K-12 EdTech Connection
Buying and Selling EdTech in Schools
How EdTech Gets Sold and Bought in K-12
A K-12 edtech marketer and a school district technology director talk through how buying decisions really get made, from the first touch to what happens after the pilot.
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What is the K-12 EdTech Connection about?
K-12 EdTech Connection is a conversation between someone who sells edtech and someone who buys it for a district. Each episode takes a real question from the K-12 sales cycle, working a conference, reaching a buying committee, keeping a product in classrooms after the pilot, and works through it from both sides: Peter explains what he'd do as the vendor, and John says what would and wouldn't land with him as the buyer.
You come away with a clearer read on how district decisions get made, whether you're selling into schools or sitting on the buying side yourself.
Peter Polygalov
Vendor Perspective
Founder of EdWave Marketing. Pipeline, positioning, conferences, and what moves a district deal forward.
John Faig
Buyer Perspective
Director of Technology, St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School (Washington, DC). How purchasing decisions get made and what earns a meeting.
K-12 EdTech Connection Podcast Episodes
Joseph Dalton-Stark, principal of a Cupertino microschool, on how a 30-student school actually buys edtech: no long lock-ins, no pilots, and price sanity.
David Platt of Compton Unified on why one-and-done STEAM tools fizzle, the use-modify-create model, and what makes an edtech product keep earning renewals.
A public and a private K-12 tech director compare how each buys edtech: approval chains, budget cycles, pilots, and what gets a vendor in the door.
Ryan Patenaude on scaling FEV Tutor from $0 to $50M with no funding: selling results over features, paid pilots, an evolving ICP, and pricing as an experiment.
Why K-12 buyers go dark after a demo and what to do: follow-up that earns a reply, the permission-to-close email, and moving prospects into nurture.
How to reach the full K-12 buying committee: which channels land with tech directors, curriculum leaders, and teacher champions, plus the signals to track.
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Answer Engine Optimization, content depth, and lead magnets that convert K-12 buyers, plus progressive profiling and how long inbound really takes.
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Why most edtech websites don't convert: the curse of knowledge, leading with the buyer's problem, and telling qualified traffic from vanity metrics.
A go-to-market planning framework for K-12 edtech teams: stage-based metrics, a six-question ICP check, channel strategy, and pricing experiments for 2026.
How K-12 edtech vendors get real ROI from conferences: which events to pick, how to qualify leads fast, and why prep and follow-up decide the outcome.
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Whether you’re launching a new product, rebuilding your website, or trying to break through in a crowded K12 market, EdWave Marketing is ready to help.
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