Doug Richard: One of the Original Five Dragons
- Doug Richard
Doug Richard is an American entrepreneur who built and sold technology businesses in the United States before settling in Britain.
He was one of the five investors on the first series of Dragons' Den when the British version launched in 2005, and appeared in the show's first two series.
After the Den
He founded Library House, a Cambridge based research firm tracking private and venture backed companies, and later School for Startups, a training programme built around the practical mechanics of starting a business.
That second venture reflects an argument he has made consistently in public: that entrepreneurship is a set of learnable skills rather than an inborn trait.
The Richard Review
In 2012 he was commissioned by the UK government to review apprenticeships in England, and the resulting Richard Review argued for rebuilding them around employer defined standards and genuine occupational competence.
It is an unusual line on a dragon's record. Most of the panel's public work after the show has been investing or broadcasting rather than policy.
Products Doug Richard backed in the Den
