Doug Richard is an entrepreneur and investor who specialises in
technology transfer, commercialisation and business incubation.
Richard appeared as an investor on the first two 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.
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. He now runs The School for Start Ups, an enterprise
dedicated to helping people start better, more profitable,
businesses. In 2008, Richard published his investigation "The
Richard Report" into the British government's support for small
businesses, which concluded that the UK's business support network
is, in his words, 'abysmal'.
This half of the interview covers Doug Richard's experiences in
the start-up world, whether it's the businesses he set up himself,
or the investments he makes into other ideas. Library House was an
example for Doug of a business idea with conflicting goals and an
overreliance on investment banks for financial aid, and he also
speaks of Trutap and why you shouldn't underestimate the people
around you. Recent investments of Doug's include Urbanites +
Scooters, an electric scooter company and Richard speaks of the
different sales strategies the company will take.
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