JOHN B. HAYES
CO-FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN
John B. Hayes is a founder of NOW Corp and has served as its Chairman since its inception.
John brings over 40 years of experience in developing technology-based companies, several of which produced innovations that have displaced existing industries. In 1974, John created, in association with Wang Laboratories and the US Senate, the first commercial computer-based word processing system, which replaced the typewriter as the primary tool for creating business documents. He was co-founder and president of TCS Corporation, the company that built Peachtree Accounting, the first microcomputer accounting software (now a part of Sage) which replaced manual bookkeeping for small and mid-size businesses. Peachtree was one of the six applications offered by IBM when they introduced the IBM-PC in 1981.
John co-founded Comsell, an early producer of online interactive technology, which was sold to News Corp in 1986. John developed, in partnership with Intelligent Systems, the “Picture Computing” line of products including the full color graphics technology used by IBM for the early PCs and is the basis for color displays today. John founded Interactive Health Network/GeoMedica, a producer of health-related interactive online products, which was sold to Reuters in 1994.
John led the team that created the web-based technology that allowed WestLaw to be used by all lawyers, largely replacing manual legal research. In 1997, John founded OneCoast Network, a supply-chain consolidation, which was sold to Internet Capital Group in 2000. In 2004, John founded and served as the first CEO of FTRANS Corp., an affiliate of Synovus Financial Corp. and an innovator in trade credit outsourcing. Under his leadership, FTRANS was recognized as #345 on Inc. magazine’s 2009 list of the 500 fastest growing companies in America.
John was an attorney with Alston, Miller & Gaines (now Alston & Bird) where he practiced securities, banking, and corporate law. John was a member of the team that filed the first public securities registration for Gold Kist, then the largest cooperative in the Southeast, and the team that transformed C&S National Bank into a multi-jurisdictional bank that become part of Bank of America. John was also a staff member for U.S. Senator Herman Talmadge where he worked on rural economic development among other issues.
John earned a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a J.D. from the Emory University School of Law, where he was a member of Emory Law Review and an instructor in Legal Research and Writing. John is a member of the Leadership Georgia class of 1974.
John was chairman of the Georgia Tech Committee of 20, which initiated the effort that created the Advanced Technology Development Center on the Georgia Tech campus in 1979. In 2009, John was recognized for his outstanding leadership by Tech America and received the Southeast Spirit of Endeavor Award.
John is a member of the State Bar of Georgia. He was active is helping create the FinTech Society of TAG – the Technology Association of Georgia. John is the principal inventor for four U.S. patent applications and the author of a book on trade credit.
