Episode 01: Getting to Know Your Host, Eric Thurston, with Guest Interviewer Oscar Aparicio

Eric Thurston has enabled many of the world’s leading organizations to leverage technology solutions to drive business performance. At Personify, he led the company through a founder transition, a major product rewrite and has transformed the organization into the market leader of constituent management and engagement solutions. In 2018, he led Personify’s acquisition of events software provider a2z, the company’s third acquisition under Eric’s guidance, and successfully positioned Personify to be sold from its private equity sponsor Rubicon Technology Partners to Pamlico Capital. Eric is committed to creating a suite of complementary best-in-breed solutions that help Personify’s clients achieve their missions. He has a wealth of experience in the software industry, serving in leadership roles at Mitratech, P2 Energy Solutions, Oracle and SAP. Eric lives in Austin and enjoys boating, hiking and fishing with his family.

What you’ll learn about in this episode: Oscar introduces himself and discusses his work at Personify, and he shares his enthusiasm for the San Francisco 49ers Eric shares how he became the CEO of Personify, a mid-sized software company whose products are primarily designed for associations, charities and nonprofits Eric discusses his background in the software industry and the private equity world, and he shares how he was tapped to take over Personify when the founder left Eric talks about his work at Personify and discusses the challenge of taking over an existing business with an established culture Eric reviews some of the acquisitions he has made with other companies, and he shares how he has successfully integrated those acquisitions Eric talks about how he developed his personal mantra, “Invest in people and they will change the world” Eric discusses the importance of failure and the benefits that come from learning from your mistakes Eric explains how he defines leadership, and he shares the kinds of stories he plans to share in future episodes Additional resources: Website: www.theplanetleadership.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ericthurston/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ojaparicio/ Eric’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlanetLeaders1