I'm in Berlin. Which means I have corona.
It's always the same pattern.
The moment I step foot in this city, my immune system waves a white flag and surrenders.
So here I am, propped up in bed in my Neukölln apartment, throat on fire, looking like absolute death.
My phone rings.
€50,000 potential client for our scheduled strategy call.
Normal me would reschedule. Wait until I sounded professional.
But I answered anyway.
Want to know what I said?
The Moment That Changed Everything
"I have to be honest," I croaked into the phone. "I'm sick as hell right now and probably shouldn't be taking calls."
"Berlin always does this to me."
Silence.
Then something I never expected happened.
"Actually," the client said, "that's refreshing."
"Every other consultant we've talked to pretends they're superhuman."
I couldn't believe it.
Instead of hanging up, they leaned in.
"Tell us about your approach," they said.
What Happened Next Will Surprise You
So I did. Still croaking, still sounding terrible.
I told them about my biggest failure.
How I burned €50K on Facebook ads that converted at 0.02%.
How I targeted "entrepreneurs who like Gary Vaynerchuk" instead of actual pain points.
How I learned audiences aren't demographics—they're problems.
You know what they said?
"Finally, someone who understands what we're going through."
But here's the thing...
The Berlin-Corona Connection
Being vulnerable on a sales call is kinda like getting corona in Berlin.
It's predictable, it happens every time, but somehow it always catches me off guard.
And just like Berlin always breaks down my defenses, admitting weakness breaks down client walls.
Think about it.
Perfect consultants can't help broken businesses.
They've never been where you are.
The Uncomfortable Truth About Authority
Here's why this matters for every entrepreneur reading this:
We're taught that authority means never showing weakness.
That clients pay for certainty, not vulnerability.
That admitting mistakes destroys credibility.
But here's what I discovered:
The moment I stopped pretending to be invincible, they started trusting me.
Not because I was successful.
Because I understood their pain.
Here's what most entrepreneurs get backwards:
Your prospects hear success stories all day.
They're impressed by failure stories.
Because failure stories prove you've been exactly where they are.
The €50K Result
Three days later: €50,000 signed contract.
Not despite my weakness.
Because of it.
In that moment, sitting in my Berlin bed, croaking into the phone, I felt something shift.
Like I'd been wearing a mask for years and finally took it off.
The relief was instant. The connection was real.
That's when I understood:
Your biggest disasters aren't something to hide from prospects.
They're your secret weapon.
Will share some disasters in the future. Meanwhile, please share this email and let others subscribe.
See you next Wednesday Reader
Jan
