What Tioga's Partners Say

I was recruited to DermTech International in 2006 as Director of R&D by CEO, George Schwartz.  George told me his first product idea was to use DermTech’s patented, non-invasive Epidermal Genetic Information Retrieval technique (EGIR) to sample patient’s skin lesion non-invasively and tell the patient whether he/she has melanoma or not.

It was just like a scientific fiction to me at that time to take an idea (concept) to a diagnostic product since I was trained as a Molecular Biologist and did not know that much about melanoma, a deadly skin cancer.

Under George’s leadership, we were able to discover a 15-gene melanoma disease signature with 100% accuracy in 6 months and we received top clinical research prize award from Society for Investigative Dermatology annual meeting, 2007.

George was the second outside investor in DermTech, so he had the opportunity to learn about its promising technology from the start. He understood the big picture and most of the minute details, even though he was not a scientist. He gave me and my team broad latitude to investigate different technologies and various statistical strategies necessary to complete our goals. He raised millions of dollars to enable and further our work. This culminated in a paper I co-authored that was published in the British Journal of Dermatology and presented at a major dermatology conference. 

What I recall most vividly from my time with George was his determination to learn in detail about the scientific aspects of our work, and the humor he generally brought to the room.  He is a very sharp, very learned, highly knowledgeable leader and CEO but also has a keen sense of humor.  He diligently oversaw our activities with just enough reach so that we felt we had his confidence, but with no micromanagement so we were able to creatively approach problem solving. This was very refreshing, and different from my previous experiences in industry. It gave me a great opportunity to mature as a scientist. 

His form of management was similar in other areas of the company, which fostered a very collegial and productive environment for creativity of thought to flourish. I can confidently encourage any scientist who considers working with George that their work would be scientifically recognized and promoted and generously rewarded. 

“I am a co-founder of Visual Classrooms, a startup company born at Tufts University. We spent four years developing our collaborative learning platform after winning $2.4 million of NSF funding, the purpose of which was to develop an educational technology to keep students engaged and improve learning outcomes. Neither of the two co-founders was experienced in business or startups. After our business plan competition at Tufts, we met George, and realized that his extensive background in positioning, funding and strategizing startups was well suited to our needs. George agreed to serve as Chairman and then actually proposed our new name, raised some seed capital, guided us to develop milestones to align with a funding timeline, and introduced us to potential investors. I can say without reservation that George has helped us see what was necessary to create a company of substance and greatly helped our progress. I look forward to working with him on our commercialization pathway to fulfill our mission.”

“I met George in April, 2016, when I presented my idea for a new mental health technology to the judges at the Dartmouth Annual Business Plan Competition. I’m a faculty member at Dartmouth Medical School and at the time was the CEO of Incente, LLC. George was one of the judges in the competition. My company won, and George pursued me to help develop my company. George happily advised me throughout the many months that followed on any matter when I sought his help. George also arranged meetings and introductions with potential partners to move the business forward, and dealt with a broad range of delicate issues throughout this period. Ultimately, we sold the company to Voi (voi.health), a behavioral healthcare technology company backed by several Silicon Valley venture capital funds. I now serve as Chief Science Officer of Voi, and George has continued to be constructive and accepted our invitation to join our Board of Advisors. I believe that any startup entrepreneur would benefit from George’s extensive startup expertise to help ready his/her company to develop a business plan and to find the necessary money to get the company going in a positive direction.”

“As a young startup founder, I have found George's wealth of experience and connections to be invaluable to the development of our company. I was fortunate enough to meet George about two years ago, just as we were considering outside funding sources. He helped me prepare the necessary documents to solicit investment, of which I had no knowledge prior to meeting George. The connections he has developed from his many years of VC experience were instrumental in helping our company close on our first round within a month. As Learn2Earn grows, George continues to be a phenomenal resource for me, giving advice on growth strategies, facilitating additional rounds of funding, encouraging positive relationships with investors, and leveraging his network to further the company's interests. I highly recommend George to any young founder who needs business experience and connections to take their company to the next level. The company we have built together would not be what it is today without George.”

“I have known George Schwartz for 25 years, both as a colleague and a co-investor. His Bass Brothers and Drexel background give him excellent access to capital, and superb skills in deal-making. As the Chairman of "ASIG," Mr. Schwartz was instrumental in our securing the funding for the initial buyout--Ranger's first deal when we went independent in 1997. I highly recommend him to any Private Equity or industrial investment situation where he could play a contributing role, either as a financier, partner, or senior executive. He also has excellent advisory and consulting skills, so any middle-market sized company needing transformational capital and shrewd guidance could benefit from his myriad experiences."

“I was the CEO of Creative Games International, a company that we spun out of GTech, a multi-billion dollar operator of lottery equipment worldwide. CGI produced instant lottery tickets. The CEO of GTech offered me the exclusive opportunity to acquire that division. It was during this time that my team and I were introduced to George and his partners. George immediately grasped the value proposition, and along with us, he negotiated the terms and notes of the deal, the ongoing strategic partnership with GTech, found all the capital needed and we closed the purchase. George then served on our board, and he later played an important role in the sale of our company to a publicly traded Canadian company. Effectively, George was a guiding source of financial and strategic input throughout the life cycle of this venture. I strongly recommend him to assist any entrepreneur facing a similar opportunity. In 2002, I was approached by a group from Virginia who had spent $1 million developing a gaming internet site. The quality of the games and the systems were quite strong. After the dotcom bust, they discovered that the real opportunity was in cash play, and they were introduced to me in my capacity as a gaming and lottery expert. George had domain expertise in this field from our previous partnership. I contacted George immediately and we quickly secured a contract in Ireland and then Brazil. However, we in turn needed funding to support our contractual commitments and growth, and George once again delivered $8 million over a 5-year period. After 8 years, we were purchased for a handsome price by a group of Irish bookmakers. This could not have happened without George’s immediate understanding and persistence throughout.”