What if your company could literally save lives—and you built it from scratch with no outside funding?

Jeff Patterson, Founder & CEO of Gaggle, joins me to share the extraordinary 26-year journey of turning a simple idea—safe email for students—into a national force in student safety and suicide prevention.

In this episode, Jeff reveals:

• How a conversation with a teacher sparked the creation of Gaggle
• The emotional story of how Gaggle helped stop a student from hurting themselves in real time
• Why he never took outside capital and runs the company as a sole owner
• His “evergreen business” mindset and why his exit strategy is a coffin
• His vision for a more complete solution to youth mental health

We also dive into the entrepreneurial philosophies that guide him, the power of story in creating culture, and how Gaggle is tackling some of the toughest issues in America’s schools—anxiety, abuse, bullying, and more.

📌 Topics Covered:

• Mission-driven entrepreneurship
• Mental health and technology in education
• Building trust in the public sector
• Why Jeff posts EdTech jobs every week for free
• What he’s working toward—and why he’s not retiring anytime soon