We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andrew Edreff. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andrew below.
Andrew, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
Honestly? 100% happier as a business owner — no question. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t moments where I catch myself thinking about what a “normal” life might look like.
The most recent time I had that thought was a Wednesday evening not too long ago. My wife and I had plans – some actual quality time together. And right as I’m mentally checked out for the day, my phone buzzes. Then again. A buyer overseas — completely different time zone — needs answers on a deal, and in this industry, hesitation costs you. So there I am, half-present at the dinner table, one hand on my fork and one eye on my emails, trying to be a husband and a businessman at the same time and not doing either one particularly well.
That’s the moment I thought: “what would it actually feel like to clock out at 4pm and not hear from anyone until the morning?”
The global nature of what I do means the market never sleeps. Buyers in Europe, Asia, the Middle East — they don’t care that it’s 10pm my time or that I’m at a family gathering. And I’ve accepted that. I chose this life. But in those specific moments — when the people I love most are right in front of me and I’m only half there — that’s when the idea of a “regular job” sounds genuinely appealing.
That said, when I really think it through, I always come back to the same conclusion: the freedom, the upside, the ownership of my own destiny — I’d never trade it. I just have to keep getting better at protecting my time and being fully present when it counts.
Andrew, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Andrew Edreff, and my story starts at 16 years old working at a small computer repair shop called Computer Exchange in Lorain, Ohio. I was always fascinated with IT equipment, and that curiosity led to a job offer at a local wholesale company called Monitor Man in Elyria. I actually hesitated on that offer, and the position went to someone else. That was my first real life lesson — move fast or miss the opportunity. I reached back out, took the job at a lower rate, and never looked back.
I worked my way up from technician to warehouse manager at Monitor Man, and when the owner unexpectedly passed away and the company closed, I took everything I had learned and launched Edreff Holdings in 2015. Since then, I’ve purchased and sold over 500,000 desktops, laptops, and servers to customers across the globe — China, Dubai, Egypt, Canada, and beyond. No college degree. Just nose-down, hard work, and surrounding myself with the right people.
Through Edreff Holdings, I also began consulting for MPL Solutions — a full-service ITAD company in Connecticut — helping to buy and sell used IT equipment from Fortune 500 companies, ITADs, and R2 recyclers. Together, we can handle full data center takeouts across the US. In 2025, MPL Solutions was recognized at the ITAD Summit and awarded Most Outstanding Wholesale IT Asset Purchaser — something I’m incredibly proud of. It’s a reflection of the reputation and relationships we’ve built over many years in this industry, and a reminder that the hard work and the right partnerships truly do pay off.
What sets me apart? Speed and pricing knowledge. Everyone has a number in their head — understanding people well enough to work toward that number efficiently is what closes deals. That’s my edge. But honestly, just as important is the fact that I’m a normal person who genuinely cares about the people I do business with. In an industry that can feel transactional and impersonal, I take pride in building real relationships. I’m not just trying to close a deal — I want the person on the other end to feel good about doing business with me, come back, and know that I have their best interest in mind just as much as my own.
For a period of time I also co-owned Smash Pizza Kitchen in North Ridgeville, Ohio alongside my partner Jenso Soto. It started with helping a friend run a food truck and grew into a brick-and-mortar location I’m still proud of. I recently sold my partnership stake back to Jenso so he could continue building what we started together. That chapter taught me a lot about a completely different industry — labor, logistics, margins, and serving the general public — lessons that have made me a sharper businessman overall. But my passion has always been in IT, and today I’m fully focused on growing Edreff Holdings and MPL Solutions.
None of this happened alone. Matthew Laukaitis at MPL Solutions helped me avoid the costly pitfalls of this industry. Jenso Soto taught me the inner workings of the food business and what it really takes to serve a community. My parents instilled a work ethic in me early — my dad once told me never to turn down overtime because you never know when it won’t be offered again. That stuck with me. And my wife Olivia has been my number one supporter through every good deal and every bad one — she reminds me to learn from the losses and keep going.
The entrepreneurial spirit never turns off for me. I’m always looking for the next opportunity. That’s just who I am.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Reputation in this business isn’t something you build overnight — it’s built transaction by transaction, relationship by relationship, over many years. Looking back, a few things stand out as the foundation of mine.
The first is speed. In the secondary IT market, deals move fast. Equipment that’s available today may be gone tomorrow, and pricing can shift just as quickly. Early on I learned that being the first to respond, the first to commit, and the first to execute separates you from everyone else. People remember who shows up when it counts and who drags their feet. I’ve always chosen to be the former.
The second is pricing knowledge. When you truly understand the market — what equipment is worth, where values are headed, and what a fair deal looks like for both sides — people trust you. Buyers and sellers alike want to work with someone who knows their stuff, not someone guessing. I invested years into developing that knowledge and it has paid dividends in credibility.
The third, and maybe most important, is just being a straight shooter. I genuinely care about the people I do business with. I’m not trying to squeeze every last dollar out of a deal at someone else’s expense. When people feel like you’re being honest with them and looking out for their interests as much as your own, they come back. And they send others your way. Word of mouth in this industry is everything.
At the end of the day, reputation is just the sum of how you treat people consistently over time. I’ve tried to make sure mine reflects someone worth doing business with.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Honestly, the most effective strategy has been something that can’t really be taught — just showing up and delivering, every single time. When you do right by people consistently, the business follows naturally.
But if I had to break it down into what has actually moved the needle for me, it starts with relationships over transactions. Early in my career I could have approached every deal purely as a numbers game — buy low, sell high, move on. Instead I focused on making sure the person on the other side of every deal felt good about working with me. That mindset turned one-time transactions into long-term clients. . A significant portion of my business has come from people who came back because of how a previous deal was handled.
