Co-Founder Mike Murphy Reflects on his Path to ProctorFree
Today, ProctorFree is celebrating Veterans Day and honoring veterans both in the ProctorFree family and beyond. ProctorFree is both led and supported by veterans. Mike Murphy, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, served as an Intelligence Analyst in the U.S. Army before transitioning into the entrepreneurial space. ProctorFree also salutes Jon and Chris Boggiano of VersaMe, and Brandon Shelton of Task Force X Capital Management; key members of the ProctorFree leadership team and US Army veterans.
Mike Murphy joined the startup community after being introduced to Jon and Chris Boggiano, Co-Founders of Everblue, which grew to be the nation’s leading accredited school for sustainability related education. Before working at Everblue for the Boggianos, Mike served in various roles as an Intelligence Analyst, and later worked as a Defense Contractor on projects related to Biometrics Enabled Intelligence. Mike was interested in learning from the Boggianos and seeing how his skills as an Intelligence Analyst could transition into marketing. “I am very comfortable around other veterans and a startup is a familiar environment. It’s mission focused,” Mike says of the start of his entrepreneurial career.
As Mike transitioned from Everblue to founding ProctorFree with Velvet Nelson, he realized the extent to which his time serving in the military translated well into startups. He says, “The military helped me live with a baseline of stress and being able to run projects in parallel. I like challenges and a bit of discomfort in a work environment.” Mike enjoys that the startup world is more fast-paced and agile than the military in some respects. “It is possible to pivot a lot faster in the startup world. In larger organizations, you cannot do that as often.”
When reflecting back on the start of ProctorFree and the importance of veterans to the company, Mike recalls the first phone call he and Velvet received. It was from a veteran who found the ProctorFree website through an organic search. It was a very special moment for Mike and ProctorFree, who love providing the tools to help both veterans and non-veterans necessary to work hard pursuing and earning a degree.
ProctorFree celebrates the service of all veterans and we are proud to be led and supported by veterans.
