A lot of education founders wear independence like a badge of honor.

Figure it out yourself. Push through. Keep going.

Until one day you're carrying every decision, every problem, and every hard conversation by yourself.

That's usually when growth starts feeling heavier than it should.

In this episode, Josh Chernikoff, founder of the EdSales Revenue Machine and John Gamba, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Penn GSE talk about something most education founders underestimate: the impact of having the right people around you.

Not a bigger network.

Not another Slack group you'll never open.

Real relationships with people who can challenge your thinking, share what they've learned, and help you see around corners.

Drawing from their own experiences building companies, founder communities, and entrepreneurial programs, Josh and John explore why so many founders in the education space try to build alone—and what changes when they stop.

One of the most powerful ideas in this conversation comes from Theo of Golden, the bestselling novel by Allen Levi—what he calls a murmuration.

A flock of birds moving together as one.

No single leader. No one carrying the weight alone.

Just shared direction, shared motion, shared awareness.

It’s a simple image—but it reframes everything about how founders think about growth.

Because most people are still trying to be the one bird doing everything alone.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Building a business is already heavy.

But doing it alone changes the weight completely.

It slows your thinking, limits your perspective, and makes every decision feel bigger than it should.

Most education founders don’t need more effort.

They need better proximity—to people who’ve already seen what they’re trying to figure out.

That’s what community actually solves.

KEY STRATEGIES & MENTAL MODELS

1️⃣ Community Is a Growth Asset

Strong communities create faster learning, better feedback, and stronger execution.

2️⃣ Stop Being the Bottleneck

Whether you're building an EdTech product or leading education sales, growth gets harder when every answer depends on you.

3️⃣ Borrow Expertise

You don't need every skill. You need access to people who bring different perspectives.

4️⃣ Vulnerability Builds Trust

The most valuable founder conversations usually start with honesty, not expertise.

5️⃣ Momentum Is Collective

Growth compounds faster when people move together than when everyone moves alone.

🎯 WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR

• Education founders carrying too much themselves
• EdTech leaders building in isolation
• Education sales teams stuck in growth plateaus
• Operators seeking stronger accountability.

🚀 NEXT STEP

Ask yourself:

Where are you trying to grow alone when the right community could help you move faster?

Community isn't a support system.

It's infrastructure.

Text "COMMUNITY" to 771-333-4233.

🔁 SUBSCRIBE & SHARE

Follow EdSales Edge and share this with a founder in the education industry who feels like they have to carry everything alone...

...because growth gets easier when you stop building by yourself.

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: [email protected]

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