Doug Richard

Doug Richard is a UK-based Californian entrepreneur and specialist in technology transfer, commercialisation, and business incubation.

He was a dragon on Dragons' Den for the first two series. He only lasted two series because the producers thought he was too much of a hawk in the den, as he rarely invested, once swore at an entrepreneur and reduced one to tears. He was marked from the other investors on the programme by a straightforward, no-nonsense style, and also by his education credentials, which include a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Richard is the founder and executive Chairman of Library House, an investment research and consulting firm based in Cambridge and co-founder of trutap — a new mobile startup offering young students unlimited texting to his personal mobile. Before this, he was founder or CEO of three different prominent technology companies.

In May 2006, he received the Queen's Award for Enterprise for his work promoting, developing, and helping entrepreneurs. He is the first American to receive the honour.

In addition to his work with Library House and Dragons' Den he writes for a select number of publications, most prominently for London based luxury magazine, Lusso Magazine. Doug and Lusso magazine started working together when Lusso Magazine was based still in Cambridge. After producing three short articles about his passion for audio technology, his experience with all-business class airline Eos and his passion for sailing, in particular monohull boats.

After publishing these posts and personally responding to a number of comments he began writing for the print magazine, his first article was published on the BMW Z4M in the 8th edition of Lusso Magazine, the 10th edition (released on the 12th) October 2007 contains a large feature on the Panerai Classic Yacht Challenge in which Doug competed in the Sardinia leg of the race.

In May 2008 Richard published his investigation into the British government's support of small businesses. The Richard Report was written at the behest of the Conservative Party, though Richard emphasised the work was politically neutral.

He is also the Chairman of Hoopla TV, a Non executive director of Alertme, Vizwoz and the Non Executive Chairman of BeatsDigital.

Doug Richard will be launching a new global event, FutureFest, in Cambridge, England 23-25 June, 2009.

He currently resides in Cambridge, England with his wife, Carolina, and their children.

Investments
During his two series' on the show, Doug Richard made three investments.


 * Grails Ltd, along with Rachel Elnaugh.
 * IV Cam, along with Peter Jones.