.png)
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
Breaking Borders: How Smart EdTech Founders Build Scalable Companies Without Losing Local Trust
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
If you’re trying to grow your education business beyond where you started—this episode is for you.
Because whether you’re moving from one country to another, or just one state to the next…
The real challenge isn’t translation.
It’s trust.
In this episode of Breaking the Grade, I sit down with Denise Abulafia—EdTech founder, Penn GSE professor, and the visionary behind Educatina, a platform that scaled to over 6 million students in Latin America and earned traction across vastly different regions.
But here’s what stood out:
She didn’t just grow into new markets—she built credibility at the ground level.
And that credibility? It unlocked consistent inbound leads and sales-ready conversations—before she ever pitched.
We dig into the soft skills that matter more than any pitch deck:
Understanding cultural context.
Listening before selling.
And building the kind of partnerships that open doors and fill your pipeline.
🎯 In this episode, you’ll learn:
✅ Why early traction often stalls when you move into new regions (even nearby)
✅ How Denise landed high-trust partnerships before she had a product
✅ What she did on vacation that turned into a closed deal
✅ The credibility play that beats credentials every time
✅ Why being underestimated can become your strongest edge
✅ How trust-first founders generate more qualified leads, faster
This is for you if:
📍 You’re growing into a new town, city, state, region, or country
📍 You’re hitting friction with a proven product
📍 You want your next move to be smarter—not just bigger
📤 Then share this with one education founder who’s scaling into new territory—and needs a lead generation strategy rooted in trust.
#EdTech #EdSales #LeadGeneration #EducationLeadership #BreakingTheGrade #GlobalEdTech #FounderLessons
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
Join the Edsales Entourage
Get closer to the conversations, strategies, and operators inside the ecosystem:
👉 https://www.skool.com/entourage
About Edsales Edge
Edsales Edge is the playbook for founders selling into education —
real strategies, real conversations, and what actually moves deals forward in institutional markets.
