Andrew Harman: The phone stopped ringing and people stopped asking me out for lunch.
Channel Chat 2026|01|15
Marc sits down with Andrew Harman, owner of Strive Capital and Academia, to talk about the real journey behind building, scaling, exiting and starting again. Andrew shares how he went from chasing a football career to landing a tough sales break at Canon, before backing himself to launch a reseller business that grew from a house startup into 700 staff across 13 UK offices — and eventually an exit after 25 years. They cover: What it really takes to scale a business Winning against bigger competitors through service Preparing for an exit (and what buyers actually look for) Why “less is more” — focusing on fewer, bigger customers How Andrew approaches acquisitions and culture fit What’s next for Academia and the wider Strive group
