People

Logo of the initials JRBJ. Robert Burgoyne, CEO and Co-Founder

Robert leads True Blade's work in New York City. Recent projects include:

  • Helping two significant clients move their businesses out of their Manhattan headquarters' of many years, and establishing enterprise level work from home (WFH) setups
  • Assisting an out of state client to maintain the relationship with the subtenant of his office space, during the remainder of the office lease
  • Setting up livestreaming for a Manhattan house of worship
  • Engineering a multi-camera livestreaming system for a second Manhattan house of worship
  • Training and advising clients in their Cybersecurity mandates and compliance options
  • Assisting numerous RIAs by automating daily file transfers between their custodian, brokers, and administrators
  • Working with multiple Broker-Dealers to improve their IT security and internal procedures to meet the demands of increasing regulatory scrutiny
  • Developing and implementing the technology infrastructure for a large Registered Investment Adviser
  • Mentoring and advising a growing Broker-Dealer with technology and policy suggestions
  • Working with a private investigator and former detective on Cybersecurity issues faced by Senior Citizens

Robert is experienced and knowledgeable about the regulatory environment for the investment and brokerage industries. As regulatory compliance mandates have increased over time, Robert has stayed abreast of the changes and available technology solutions. He has been involved with assisting clients during numerous audits by regulatory entities. 

Image of a stylized map of Maryland using the state flag as a fillPrior to founding True Blade, Robert worked in financial services as an investment adviser in Howard County Maryland, where he operated his own RIA practice. Before that he held positions in the sales and management of financial products and services at the Baltimore office PaineWebber and a startup mutual fund company in Bethesda, Maryland. It was in these years that Robert learned about the operational complexities of pooled investment vehicles and developed a keen appreciation for internal control systems and processes in regulated businesses.

Prior to working in finance, Robert worked in custom software development, including being a member of a team that developed the first highly successful client-server database system for Bell Atlantic (now Verizon), where he met Eric Smith, co-founder of True Blade, in 1993. Robert and Eric have kept in close communication ever since.

Robert also worked on DoD projects developing micro-miniature RADAR systems for the U.S. Army.

Robert earned a B.S. in Physics from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP). UMCP's Physics Department was ranked 14th in 2018 by U.S. News & World Report, and consistently ranks in the top 20 nationwide.

While living in New York City, Robert has benefited from knowing and working for several highly accomplished senior citizens in Manhattan and the Hamptons.

Image of a snow covered dock in February, 2021For a rocking senior citizen in East Quogue, New York, Robert implemented a professional Davis Instruments weather station and installed advanced Axys outdoor surveillance cameras to monitor outdoor conditions at a client's vacation home.

These outdoor systems have been in place in difficult outdoor weather for more than 7 years.

Photography has been Robert's lifelong pursuit. Have a look if you have interest:

  • Robert's published photography on Adobe's Behance.net
  • Robert's Google Maps photo contributions have > 18 million views of 482 high quality photos referenced and cited by Google Maps

Robert resides with his family on Roosevelt Island, New York.

 

Logo of the initials EVSEric V. Smith, Chief Technical Officer and Co-Founder

Eric specializes in putting a friendly face on Linux server administration, TCP/IP systems implementation and network security. Since the mid 1990s, Eric has been an advocate of the Python programming language, both for internal True Blade purposes and for client data processing needs. Since 2007 Eric has been a Python core developer. Among Eric's contributions to Python are implementing str.format() and short float repr; and designing and implementing namespace packagesf-strings, and dataclasses. Numerous large entities have switched from legacy programming languages to Python under Eric's guidance. 

Before co-founding True Blade, Eric worked for the NASDAQ corporation as a consultant for nine years on a variety of projects, including the development and monitoring of the NASDAQ.com website in C++. Before that he worked in various positions doing software development and executive management. 

Eric holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, with High Distinction, from the University of Virginia. While at UVa, Eric co-founded a successful Computer Aided Design software company, specializing in software for architects.

In his free time Eric enjoys gourmet cooking for his family and woodworking in his home wood shop. Eric enjoys recreational pool and open water swimming. His biggest accomplishment is completing the 2011 annual Great Chesapeake Bay Swim, a 4.4 mile swim across the Chesapeake Bay. He is a board member of the Montgomery County (MD) Swim League, a competitive summer swim league for approximately 14,000 6-18 year olds. Eric resides with his family in Kensington, Maryland.

 

Dee Zhu, Executive Assistant

Dee joined True Blade Systems Inc in April, 2011. She has evolved her professional skills into being able to handle many technical tasks and comprehensive administrative support.

Dee is an expert with setting up Windows PCs and Apple hardware, and has successfully setup and helped dozens of clients effectively utilize their devices in a secure manner.

Originally from Beijing, Dee is fluent in spoken and written Mandarin.
Dee is a graduate of Stony Brook University with a B.S. in Health Science.

Dee has traveled extensively in Europe and Asia, including Germany, France, Greece, Morocco, Japan and China. Dee resides with her family on Long Island.