Pearl: There’s a Dragon in our face

Bristol-based Cloud software developer Pearl has recruited former Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Doug Richard as a non-executive director. John Stokdyk reports. Richard contacted Pearl after surveying the market for online business accounting systems and deciding it was the best one to recommend at his seminars. According to Pearl director Andrew Mulvenna, Richard’s approach was very direct: “This is the deal. I’m going to plug your product and I’ll get a cut. Or I’ll be involved...” A short, intense negotiation followed shortly afterwards and was concluded in a canal-side Bristol car park. In exchange for a “single digit” equity share, Richard became a non-executive director of Pearl and his close associate Chris Chapman took over as finance director. During the negotiations, Richard promised, “I’ll be all over your face” and is already alerting the way Pearl is perceived and how it operates, according to founder Mulvenna.