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 Headline Mistake: How eight words on LinkedIn unlocked a $100k repeatable pipeline.
Most education founders think their LinkedIn headline is just a formality.
A place to drop their title. List their company. Maybe add “passionate about education.”
But here’s what they’re missing: your headline is where credibility begins. Where confidence starts. Where clarity is born.
And when you nail those three? Everything else follows. Your LinkedIn sharpens. Your offer becomes clear. Your messaging finally lands with the buyers you’ve been chasing.
But getting your headline right? That’s the hard part.
It seems simple, just 220 characters, right? But distilling your value into one clear line takes a level of clarity most founders haven’t reached. It’s some of the toughest positioning work you’ll ever do.
That’s exactly why it matters.
Because if you can’t clearly say who you serve and what you deliver in one line, how will you do it in your offers, your sales calls, or your content?
Your headline isn’t your job title. It’s the foundation of everything else.
And right now, if yours reads like a résumé, “CEO of…” “Passionate about education…”, you’re not just losing clicks. You’re losing trust before anyone reads your profile. You’re leaving money on the table with every scroll.
Josh breaks down exactly how founders inside the EdSales Elevation Experience turned vague, invisible headlines into $100K+ in new contracts, not by posting more, but by getting brutally clear on positioning.
From Edwin Blanton, Ph.D at University of Texas San Antonio to Paul King in NYC, he breaks down the exact framework these founders used to go from vague and forgettable to scroll-stopping and lead-generating.
This isn't copywriting magic. It's clarity work. And it's the beginning of your credibility, your confidence, and your ability to communicate your value with precision.
🔑 5 Big Takeaways for Education Founders
1️⃣ Your Headline Is Where Credibility Begins
Before anyone reads your content or takes a call, they read your headline. If it's vague or generic, you've already lost them. This is where trust starts, or dies.
2️⃣ Clarity Here = Clarity Everywhere
When you can nail your headline, something shifts. Your offers get sharper. Your messaging lands harder. Your confidence grows. It all starts with 8 words.
3️⃣ This Is Hard Work (And That's Why It Matters)
Don't let the simplicity fool you. Condensing your value into one clear line is some of the toughest positioning work you'll do and most founders skip it entirely.
4️⃣ The 3E Framework: Credibility, Confidence, Clarity
Josh walks through the exact framework that turns invisible headlines into pipeline-generators. Every word has a job. Every word matters.
5️⃣ One Line Can Transform Your Entire Business
Founders like Edwin Blanton and Paul King didn't just change their headline. They changed their positioning, their pipeline, and their revenue – $100K+ in new contracts from getting this one thing right.
Your headline is either building your credibility or killing it.
It's either giving you confidence in your positioning or leaving you guessing.
It's either creating clarity in your business or keeping you stuck in vagueness.
Make it the line that stops the scroll, builds trust instantly, and starts the conversations that turn into contracts.
📩 DM me "Headline" and I'll send you the exact framework we use inside the EdSales Elevation Experience to turn clarity into contracts.
