About David Richards
Since 1989, David has worked with a combination of mature and growth companies. He began his career as President of AutoNet, Inc in 1989 and served in that capacity for two years; this early stage company established one of the earliest electronic marketplaces of used-vehicles in the United States. After AutoNet, David joined the Greensboro (NC) News & Record, a subsidiary of Landmark Communications. In his role of Vice-President / Sales & Marketing he was responsible for all of the company's revenue departments: Advertising, Circulation, Promotions, Marketing and Specialty Publications. After serving with the News & Record David moved into the position of Vice President / Corporate Development at Landmark. He reported to the CEO and worked with the senior executive team making investments in new media. In 1995 David was appointed President & CEO of InfiNet, Inc. InfiNet was a three-way joint venture of Landmark, Gannett and Knight-Ridder - the former being the founding company, the latter two follow-along investors. InfiNet is now wholly-owned by Gannett. David returned to Landmark in 1997 to become Vice President - Corporate. In this position he was responsible for two, wholly-owned subsidiaries: Landmark Community Interests and CareerWeb. In April 1998, David was named Chairman & CEO of Physicians' Online, a company backed by venture capitalists including AT&T Ventures, Invesco Funds, and Advent International. At that time Physicians' Online was the largest authenticated community of on-line physicians in the world (+ 200,000 MD members). POL was a turnaround that David successfully sold after 18 months for $180 million prior to his departure in December 1999. David founded Centric CRM in January 2000. David received his BA from Williams College and his MBA from the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. He is married to Janie Battle Richards and they live with their two sons in Norfolk, VA.