How Jeff Patterson Built Gaggle to Help Students in Crisis
Jeff Patterson shared the inspiring backstory of founding Gaggle, an EdTech company focused on student safety. Driven by a sense of mission and a passion for problem-solving, Jeff created Gaggle as a tool to identify students in crisis, including those grappling with bullying, self-harm, or suicide ideation. He recounted the early startup struggles—like going four years without a proper salary—and emphasized the tangible impact, such as saving a student’s life by alerting school staff just in time. While the stories are often sobering, the positive outcomes show the real-world importance of Gaggle’s work.
The Power and Community Impact of Weekly EdTech Job Postings on LinkedIn
Best known in higher ed circles for his weekly job postings on LinkedIn, Jeff has become a fixture in the education jobs ecosystem. What began during the pandemic as a way to help people find work quickly grew into a valued resource; his job roundups now approach 400 posts. Jeff’s philosophy is simple: help others get what they want, and good things will come back in return. He’s seen first-hand how the posts help connect people to opportunities, offering hope in a turbulent job market. Jeff’s online presence has even led to some entertaining run-ins at conferences—and to a competitive challenge with his own daughter over follower counts!
Smart Strategies for Transitioning from Higher Ed Institutions to EdTech Roles
For higher ed professionals seeking to break into EdTech, Jeff recommends arming yourself with working knowledge of tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Google Analytics. He encourages building visibility on LinkedIn, not just with traditional resumes, and suggests reading up on both classic and contemporary marketing and sales strategies. Jeff also advocates for considering roles outside your current specialty—like sales or customer success—where relationship-building skills honed in higher ed can shine. Both Jeff and host Shiro highlight that skills are highly transferable, and learning never stops in the fast-evolving EdTech landscape.
Leveraging Personal Branding and Creative Engagement in the EdTech World
Jeff’s attention-grabbing AI-generated images on his job posts serve a purpose: to help people “slow the scroll” and engage with opportunities. He strikes a balance between promoting his company and serving the broader community, proving that genuine help and a dash of creativity go a long way on LinkedIn and beyond.
Read the transcription (coming soon)
Shiro [00:00:16]:
Alright. Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Higher Ed Demand Gen podcast hosted by Concept three d. If you like our content, please follow and subscribe to us. As always, I’m Shiro Torre, your host, and I’m very excited today to talk about or talk with the master poster on EdTech and education jobs. And for that, I’m very thrilled to speak with Jeff Patterson. He is the founder and CEO at Gaggle, but I think higher ed, especially higher ed, knows him best by his weekly job postings on LinkedIn, which will have hit 400 posts by now. Welcome to the show, Jeff.
Jeff Patterson [00:00:57]:
Hey. Thanks, Shiro. Thanks for inviting me on your podcast.
Shiro [00:01:01]:
Awesome. And I asked all my guests this, Jeff. Tell us what you love about education tech.
Jeff Patterson [00:01:06]:
So first of all, we’re all united by a sense of mission and purpose. Right? That’s serving the students. Right? Whether that’s their education, their mental health and well-being, whatever it is, we we’re all mission driven. This is not the job we’re gonna make the most money. We kind of all know that. But I like being combined with a mission, and then people stay in the education space for their entire career. So the friends that you make, the relationships you build, they’re meaningful and they last. And I’ve seen that.
Jeff Patterson [00:01:37]:
I’ve had thirty year friendships. What other industry do you have that with?
Shiro [00:01:45]:
I like that example. I think if you go to any conferences in higher ed and education, you’ll see that immediately that, like, it’s it’s, during the the hours between sessions, it’s like you get to see old friends. Right? And so that camaraderie is, like, something I don’t see. Like, let’s let’s say if you went to adjust a technology conference. Right? It’s a totally different feeling. But
Jeff Patterson [00:02:09]:
Sure. It helps to have a durable liver because the after hours in education is very important.
Shiro [00:02:17]:
That’s great as well, Jeff. I like that. Awesome. But I will say just one thing. I did recently run a higher ed marketing salary report. And although, like you said, it’s probably not where you’re gonna make the most money, like, let’s say if you’re a founder, but, we did find that it’s actually pretty competitive to work in higher ed at certain points of your career path. So I was actually delighted to to see and discover that. Anyways, moving on.
Shiro [00:02:45]:
I’ll I’ll throw things back at you, Jeff. Tell us a little bit more about your background and gaggle.
Jeff Patterson [00:02:51]:
So I I was just born an entrepreneur. I’m unemployable. Right? No one would really hire me and keep me on, and so I’ve had to start businesses, and I’ve been doing that my whole life. Started Gaggle about twenty five years ago. I was a young naive kid, trying to raise venture capital. No one would trust me. So So I just started building the company anyway. Today, we’re about a 60 employees.
Jeff Patterson [00:03:13]:
What Gaggle does is we’re an early warning system to detect students in crisis. So we’re identifying kids being bullied, kids that are planning self harm, fighting, lots of depression and anxiety, lots and lots of suicide ideation, and and many, many other disturbing things.
Shiro [00:03:33]:
That’s amazing. But what point did you know that things were really taking off? I’m sure there’s a lot of bumps along the road.
Jeff Patterson [00:03:42]:
I’m still waiting, Shiro. I’m still waiting right now. I think it was probably about four years in when I was able to finally pay myself a small salary when we found a revenue source. Right? We found not just giving away the product, but basically found what we could charge for. And, of course, we’ve had to pivot along the way, but it was probably about four years in where I’m like, oh, this is really a viable business.
Shiro [00:04:07]:
That’s great to hear. And, just can you tell us a little bit about, maybe some stories, like your your best stories of how you’ve been able to help your customer pace, I guess. And I don’t know what you call it your user base.
Jeff Patterson [00:04:22]:
Yeah. So my stories are not pleasant stories, but they end as well as they can. And here’s a a very good example. So one morning, a high school girl in Wisconsin logged into a school provided email account. She sent an email to her friend that said, if you get this message, this is goodbye. Said you should go on living. I just can’t. I’ll look down on you from heaven, and I’ll strike down all your bad boyfriends.
Jeff Patterson [00:04:47]:
So what we’d usually sit behind the school’s technology, their email, their Google Docs, what have you, LMS. Our technology brings that in and highlights things that are concerning, and then we have a human safety team reviewing that twenty four hours a day. Our safety person saw this, and they immediately called the school. Because it was the morning the school called home, they didn’t they didn’t know where the girl was, but they also sent someone out into the building. And when that person went into the girl’s bathroom, they found her hanging in the bathroom. They saved her. We’re told had it been just two minutes later, she would have died. We made over 22,000 emergency phone calls last year.
Jeff Patterson [00:05:27]:
About 1,100 of them are just like that. We call them alive saved. That’s what we do.
Shiro [00:05:35]:
I’m I’m I just got goosebumps. That’s that’s incredible. I don’t know how to just respond in these types of situations, but that’s an incredible story. And, if that happens 1,100 times a year, that is just phenomenal. I mean, this
Jeff Patterson [00:05:49]:
But it’s frightening. I’m glad to do it, but it it’s awful too.
Shiro [00:05:53]:
Yeah. It’s tough work, but I’d appreciate you building something like that. Well, it’s I I I didn’t immediately feel see the connection between Gaggle and what I first found out about you and your your job postings on LinkedIn. I know that you’ve been posting these job postings on LinkedIn about education jobs, both in technology and internally on the education side for a few year years now. You’re about to hit 400 by the time this episode’s posted. Can you tell us a little bit more about those LinkedIn posts?
Jeff Patterson [00:06:29]:
Sure. So let’s start with a little bit of philosophy. And I I’m it’s somebody else’s idea, but the more we help other people get what they want, the more we’re gonna get what we want in return. And so I really do believe in sort of paying it forward, if you will. Before the pandemic, I would occasionally post about friends, people I knew in the industry that were looking for a job, maybe a job here and there, trying to just help people. When the pandemic hit in March, there was just palpable fear. People were getting laid off without severance. Everyone was afraid of are they gonna catch a disease and die? There’s just terrible fear.
Jeff Patterson [00:07:04]:
And I thought, you know, we need something positive. And so I knew my company had a couple open positions. I knew a few other companies that had open positions. And so I just posted those open jobs, and people respond to that. And then about two weeks later, I I had some more jobs. So I posted again. And now, Shira, I just can’t get off the train. Right? Even if I wanted to, it’s like people are really looking forward to them, expecting them.
Jeff Patterson [00:07:31]:
I know what kind of a difference it’s making in people’s lives. I I know I’ve helped companies find great employees. I’ve helped employees people find jobs they didn’t know about. And for sometimes, even if you don’t find a job, it’s just it’s good to see what’s out there and have that hope and not feel alone.
Shiro [00:07:48]:
Yes. Absolutely. I know, recently, a few of my LinkedIn connections had actually been laid off, and so I pointed it over to your post. And, half of them already actually knew about it, and they’re like, that’s so funny you mentioned this because just literally an hour ago, I was looking at this post. So I think you’ve created an incredible valuable asset for the community. I appreciate you keeping it going. Have there been, like, any cool stories from all the posts that you’ve made over the last four years?
Jeff Patterson [00:08:18]:
Alright. So here’s, one one funny story was I I my teenage daughter said to me, well, dad, until you have a hundred thousand connections, your your your followers, you’re nobody. And so I said, alright. Game on, girl. And so I I did did get to over a hundred thousand. And then, of course, she changed the the standard. Right? It wasn’t enough. That was cool.
Jeff Patterson [00:08:38]:
And then sometimes I will go to a conference. I was at an HR conference for corporate, and this woman I’m talking to somebody to reach. She says, wait a minute. I know you. I know you. I know you from LinkedIn. And so that’s really kinda neat to see when people recognize me and can talk about how I’ve helped them, and that makes me feel good inside.
Shiro [00:08:59]:
Gotcha. And, I mean, that’s hundred thousand followers is is no joke. I think I have maybe 5,000 connections. And so you’re I think that’s, like, the bar for becoming a an a legit influencer on LinkedIn is a hundred thousand. I know it’s much higher on Instagram and other socials, but that’s that’s quite a bit.
Jeff Patterson [00:09:18]:
I I’m I’m about a 45,000 connect or followers. You can only have 30,000 connections. And so now I have to turn people away all the time and, you know, call the list.
Shiro [00:09:29]:
Got it. I haven’t gotten to that bar yet. I didn’t even know that. That’s that’s great. Have you ever thought about using your account for other things other than EdTech jobs? Just just curious.
Jeff Patterson [00:09:41]:
So once in a while, I will post, I’ll call it one of my rants. Right, some of my crazy opinions, and those actually get a lot of feedback. So, like, I’m a I’m an anti private equity guy, and so I’ve actually talked about private equity and how it actually works. Right? So for people who are trying to get a job and think, I’m getting all these stock options. Yeah. It’s not gonna work out quite the way you think. So I’ve ranted about that. I had a rant early on around, I hate resumes.
Jeff Patterson [00:10:13]:
So I don’t look at resumes. I only look at LinkedIn profiles. And so sometimes I’ll I’ll post about those, those, crazy thoughts in my head.
Shiro [00:10:25]:
What do you think about higher ed employers or EdTech employers? Do you think they are looking at LinkedIn more than resumes? What’s your hot take here?
Jeff Patterson [00:10:36]:
Well, are we talking about HR? Are we talking about the actual hiring manager?
Shiro [00:10:41]:
Hiring. I I would say hiring manager right now. Yep.
Jeff Patterson [00:10:44]:
Alright. So I believe the smart hiring managers are going not looking at the resumes. They’re looking at LinkedIn. And the reason why is because on a resume, it’s exaggeration. Right? Sometimes it’s false claims. It’s wordy. Right? What I like about LinkedIn is it’s public. And so you had to be kind of more honest on LinkedIn because your ex coworkers can see your profile.
Jeff Patterson [00:11:10]:
And it’s usually more succinct. I can click on a company in your profile, and I can see who else I know with that company. So I just find a lot more value. It’s easier to sort of digest, so I prefer LinkedIn.
Shiro [00:11:23]:
Gotcha. Yep. And I’d imagine, like, at larger companies, I’ve only worked at small ones. So, but at larger companies, maybe some of that vetting is done at the HR level first before they bring in, like, let’s say, like, a hundred resumes, and then they’ll maybe pick five resumes. And then the hire it’ll be forwarded to the hiring managers. Right? And so it’s probably good to to build out both.
Jeff Patterson [00:11:46]:
Oh, wait. Look. You have to have a resume. Right? You should make sure it’s just passes the applicant tracking system. Right? And and she should all know what the ATS is. It’s it’s designed to eliminate you from the candidate pool. And part of it’s there’s a book I should tell you about. It’s called the two hour job search.
Jeff Patterson [00:12:03]:
I highly recommend this book. In this two hour that the author writes in this, so it’s become so easy to apply for a job. It’s become impossible to hire for a job. If we post a job, we’ll get hundreds and hundreds of resumes. Most are from unqualified people. And so that is not the way to get a job in most cases.
Shiro [00:12:26]:
Yep. I I like this topic because I mentioned the higher, ed marketing salary survey we recently published. So, like, talking about career paths and, salaries in higher ed is very top of mind for me. Let’s say someone sees your post, right, and says they’ve looked through your post. You have been breaking you have been nicely broken down by job type. Right? Developer marketing. Let’s say, like, I I find a job that I like. Instead of just going to the post and just maybe doing a LinkedIn quick apply, what are some things that I should be doing to help secure that? Just going off your comment that it’s been it’s gotten a lot harder to hire now and easier to apply.
Jeff Patterson [00:13:08]:
So often, I will post a link to the person who originally shared the job to me or posted on LinkedIn. So I think it’s a good idea to reach out to that person with a very short note. Right? Don’t send them your resume. Send them a short note just expressing that you’re interested in one or two sentences about why it might be a good fit and that you want to just know more.
Shiro [00:13:33]:
There you go. I like that you post the actual poster too. That’s huge. In in the topic of talking about the job market, I know, these are kind of some rough times. Right? Very, very it’s a roller coaster ride right now in the economy, in higher ed specifically, with different changes in in the new presidential, campaigns. And so what do you think is, like, the current state of higher ed institutional work versus higher ed job market? I know we talked a little bit about, like, stability of either one. Do you think one leans towards the other?
Jeff Patterson [00:14:13]:
So, again, general, I think higher ed at the institutions are more stable. Right? Now we’re coming in a period where they’re probably gonna be budget challenged and they may have to cut staff. Hopefully, mostly it’s done through attrition. Right? But I I’m expecting some hard times over the next two years. And that was regardless that wasn’t dependent upon what’s going on at the federal level. It was just, I think, part of the demographics and budget cycles. Knowing that, some people are tempted like, let me look at go work at a company in marketing or in one of the other many roles. I think it’s just keep in mind that those companies are dependent upon the sales cycle and the budgets at the institution.
Jeff Patterson [00:14:59]:
So if the institutions are struggling, the companies are gonna struggle, and the companies will move much faster to let people go.
Shiro [00:15:08]:
Yep. Definitely. I couldn’t agree more. So I think I think the grass is always greener. Right? And so I I like this conversation because I think a lot of people are considering or are thinking about this right now in turbulent times. I think it goes both ways, probably more so out of higher ed than in, but, it’s definitely something to think about in terms of stability of the market and how tech is probably going to move faster, which means if things are bad, they’re gonna they’re gonna downsize their teams faster.
Jeff Patterson [00:15:41]:
Yeah. There’s there’s still look. It it’s it’s great at the company level. So, look, all my employees are remote. They work from home. That that is very appealing to someone who’s stuck in an office.
Shiro [00:15:52]:
Mhmm.
Jeff Patterson [00:15:54]:
Right? And there’s less bureaucracy in a company. Right? There just is. And so there are definite benefits. Right? And there’s exposure to more things, more tools. But, you know, it’s like everything. There’s trade offs.
Shiro [00:16:09]:
Absolutely. In terms of let’s say I see one of your posts. I work in higher ed institutionally. Right? I mean, I’m a social media manager. You know? And, like, you know what? I do wanna see what the market is like outside of higher education, but I’m interested in working with higher ed. So so let’s say, I’m thinking about getting into Ned tech job in marketing. What are some tools, programs, or things that I can, educate myself on to help me help set myself up for success?
Jeff Patterson [00:16:45]:
Yeah. So on the corporate side, the tools that predominantly are being used, the first one is Salesforce, and Salesforce has great free online training programs. It’s called Trailhead. You can enroll and take those courses. Same if you’re in sales. You if you wanna go to sales, you should understand Salesforce. The other big tool that’s used a lot is HubSpot. Right? There’s some overlap between the two, but HubSpot is a major marketing tool that that we use and most companies do.
Jeff Patterson [00:17:13]:
Obviously, there’s Mailchimp. So those are some of the products that I think if you had some skills around, that would certainly help. And then I think it makes sense to go read the marketing blogs, read some marketing books. I I just read Reese and Trout’s positioning book from the, like, the seventies, and it’s still very valuable today. There’s lots of good books out there you can read on on marketing, and it’s an evolving field. Right? So what worked two years ago isn’t working now. So I think, you know, putting yourself out there by being a learner is how you succeed in getting the job and growing in the job.
Shiro [00:17:53]:
Absolutely. If I could add my 2¢ working in EdTech myself, Google Analytics, fundamentals courses were are helpful. You can also get certificates from them that helps show, you’re you’re fluent in Google Analytics four language, which is the new Google Analytics platform. If you’re gonna be in paid ads, I’ll definitely take I would recommend taking Google Ads courses as well as LinkedIn Ads courses because it’s probably gonna be a big channel for you. And if you’re armed with YouTube and YouTube as well, I think that’ll be, like, an up and coming channel for a lot of EdTech vendors. I’m still pretty new to it as well. Just to throw a couple of different channels in there too.
Jeff Patterson [00:18:36]:
Good.
Shiro [00:18:39]:
I know when we talked about this last time, I liked your comment that just because you worked as a marketer in higher ed doesn’t mean you have to work in marketing outside the industry. Can you elaborate more on this?
Jeff Patterson [00:18:53]:
Yeah. So if you’re if you’re looking to transition, the easiest way to transition is to take what most people think is the hardest job, sales. Right? And in the EdTech company space, right, everything is driven by sales. I mean, there’s obviously we have to have great product. We have to have great customer success, but sales is something we’re always looking for great new people to do. It’s hard. Don’t get me wrong. But it and it’s a challenge, but it’s a challenge that you’ll learn from no matter what you do later in life.
Jeff Patterson [00:19:25]:
And so I highly encourage people to look at trying to make that transition into sales. If you can succeed in sales, it’s the greatest job ever because you’re not I don’t if my salespeople are making their number, I don’t care what they do. If they go visit their friends, go to the movie during the mail day, that’s fine. Right? Your earnings are uncapped. So there’s so many great things about sales. And sales is not like it’s not like the used car sales. It’s not like Glengarry Glen Ross. Sales is relationship driven.
Jeff Patterson [00:19:56]:
It’s about asking great questions, being a good listener, being a creative problem solver. These are things that I think higher ed marketers and many other people in higher ed are gonna be skilled at.
Shiro [00:20:11]:
Absolutely. I think, especially if you’re a a student focused we’re in a student focused position, you’re probably used to talking to people all the time and trying to be a solution oriented person. Right? Trying to get them into the right programs. Right? Getting the right help. And so I think, yeah, it lends itself very well to it, I think.
Jeff Patterson [00:20:32]:
Sure. We’re we’re all in sales. Right? Whether we’re in sales or not. Like, I’m trying to sell my daughter on why she needs to eat her vegetables and why she needs to get her homework done. Right? And so we’re always trying to share ideas and convince other people of what we believe. Right? And, of course, I tell people I can’t convince anybody when I’m talking it’s when I’m silent that I convince people. I let them process their ideas. And even the other roles in EdTech, right, customer success is another big one.
Jeff Patterson [00:21:02]:
Right? It’s still about consulting people and asking questions and showing them a different way.
Shiro [00:21:11]:
Yep. Yeah. I was just gonna mention if if if you really are not feeling like sales is your, is your thing, I think customer success is a great thing. Also, that lends itself really well to admissions counselors, student focus roles as well, but less from, like, a selling position. So I think those are those are great recommendations.
Jeff Patterson [00:21:32]:
If someone’s interested in customer success, there’s a blue book called customer success from Neil Mehta. It’s really the definitive bible for customer success.
Shiro [00:21:43]:
Got it. That’s that’s great. I’ll, make sure to add that into the footnotes, including the other books you’ve recommended, Jeff, into the podcast footnotes. That’s great. Well, I was oh, yeah. I was gonna ask you since I said everyone’s in sales, your daughter’s in sales, what is she selling to you to have your LinkedIn follower account reach someday? Because you you already reached hundred k. Right?
Jeff Patterson [00:22:10]:
She was a teenager, so she’s trying to sell me her love. Right? And and get earning her respect. But, yeah, none of none of my kids are in sales at this point.
Shiro [00:22:23]:
Yeah.
Jeff Patterson [00:22:23]:
But, not directly in sales. How’s that?
Shiro [00:22:27]:
Yep. What’s the new bar, though, for your, your follower account?
Jeff Patterson [00:22:31]:
LinkedIn’s changing the algorithm. I’m actually trying to build a following on Instagram. Interesting. About only about 1,500, maybe 1,800. I would like to keep growing my follower account on LinkedIn. However, LinkedIn’s changed the algorithm, and so it’s really hard to figure out what’s working and what’s not anymore.
Shiro [00:22:54]:
It I I have to ask this just because not I haven’t seen many EdTech founders do this, but, have you ever thought of using your pros personal profile or personal brand, is what I call it to help, you know, talk a little bit more about Gaggle as well on the side.
Jeff Patterson [00:23:13]:
I will occasionally post something about my company and what it does, but, you know, someone long time ago, a marketing person told me, he’s like, okay. Suppose you sit down at a baseball game next to somebody, and you’re merely just talking about yourself and what you’re doing, what you’re great, what’s and, like, no one wants to hear about you. Right? And so it’s better just ask more questions. So once in a while, I’ll post something about what Gaggle is doing and why it’s important. Right? And but for the most part, I I really wanna focus on helping others.
Shiro [00:23:45]:
Love that. Thank you so much. I think that’s a good time to wrap it up right now. Is there anything else that you want to tell our listeners about how they can reach out to you or find you on LinkedIn to learn about your job listings?
Jeff Patterson [00:23:58]:
Yeah. You can just search for Jeff Patterson on LinkedIn. You can send me a connection request, but I probably have to turn you down. But you can definitely follow, and then you have to click the bell icon to make sure you get all the posts because LinkedIn is hiding things. You know, sure, you didn’t ask me about my crazy AI pictures, but I guess that’s for another day.
Shiro [00:24:20]:
Oh, I’m so sorry. Yes. Let’s let’s talk about that. I didn’t know how to, like, describe it. They’re just audio, but when Jeff posts each one of his weekly job postings, he actually adds, like, a very interesting AI image. I think the most recent one is him on a MotoGP motorcycle. I think the one that I remember most vividly is the your face implement on a a centaur. So, yeah, there’s some funny ones out there.
Jeff Patterson [00:24:49]:
Yeah. That so I I started doing that trying to basically find a way to get people to slow the scroll so they would actually stop and see the post and get more views. Mhmm. And I’m just having fun with it. Right? I mean, some of them make me look like I’m studly, and others, I’m perfectly willing to look like a dork.
Shiro [00:25:07]:
Yep. Do you think the centaur one is dorky or studly? What do you think?
Jeff Patterson [00:25:13]:
Oh, I think that one’s studly. I mean, it’s the it’s the it’s the, Old Spice Man as a centaur in a bathroom. Right? I and I and, yeah, I think it’s cool.
Shiro [00:25:24]:
I mean, it it definitely had a ton of comments just on the image, which says a lot about engagement on LinkedIn, and I’m sure it got in front of a lot of people.
Jeff Patterson [00:25:33]:
Yeah. The word unhinged has been used a few times.
Shiro [00:25:37]:
Yep. I would agree with that one. That’s great. Well, Jeff, it’s been great. I’ll definitely link your profile, some of the the books you recommended in the footnotes, and thank you so much for joining. It’s been a great conversation. I’ve always wanted to meet the the person, the man behind all these posts, so it’s been great talking to you.
Jeff Patterson [00:25:55]:
Thanks for having me.
Shiro [00:25:57]:
Thank you.
