Doug Richard

About

Doug is a successful entrepreneur with 20 years experience in the development and leadership of technology and software ventures. He became well-known to the public after appearing in the first two TV series of Dragons’ Den. He is the Founder and Vice-Chairman of the Cambridge Angels and Chairman of the Conservative Party Small Business Task Force.

Doug Richard holds a BA in Psychology from University of California at Berkeley and a Juris Doctor at the school of Law, University of California at Los Angeles. In 2006 Doug was an Honorary Recipient of The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion. The following year, Doug became a fellow of the RSA.

Between 1996 and 2000 Doug was President and CEO of Micrografx, a US publicly quoted software company. Prior to that he also founded and subsequently sold two other companies: Visual Software and ITAL Computers.

Prior to Micrografx Doug Richard was the founder and CEO of Visual software which was set up with the mission of bringing high-end 3D technology to the PC market in the form of creativity and productivity applications. After five years Visual Software was sold to Micrografx in 1996.

In 2008 he founded the School for Startups, an enterprise focussed on teaching entrepreneurship across the UK in partnership with leading UK Universities, the Royal Institution and the British Library.

Doug appeared in the first two series of BBC2’s Dragons’ Den, where by the final episode of the first season, 2.3 million viewers tuned in to watch entrepreneurs attempting to convince the Dragons to invest in their businesses.

In 2010 Richard received the Enterprise Educator of the year award from the National Council on Graduate Employment for his work through School for Startups with UK Universities.

In January 2010 Richard authored the Entrepreneurs’ Manifesto an independent work focusing on the continuing need for entrepreneurialism to form the heart of the government’s plans for economic recovery.

Doug has extensive experience as an entrepreneur, technology visionary and creator of businesses both in the US and Europe. An extraordinary speaker.