Andrew Garcia's Linkedin Analytics

Every Friday, I meet up with the same group I served with. Rich Near and I talked about how important it is to stay close to people who served around the same time as you. Leaving the military is one thing, but figuring out what comes next in life and career is entirely different. The only people who get that are the ones who’ve lived it too. I built The Arena to help vets through one of the biggest transitions of their lives and to make sure they’ve got a real support system behind them. #ArenaBuilt

We find talented people and connect them with defense tech companies that are building real systems for national security. Our job is simple: help them find the right people so they can deliver. #InTheArena

It used to frustrate me how employers were always looking for unicorns these perfect candidates who could do ten different jobs with every credential under the sun. I didn’t check all those boxes. But then I looked at my startup experience and realized: this is valuable. Startups push you into ambiguity, force you to wear multiple hats, and teach you how to build from nothing. I stopped chasing perfection and instead curated a resume that told a story of adaptability, grit, and creativity. Suddenly, I wasn’t invisible, I was exactly what someone needed, just not in the way they expected. #InTheArena

Eric Schmidt and I were talking about the real advantage of working at a startup, not the hype, but the grit. It’s not glamorous. It’s 10 people in a room, more hunger than experience, chasing a vision that might not last the month. You’re not trained, you’re thrown in. Sales, ops, product, marketing, you bleed for every skill. But that’s exactly where the growth lives. When you see how customer pain ties to revenue, how operations keep chaos from collapsing the whole thing, how every decision shakes the system you stop being a worker. You start becoming a builder. And the best part? You walk away dangerous. Not just with ideas, but with real-world scar tissue, real experience, and a toolkit companies can’t teach. That’s how you make yourself marketable by putting yourself in the fire and proving you can build under pressure. #InTheArena

If you want to get a job in tech sales there is literally no where else you should be on Wednesday night April 30th at 8 pm EST. Every single person that has joined this webinar has thanked me after for helping them see the job hunt in a different light. They have all been able to make immense progress and get jobs as aresult of the things they have learned. ---- Pumped for our guest speakers also! 2 Arena grads!!! Jonathan Kyparissis and Jeremy Vasquez will be on the webinar to share some insights. We wil answer questions about... - What is tech sales - Why is it compelling - Why do vets do well - How to get a job in tech sales - Open Q&A Wednesday at 8pm EST Register below... #InTheArena

To any heavy hitter AE’s out there that know the SOF community well…. You are gonna want to check this out. This an incredible product and a great territory. Further, I know first hand you’ll be working alongside aome of the best AE’s in the entire federal space. #InTheArena

During our chat, Chris Schraf made a point that surprised me: when asked what tool made the biggest difference in federal sales, he didn’t say AI or Copilot, he said LinkedIn. It wasn’t just the platform itself, but the persistence it required to build real connections and stay visible. AI might amplify what we do, but Chris reminded me that grit, consistency, and showing up are still the foundation. The tools help, but they don’t replace the human work. #InTheArena

In my conversation with Chris Schraf, one insight that stuck with me was how often we get misled by surface-level government solicitations. Chris emphasized the importance of understanding how agencies operate, how they manage maintenance, who their partners are, and what their infrastructure truly looks like. It’s not about selling the dream; it’s about grounding that dream in reality. That shift from reacting to proposals to deeply listening to operational realities is what allows you to build solutions that land. #InTheArena

I spend most of my days talking to defense tech founders, investors, and early-stage operators, and the story they’re living is wildly different from what the rest of the tech world is experiencing right now. Turn on the news, open Twitter, scan your LinkedIn feed: all you see is layoffs, hiring freezes, shrinking runway, and a lot of founders quietly folding. But inside the defense tech ecosystem? It’s not that at all. While most startups are tightening the belt, I’m watching national security startups raise massive rounds, hire at pace, and accelerate, not just survive. These aren’t companies pivoting to defense out of desperation; they’re purpose-built for it, and VCs are betting on them hard. I think a lot of tech observers are going to look back in a few years and realize they completely missed a generational wave because it didn’t look like the last one. That wave is defense. And if you're only watching the headlines, you're missing what’s happening beneath the surface. #InTheArena

The best talent and the most important tech keep missing each other. That’s not an accident. Veterans get pushed into jobs that don’t pay what they’re worth or worse, into work that doesn’t mean anything. Meanwhile, federal tech companies struggle to find people who can actually deliver. #InTheArena

Everyone's talking about building AI. Almost no one’s talking about how it actually gets sold. TechSales sits at the intersection of hype and reality. It’s not about chasing trends it’s about solving real problems. The people who understand both the tech and the customer? They’re the ones shaping how AI actually lands in the world. You don’t need to write code to be indispensable. You need to: • Understand value • Move fast • Solve relevant and compelling challenges That’s where the leverage is. We’re hosting a free webinar tonight at 8 pm EST. What you’ll learn: • What TechSales actually is • Why it’s relevant for veterans • How to break into the field Join us #InTheArena Link to register: https://lnkd.in/eprQ8s84

No one knows us. That’s the thought that used to bother me. We help federal tech startups find talent and help veterans break into tech sales. Yet, we're invisible to most of the people who need us. I’m posting every day because I know that one day, someone will come across a piece of content that lands. And when they look deeper, I want them to see the full body of work. I want them to feel like we’ve been here, building, thinking, solving problems, all for them. Trust is a requirement before you make a dollar online. #InTheArena

The Arena is growing. Pumped to have Brock join the team as our Recruiting Director! Recently, Eric and I have been in a position in the arena where we haven't really needed to hire, but if the right person somehow appeared or fell in our lap - It would be silly for us to pass them up. There's really nothing else to say - that's Brock. He is the perfect person for our team at this stage in the life of our company. Beyond what you read about him on paper... Having 8 years of federal recruiting experience Mastering full life cycle recruiting Leading and training teams of recruiters What really sold us on Brock was... He's entrepreneurial - we require people that join our team must have a builders mindset. Meaning, they must be willing to build something from scratch. We don't need them to be experts in this area. We just need them to want to do it. To many people who have been a W2 employee their entire career this is a daunting thought. We are looking for folks who want to extend out of their comfort zone and build. He wants to learn - Members of The Arena must also be highly teachable because this is the type of place where you come to grow and learn in such a way that years from now when someone asks you, "what stage in your career did you realize you wanted to pursue excellence on purpose?" You say with complete certainty and zero hesitation, "When I joined The Arena." And it's all because you were willing to be taught new things. He has a lot to offer on day one - Finally, as iron sharpens iron so does one man sharpen another. We require members of The Arena to also be sharp themselves and be willing to sharpen others. I'm not just excited about bringing Brock on board because of the things I think he's gonna do for The Arena or the things I think he's gonna do for himself. I'm really excited because I think he's gonna sharpen me. He's gonna sharpen Eric. He's gonna make all of us better in ways that I don't even see yet. We are super excited to have Brock join the team and we can't wait to see how he grows and develops, but also how he sharpens us. as iron sharpens iron. #InTheArena

Last night we had a webinar on how veterans can break into tech sales. We covered a lot. Biggest take aways... Veterans have an edge. But, they don't know exactly what it is and they typically have no idea how to articulate it to employers in a compelling and relevant way that causes them to want to hire you. Networking with people is critical. But, you can do this wrong. You must learn how to network with intention. In short, when you talk with people at the company that you want to work at you should be asking them super insightful questions that would be impossible to be found on the internet. "What does your boss look for when interviewing folks for this territory?" Tech Sales is more than just making money and having autonomy. It forces you to become someone who is extremely valuable in the marketplace. Pursuing mastery in tech sales will literally change your life. For those of you that want to fix these things or just learn more... hit me up. I literally give out free advice all day long. My calendly link is in the comments. For those that missed it you can check out the recording and the slides in the comments. Fight the good fight. #InTheArena

I was in the Navy, and honestly, I wasn’t happy. I didn’t like what I was doing, I wasn’t proud of what I was earning, and I didn’t feel like my life was moving in a direction I wanted. When it came time to leave, I wasn’t just switching jobs, I was trying to rebuild my entire identity. My career was my life, and stepping out of that left a huge void. That experience, everything I struggled through, everything I had to figure out the hard way, is why I built this. To help other veterans and clients at those critical points where life and work collide. Where you’re not just looking for a job, you’re trying to find your footing again. Loved this conversation, Rich! #CareerTransition #InTheArena

Before I got into defense tech sales, I used to think great sellers could be great anywhere. That belief got tested hard, and it didn’t survive. Allison Mueller and I built our careers selling into the DoD. What we’ve seen firsthand is this: You can’t just drop in from the outside and expect to win here. The idea that you can take a high-performing enterprise rep from Silicon Valley and drop them into a defense sales role is… optimistic at best. The buying process is different. The incentives are different. The culture, the timelines, the stakeholders all of it requires a totally different mindset. I learned this the hard way when I tried to bring a traditional sales playbook into this world. Nothing landed. The value props didn’t connect. The cycle didn’t move. It felt like speaking the wrong language to the wrong audience. What I eventually came to appreciate is how much subject matter expertise matters in this space. You don’t just need to be good at sales. You need to understand the buyer’s world. If you haven’t sold into defense, it’s easy to underestimate that. But if you’ve lived it, you know: this job takes more than talent - it takes context. #InTheArena

When Rich Near spoke about fostering a family, it hit immediately. I see it all the time, founders telling me they want a tight-knit, mission-driven culture. They want a family at work. But just like Rich said, "that doesn't just happen." You have to show up, invest in people beyond the job description and create that space deliberately. If you're building a company and you want that kind of culture, you’ll need to adopt this mindset. That’s leadership. #BuildingWithPurpose #InTheArena

1 year ago Eric Schmidt officially started as the first employee of the arena. It’s really hard to describe the impact he has had in a short linkedin post. He actually started working as a favor for free. He was just helping me do some training for veterans and give some insights from the perspective of a recruiter of what it takes to get interviews and jobs in tech sales. So, one day I asked him. What do you think about coming over doing this full time? The rest is history. --- So much of our time in the arena is spent helping startups and small companies find their first sales person or their first engineer etc. The requirements and requests we get have a very broad range… They must • be in XYZ location • be willing to travel 60% of the time • have 7 years experience • have worked in a startup before • have sold million dollar deals • have strong relationships in the territory The list goes on and on… Those are all good requirements and are all valid. But, one thing I’ve learned after bringing Eric on board is that all of that is useless if they don’t have a strong mindset. Call it grit or one’s ability to “figure it the f*ck out.” or optimism in dark times. Because at the end of the day we hire people to do hard things and many times they have to do hard things they likely haven’t encountered before in environments they haven’t experienced with people they have never met. What you need is someone who is willing to “figure it out” AND figure it out very quickly. Story: We are about 6 months into The Arena. It is NOT going well. We are barely scraping by and after several pay periods of zero revenue I had to dive deeper and deeper into personal savings to make payroll and keep things going. November of 2024 rolls around. We haven’t made a dime in about 6 weeks. That’s really bad. I get on our weekly call with Eric and I say… “Hey man, we need to have a tough conversation this morning.” He knew it was coming because we have been reviewing pipeline and forecast every day together for weeks. I continue, “If we don’t get paid this week we will really struggle to make payroll.” Eric responds, “Honestly dude, it’s fine. I can keep going without pay. I know what we are doing is valuable and I am 100% convinced it will pay off. Don’t pay me - let’s keep pushing.” Let me remind you… 6 weeks. no money. that’s a problem. How do you teach that response Eric gave me? Heck, how do you even find that? Lucky is an understatement when I think of the day Eric joined The Arena. This attitude appeared all the time in Eric. We hit many challenges and EVERY SINGLE TIME He responded with… “We just have to keep going.” So, to those of you looking for your next hire. I would index a little bit more on someone’s ability to “Figure it the f*ck out - repeatedly.” Fast forward to April 2025 Eric closes over $100K in sales in 1 month. So glad I listened to eric in the darkest of times and we “just kept going.” #InTheArena

Feeling like you’ve got more to offer? Veterans often reach a point where something’s missing and you’re not sure where to go next. It’s about finding a path that’s challenging and rewarding, where you can grow, solve real world problems, and put all your experience to use. It’s not about getting any job it’s about mastering something that matters to you.Join our veteran community on May 28 at 8 PM to learn how your skills translate into something bigger for the world. You’ll learn how to map your experience to a tech sales career path that pushes you and gives you room to thrive. Link to register in the comments below. #VeteranTransition #CareerGrowth #Leadership #GrowthMindset #VeteransInTech #InTheArena #Webinar