3. What are you and Kaleil doing now?

So, first the break in. The guy who did it was caught, but by the time they knew it was him he was already in a federal facility on some other charge. As far as what I would do differently, I suggest you read "Lessons Learned" for what is an instructive admission of mistakes. They make good discussion topics for classes even though not all of them are addressed in the movie. If any of you have case studies or papers you've written that you'd like to share with others please send them to me and I might share them on this web site.

After govWorks ended, Kaleil and I started another company called Recognition Group. It's a restructuring firm based out of New York that has done some interesting work with a broad range of distressed clients. I'm glad to say that Recognition Group has been successful so far and that it was started without any outside capital. Kaleil is still running the business full time while I have moved back to New Hampshire to help my father and my sister with the family business, Windsor Mountain International. Windsor Mountain International was founded in 1961, as Interlocken International.

43 years ago my parents started Windsor Mountain as summer camp in southern New Hampshire. It has since grown to offer a broad array of travel opportunities for young people to explore other cultures, build outdoor skills, language skills, and to offer community service. In the 80's Windsor Mountain began the first youth exchange with China and has since created friendship exchanges in the former Soviet Union, Israel, and Cuba. We'd be happy to send you a catalog so you can read more. We also hire lots of college students from around the world to teach or lead trips, so if you or someone you know is interested in that click summer jobs. Finally, Windsor Mountain is always looking to recruit students, so if you know of anyone who is interested or has children between the ages of 8 and 18 who might be interested, please email them our URL!

As a result of the movie, I get a large volume of email.  I try to respond to all of it and although I sometimes fall a bit behind, I still welcome your communications. My email address is therman1@recognitiongroup.net.  Generally questions are about the movie, the business, or my availability to speak at schools and conferences. You might be surprised by the number of people who write to ask if govWorks really existed or if Kaleil and I were characters made up as part of a screenplay.  I enjoy meeting students and often I'll travel to your school or event for just the cost of travel. I have remained involved with the community of entrepreneurs both through speaking engagements and through my turnaround and insolvency work with Recognition Group.  My talks generally focus on the challenges of entrepreneurship, managing crisis when an entrepreneurial endeavor unravels, maximizing the return to investors in an insolvency, and generally the lessons learned from govWorks (excerpt). I would like to hear from you if you are interested in having me speak at your conference, school or trade association.  Kaleil is also available at kaleil@recognitiongroup.com.

Further information about the movie can be found in an interview I did with the Washington Post.

If you want to see what the First incarnation of the govWorks web site looked like, send me an email and I'll email you back w/ a link.

We still have great govWorks T-Shirts with our orange logo (M and Large). For $7, I'll send you one. Order here.

Thanks for stopping by,

-tj