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EdSales Edge Show
EdSales Edge is the strategy podcast for education founders, consultants, operators, and leaders selling into education.
For years, this show was known as Breaking the Grade, a space to challenge the status quo in education and think differently about how change actually happens. That mission hasn’t changed.
But the work has.
Over time, one thing became clear:
Education founders don’t just need inspiration.
They need clarity.
They need real strategies for selling into schools.
They need predictable ways to generate leads.
And they need to understand how trust is built in a system that doesn’t move fast, and doesn’t give many second chances.
EdSales Edge was rebuilt to match that reality.
Hosted by Josh Chernikoff, a two-time education founder who’s built and exited companies in this space, the show breaks down how selling into education actually works—across B2C, B2B, B2B2C, and B2E—always through the lens of how education institutions really make decisions.
This is not a show about hacks, shortcuts, or quick wins.
Education doesn’t work that way.
On EdSales Edge, you’ll hear:
- Real strategy for selling into education systems
- Conversations with education decision-makers who explain how buying actually happens from the inside
- Stories from founders, CEOs, and operators who’ve built real traction selling into schools—what worked, what didn’t, and what actually moved deals forward
- Teachings from the EdSales Elevation Experience, the system used to help education founders move from unclear and invisible to trusted and in demand
You’ll learn how to:
- Define your Perfect Client
- Pull the right credibility lever
- Move from being hidden… to trusted… to building a real lead engine
Josh is joined by his good friend and mentor, John Gamba—Director of Innovative Programs and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Penn GSE, and a former education founder who’s led companies through real growth and successful exits. John brings the institutional lens, shaped by years inside districts, universities, and education systems, seeing how decisions get made when the doors are closed and what earns trust over time.
Together, they sit on both sides of the table, the builder side and the system side, so the show stays grounded in reality, not sales theory.
If you sell into education and you’re tired of guessing,
guessing who to talk to,
guessing how decisions get made,
guessing why interest doesn’t convert—
this show is built for you.
EdSales Edge
Clarity. Credibility. Real traction.
If you sell into education, this is where you earn your edge.
EdSales Edge Show
The Speaking Strategy: How Education Founders Fast-Track Credibility, Confidence, and Sales Momentum
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
LinkedIn builds your credibility — Speaking amplifies it.
In this episode of Breaking the Grade, I’m sharing how I went from avoiding stages entirely to speaking at in the last 13 months at Penn GSE, the University of Chicago, SXSW EDU, DC Startup Week, Education Research and Development Institute, XEdu, Institute for the Future of Education in Mexico, EdTech Institute of Chicago, and more. Not because I had the biggest platform—because I had the right message.
Here’s the truth: I wasn’t afraid of the mic or the big audiences.
I was afraid of what it would reveal.
❌ No clear positioning
❌ No resonant offer
❌ No confidence in my message
And that fear slowed everything down.
What changed?
I stopped treating speaking as an “extra”—and started using it as a strategic amplifier for the traction I was already building on LinkedIn.
Because when your message is working, a mic doesn’t just elevate it—it accelerates everything.
🧠 In this episode, you’ll learn:
- How to layer speaking engagements on top of your LinkedIn efforts to 10x visibility for your education business.
- The mental shift that helped me go from “just a content creator” to a sought-after speaker in education
- My step-by-step playbook: what to do before, during, and after the mic to drive real revenue
- Why small stages often drive faster conversions than big ones—and how to land the right rooms
- The secret to writing a pitch event organizers can’t ignore
- What happens when your message earns not just applause—but repeat invites and sales
This isn’t about getting famous.
It’s about getting results that compound—and credibility that converts.
📤 Then share this with one education founder who’s ready to use their voice—and own their space.
#EdSales #LeadGeneration #EdTech #BreakingTheGrade #SpeakingStrategy
Connect with Josh Chernikoff
Founder, Edsales Elevation Experience
Host, Edsales Edge Show
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff/
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshua.chernikoff
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuadcdc/
📩 Email: Jc@joshchernikoff.com
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