Four Years In: Built for the Struggle, Wired to Win

By Rob Arndt, CEO & Founder of BufferSprings
August 14, 2025

Four years ago, I pushed everything I had into the middle of the table. My savings. My reputation. My family’s stability. All on one belief. Veterans deserve better than the broken system they are stuck with.

I walked away from a steady paycheck and a safe title. Not because I had it all figured out. Not because I had a business plan that guaranteed success. I did it because I knew I could not keep looking the other way.

The years since have been messy.

That first year was late nights, missed paychecks, and more than a few moments wondering if I had just made the biggest mistake of my life. I fought imposter syndrome that made me second guess everything. I wasted too much time worrying about what other people thought until I realized most of them had never built anything that actually worked for veterans.

That is when I stopped listening and started focusing on winning for the right people.

What I Have Learned So Far

Social media is not revenue.
Likes do not pay bills. Comments do not change lives. The scoreboard that matters is veterans hired, SkillBridge pipelines launched, compliance systems fixed, and employers who stop talking about it and start doing it.

The right people are everything.
We have built a team and a network that stand in the fire with us. SkillBridge alumni who now lead programs. Clients who trust us in their most sensitive moments. Partners who fight for this mission when no one is watching.

Core values are not marketing.
Veterans First Always is a line we do not cross. We have walked away from big contracts when they wanted the optics without the outcomes. We have turned down money that came with strings attached to compromise our ethics.

Bootstrap does not mean small.
We started at my kitchen table with a laptop and a dream. Today, we work with wonderful companies like Labcorp, Caterpillar, Benesch, Gilead, and Kite Pharma. We have built military-centric TA and HR strategies from scratch, created compliance frameworks, and been invited into high-stakes rooms where trust matters more than titles. None of it was handed to us. We earned it.

The Biggest Surprise

I came into this with skills and values from the Marine Corps, a dirt-poor upbringing, and years of fighting for veterans. That got me started, but it was not enough to keep going.

I had to grow in ways I never imagined.

Some days, I am on a call with a Fortune 50 legal team, walking through an OFCCP audit. On other days, I am fixing a SkillBridge workflow at midnight so a candidate does not slip through the cracks. I have learned sales, marketing, project management, public speaking, hiring strategy, accounting, graphic design, and compliance law because when you are building something that matters, you do whatever the mission requires.

I have become a better husband, father, leader, and advocate. And this time, I get to choose who I work with. By veterans. For veterans. With veterans.

Year Five Commitments

We are not here to survive. We are here to win.

• Partner only with the right employers. Dozens of hand-selected companies ready to move beyond optics and become truly military effective.

• Set the standard for military effectiveness through V.I.S.I.O.N., BufferSprings Academy, and building relevant pipelines that deliver measurable results.

• Flip the narrative from pity and patriotism to progress and power. For our people and for the companies smart enough to invest in us.

• Expand and sharpen our offerings. Build systems that last, scale, and fuel the ecosystem.

• Tell the truth, always. Even when it costs us.

If we fall short, veterans will keep cycling through broken systems. I am not letting that happen.

If You Are Still Reading

If you are a veteran entrepreneur wondering if it is worth the risk, go anyway.

If you are a corporate leader tired of veteran hiring theater, call us.

If you want to leave this space better than you found it, stand with us.

I was born and raised with nothing. Now I get to wake up every day, building something worthy of the struggle it took to get here. And we are just getting started.

We are by veterans, for veterans, and with veterans. Always.

If you are ready to stop pretending and start producing, reach out. The work is happening with or without you, but it will be better with you.

See you in year five.