2016 Wall of Honor Recipient:
Mr. Doug Nicholas of Scottsdale, Arizona is the recipient of Pleasant Valley High School’s 2016 Wall of Honor Distinguished Alumni Award. Mr. Doug Nicholas, a 1979 PVHS graduate, will be honored by the Pleasant Valley Community School District at the Academic Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. He will be inducted into the Wall of Honor, which recognizes past students for their academic achievements, outstanding success in their career and contributions to society.
Doug Nicholas is a true entrepreneur. Before he graduated from Pleasant Valley High School, Doug started his own firewood company. While at UNI, he started a hotdog and bagel stand. The drive to start something from nothing, which started right here in the Quad Cities, has followed him through life. Mr. Nicholas received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations/Marketing from University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, IA.
During the past 20 plus years, Doug has become a recognized Entrepreneur, Executive and Investor in leading software companies. Doug was the Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Opis Corporation. Opis pioneered the PC customer support and help desk category of service. After a merger in 1997, Doug served as Vice President of the new company, where he helped build it from an early stage start-up through venture financing, two acquisitions and successful IPO before being acquired by Sage Software PLC for $280 million. Opis Corporation/Interact Commerce was the highest returning investment in the history of the Iowa Seed Capital Venture Fund and home run investment for Sierra Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Adams Street, Sigma Ventures and InnoCal Venture Capital, according to Bloomberg.
After the sale, Doug served as Co-Founder and Senior Partner of Greentree Partners LLC, where he led the acquisition of the company Hard Dollar in 2004. He assumed the full time role of CEO at the beginning of 2008 and served until 2013. Under his leadership, Hard Dollar established the project cost management software category and has become one of the country’s fastest growing software companies. Hard Dollar has been an Inc. Magazine 500/5000 fastest growing company two years in a row, and has won numerous industry and growth awards.
Doug currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife and two daughters. During his free time he enjoys horse training, outdoor adventures, financial investments, general aviation as a pilot and golf.