Perlman then went to work for a computer store in Costa Mesa in 1986, where he met Stephen Douglas (Redheads International) who was then the editor of a video magazine. Douglas, becoming close friends with the young Perlman, convinced him to start working for himself. Perlman took Douglas' advice and started his own design/publishing company, while continuing to work on his knowledge of computer programming. Using his knowledge of database design, he has spent most of his career working for companies he founded, although midway through his rise up in the tech world, he worked in [[Silicon Valley]] for [[4th Dimension (software)|4D]] (then ACIUS) from 1990 to 1994. He was hired to conduct training classes across the US teaching users how to develop database applications using 4D and its [[programming language]]. Initially he was the only trainer the company employed.<ref>{{cite web|title=4D Training|url=http://www.4d.com/support/training.html|work=4D Training|publisher=4D}}</ref> He quickly grew the department, hiring three additional trainers and quadrupled the training revenue.
