Vulnerability can feel like a risky move as a founder. Exposing uncertainty, mistakes, or doubt can trigger fear around credibility, authority, and perception.

But when you understand how vulnerability actually works on the human brain, it flips from liability to superpower fast.

This issue breaks down why vulnerability creates connection faster than almost all communication, the real cost of hiding it, and how to recognize and leverage it intentionally. Inside this issue, you’ll also:

Enjoy opening your vulnerability kimono, good stuff is in there…LG

The stories you are hiding.

The failures you gloss over.

The moments that still make you wince when you think about them.

Those are often the most powerful tools in your storytelling arsenal.

When you bury them, you make it harder for people to trust you, follow you, and believe in what you are building.

IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN WHETHER YOU WANT IT TO OR NOT

Gary Keller, founder of Keller Williams, publicly admits that he scaled the company too fast in the early days. He talks about flawed assumptions and leadership missteps, but he frames failure as data, not shame.

Through books, talks, and training, he turns hard-earned lessons into frameworks others can use. 

That openness strengthens his authority because it is grounded in lived experience, not theory. It is also why people trust him why they became the largest real estate company in the world.

WHY FOUNDERS RUN FROM IT

When it comes to sharing the hard parts, most founders avoid them.

To be vulnerable is to open yourself up to criticism, judgment, and scrutiny. Your ego and nervous system step in to protect you from exposing disappointment, fear, and powerlessness.

Founders worry that sharing mistakes will make them look weak or incompetent. That investors will lose confidence. That customers will question their credibility. That cracks in the armor will be used against them.

So the instinct is to hide it.

MEETING THE VULNERABILITY MASTER

I had read Brené Brown’s work on vulnerability. I understood it intellectually.

But meeting her and capturing her talk at the Conscious Capitalism CEO Summit changed how I understood it when it comes to practice with executive leaders.

And how to make it approachable for us as founders.

She spoke to 200 purpose-driven founders and CEOs about leading with vulnerability. Then she guided exercises where leaders, people who rarely admit struggle publicly, shared experiences they had never talked about before.

Watching her work made one thing clear: vulnerability is not soft. It is strategic.

As she defines it, vulnerability includes uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. That is exactly what scares founders. And exactly what creates connection.

THE COST OF HIDING

In fact, a report by Label Insight found that 94% of consumers are more loyal to brands that are transparent and open about who they are and what they stand for, including their struggles and imperfections.

When stories feel overly polished, they feel distant.
When they feel real, people lean in.

A founder who acknowledges failure signals growth and self-awareness. A founder who hides it signals insecurity. Audiences can sense the difference.

Without the bad, success feels hollow.

Oprah Winfrey understood this long before founders talked about vulnerability. She shared childhood abuse, poverty, weight struggles, and failed relationships at the height of her career. 

She framed pain as lived context, not weakness. By tying her experiences to those of her guests, she signaled you are not alone.

That openness built trust at massive scale. Without it, the connection never forms. It’s one of the reasons she created one of the longest running TV shows in history.  

RECOGNIZE IT WILL HAPPEN. AND CHOOSE WHAT YOU DO WITH IT

You cannot avoid the bad stuff. It is coming.

The real question is what you do with it when it does.

Or do you recognize that these moments are what make you relatable, credible, and human.

Clayton Christopher used vulnerability as a leadership advantage while building Sweet Leaf Tea. He never pretended to have it all figured out. He openly shared how scrappy and imperfect the early days were, from brewing tea in crawfish pots to learning retail the hard way. 

He made the mess part of the story, not something to hide. That honesty built trust with customers, retailers, and investors, and helped turn a homemade recipe into a nine-figure outcome.

The stories you are hiding are often the ones your audience needs most.

Vulnerability is not about confession. It is about connection.

And connection is the gateway to trust, support, customers, investors, and belief.

Vulnerability isn't something you wait to feel comfortable with. It's a skill you develop through practice. Strong stories do not avoid failure or discomfort. They face it directly, humanize the experience, and show what changed as a result. Here are three ways to start building that muscle now:

Brene Brown’s “Power of Vulnerability” talk became one of the most watched TED talks ever because Brené did not lead with credentials. She led with truth. She shared what she studied, how she struggled with it, and what it forced her to confront about herself. Her humor, pauses, and visible discomfort made the message believable. People did not just hear about vulnerability. They felt it. That combination of what she said, how she said it, and what she revealed shows the real power that lives inside honesty.

Watch here:
The Power of Vulnerability | Brené Brown | TED
https://youtu.be/iCvmsMzlF7o?si=yj3CYe8sBIYSP59O

Send an email to [email protected] and someone from my team will circle back with you.