Eric Prugh is a proud Purdue Polytechnic graduate. A cofounder of his own company, his passion for entrepreneurship and leadership started young, after winning “best in class” award for a mock company product competition in one of his classes.
In 2005, after finishing his four years in the Department of Computer Graphics Technology (CGT) with a general multimedia design degree, Prugh went on to work for ExactTarget as a solutions consultant and team leader, before moving on to be the head of solutions consulting at their new location in Sydney, Australia. He had jumped at the opportunity of a move abroad, and spent two years helping the company lay the foundation for the new region to be as successful as possible.
Prugh has some advice to share for the generations of Boilermakers after him. His international experience taught him how to adjust and adapt to a new culture, and how valuable that skill can be in both personal and professional life situations. He has used the lessons he learned during that time in every job that has come after, including his next two years working for Salesforce. Prugh highly recommends any kind of study abroad during college, but his involvement as a member (and co-captain his senior year) of the Purdue Varsity Swim Team took up most of his time. At the time, Prugh’s swim coach was Dan Ross, who taught all of his swimmers that “balance is the key to life.” This is something that Prugh has kept in mind throughout every job and every phase of life.
In 2014, Prugh and two partners joined together to start PactSafe, an Indianapolis-based company that focuses on getting contracts signed electronically at high speed and on a large scale. Their years together have brought new challenges for him, but with the vast and diverse skills he picked up during his time at Purdue and in his roles after college, he has been able to help grow the company from three employees to more than 25 people and have raised more than $8M in venture capital to fuel growth.
Thirteen years after graduation from Purdue CGT, life for Prugh hasn’t slowed down. While excessive travel and 100-hour work weeks are behind him, he is trying to practice balancing his life as he and his wife raise their daughter. He has continued to be able to keep in mind and fully develop the lessons he learned at Purdue, and is excited for the future of his company.