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I was losing deals because I was spending the whole time during presentations talking about features. Adaptive remediation.  Real-time data-driven decisions.  Integration capabilities. And the list goes on…. District administrators would stop me mid-presentation and say things like:  "I have 200 third graders who can't read at grade level. How does this help them?" Honestly, my answer was clunky and awkward. Truthfully, I didn't have a good answer. Not because our product cou

I lost a district deal because my pitch deck was too smart. The superintendent stopped me halfway through my presentation and asked a question that should have been easy to answer: "I see you're aligned with RTI, MTSS, PBIS, and ESSA. That's great. But what do you actually do?" I had spent weeks making sure every acronym was covered. Every compliance requirement checked. Every federal program is referenced. I thought I was demonstrating expertise and credibility. What I was a

The EdTech graveyard is full of companies that innovated themselves to death. Not because their technology failed. Not because their ideas were bad. But because they changed direction, which changed their value proposition. I've seen it happen over and over. Founders with solid products—chasing trends, rebranding during funding cycles, and pivoting before districts can implement. And eventually, they disappear. The pattern is predictable. The lesson is hard to learn. The Supe

The Question That Changed How I Listen — and How I Sell For most of my career, I thought I was a good listener. I'd show up to every...

In today’s crowded EdTech market, being “good” isn’t enough. Founders often pour their hearts into building tools they know can change...

Lessons Learned from 40 Years of Selling EdTech into Districts The Mistake I Made Early in My Career When I first started selling EdTech...