Jeremy Chance flew from Japan to Orlando Florida. We kicked off the day and asked "Who wants to go first?"

"I'll go," Jeremy said. "I just need to rip the bandaid off."

He continued: "Last year my business failed, AND my marriage failed. Obviously there's a lot of things I still don't know. I signed up for this and flew halfway around the world to get the help I need."

His one admission disarmed the entire room. Everyone now had permission to not be perfect. The rest of our time together was like a dream. Everyone experienced warmth and intimacy that is rare.

On the first day of the Rosetta Stone seminar, we were finishing up Q&A at 5pm. The atmosphere up to that point had been a "normal seminar day" and I was interviewing Mark Ingles.

A year earlier Mark had asked me, "Perry, I am doing a wide range of duties for my #1 client, from building Google campaigns to managing their phone room. I feel a little scattered and I'm not sure… what should my 'boundaries' with this client be?"

I saw that his client was in an ideal position to execute what we today call "Network Effect for Mere Mortals." The business was pregnant with potential "flywheels" or "feedback loops" which, if actualized, could propel a very small and simple SaaS business to become the "Uber" or "AirBnB" of auto repair.

I had told Mark, "Your #1 job is Chief Feedback Loop Officer and anything that makes those flywheels bigger and spin faster is part of your job description."

Mark listened to my advice and the clients' business began growing aggressively.

The client told Mark that if he continued to hit his numbers, they would grant him 25% of the company's shares and appoint him CEO.

Well… after months of stellar growth, Mark was hitting all his targets, the business was ticking like a clock and expanding steadily. THEN MARK'S CLIENT FIRED HIM.

The growth had scared them. They freaked out.

They jacked him around for a few weeks.

Eventually they begged him to come back.

But trust had been shattered and he said NO.

Mark, sitting onstage being interviewed, was transparent about how bitterly disappointed he was at two things:

1. The client had violated his trust
2. That same client had flushed their potential to become a $100 million company down the toilet

THIS was the moment that shifted the atmosphere at the seminar.

How odd that this client was the spark that created Rosetta Stone in the first place – my signature course materials on Network Effect for Mere Mortals.

And the irony is… it was Mark's disclosure of failure and disappointment that emotionally opened the audience AT Rosetta Stone. Everyone in the room summoned the courage to face the heartbreaks we so often experience in business.

That’s what marks the difference between a “papier mache” business story vs. a real life business story.

Dear reader, listen to me…. a huge energy source for entrepreneurs is fantasy.

The work we do is so risky, so heartbreaking, so dependent on things FAR beyond our control…. Failure is so painful and devastating… many times we are running on a wing and a prayer.

We do things that entirely “rational” people would never attempt.

This is not only true of small "newbie" "bizop" "business opportunity" beginners… it's also true in the 'Big Leagues.' Silicon Valley… London… Dubai… LA.

Because I've not only mentored thousands of budding entrepreneurs, I've also been President and Officer of a Venture Capital medical startup… I've served on boards for biotech companies…

…and I can assure you that whether you're in the starting blocks of affiliate marketing, or if you're at a blue chip law firm on the 50th floor of a skyscraper in New York City… even if you run with Hollywood celebrities or PhDs with ivy league resumes…

80% of what's going on in ALL of those places is…

BOLLOCKS.

The world is FULL of posers. At every single echelon. A poser in Private Equity does NOT give the same vibe as a poser in, say, affiliate marketing.

Too many times I've been mortified to discover I was the only adult in the room. Because the real problem in business is that nobody has the courage to call it out.

And the part that’s most difficult to accept is that without some element of fantasy, nobody would do it at all.

Once, I opened a meeting with a personal story of my own midlife crisis, and the enormous strain I had put on my own marriage, due to my workaholism and insecurity. I described the cleanup work I'd been doing in recent years.

One participant, a very "buttoned up" proper British woman, informed John McGee that disclosing such personal matters in a business meeting was highly unprofessional and she would not be returning.

John and I agreed: "Clearly she's in the wrong room."

At another Perry Marshall Live in Boston, a high-flying founder / entrepreneur (who some time later sold his company for a large sum of money) came to me during a break. He had taken our "30 Day Reboot" course, also known as Flow State Rebellion. He had greatly curtailed some bad habits. He says, "Perry, last week my 16 year old son said, Dad, you're actually LISTENING TO ME now."

The man was nearly in tears and thanked me for creating a culture where members can be honest with themselves and with others.

These experiences taught me that gathering people in physical rooms is sacred work. Not just "good business practice."

Every three months one of my clients enjoys an 8-figure exit. I have MANY success stories in my tribe. Some are 9- and 10-figure transactions. Success stories like that can be found in other places too. But what you won't find anywhere else is the level of candor and safety that we have here.