Helping Veterans Break Into Tech Sales with Andrew Garcia, USNA ‘10
Feb 26, 2026
“One day you realize you’ve climbed the ladder as far as you can go, and the only way to grow is to step out and build something of your own.” - Andrew Garcia, USNA ‘10
Andrew Garcia is a U.S. Navy veteran and founder of The Arena and Pursuit, two businesses focused on helping veterans and transitioning professionals break into the tech industry. After a successful career in tech sales at Salesforce, Andrew launched The Arena to provide veteran-friendly recruiting services for defense tech startups. He later expanded his mission through Pursuit, a career training platform designed to help aspiring tech sales professionals land their first role.
Today, The Arena partners with growing companies to place high-performing sales talent, while Pursuit offers coaching, community, and an online platform that helps job seekers prepare for interviews, build professional habits, and stay accountable. With a long-term vision to build a full career pipeline, Andrew combines mentorship, training, and recruiting to help veterans succeed in high-growth industries. In this episode of the SABM podcast, Scott chats with Andrew about:
Building a Dual Business Model: How The Arena and Pursuit work together to serve job seekers and hiring managers across the full tech sales career journey.
From Salesforce to Startup Founder: Why Andrew left a stable career to test his skills and pursue entrepreneurship full time.
The Pursuit Platform: What makes Pursuit training cohorts different, and how the platform helps veterans land roles faster with more confidence.
Lifetime Value: Why Andrew created a lifetime membership program that helps graduates land jobs not just once, but throughout their careers.
Data-Driven Recruiting: How The Arena is building a defense-tech talent insights platform to help startups hire smarter and faster.
Timestamps:
00:08 Joining the Chess Team and Soccer at the Academy
02:04 Founding The Arena and Pursuit
05:01 Challenges and Successes in Entrepreneurship
11:40 Goals and Future Plans
22:17 Marketing and Business Development Connect with Andrew:
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A special thank you to Andrew for joining me this week. Until next time!
-Scott Mackes, USNA '01