People Don't Buy Your Product. They Buy You.

This post is a detailed account of a recent episode of Founder Unfiltered, where I sat down with Jake Stahl - communication strategist, author, and creator of NeuroStrategy. Jake helps leaders, founders, and sales professionals read people in real time and show up with confidence in high-stakes conversations. What followed was one of the most practical and honest conversations I've had on the show about presence, trust, and why your humanness is your greatest business asset.

You've built something real. You've put in the hours, taken the risks, and created something that genuinely solves a problem. And yet - the moment you get on a call with a prospect, something shifts. You go stiff. You recite your pitch like you're reading from a manual. You suddenly become a completely different person than the one who talks about this stuff with a best friend.

Sound familiar?

Jake Stahl has been studying this phenomenon for years. And his conclusion is both simple and a little uncomfortable: most founders are getting in their own way.

You're Already a Better Salesperson Than You Think

One of the first things Jake challenges is the "I'm not a salesperson" story that so many founders carry around like a badge of honor.

"Tell me why you're not a good salesperson," he'll say to a client. And without fail, they sell him - passionately, fluently, convincingly - on exactly why they can't sell.

The irony isn't lost on him. The problem isn't a lack of sales ability. It's a fundamental misunderstanding of what selling actually is. When you're talking to a friend about something you built, you're not selling. You're transferring passion. You're transferring emotion. And it turns out, that's exactly what people want to buy.

Forget the script. Forget the objection-handling framework. When you describe your product to your mom, your spouse, or your best friend, something completely different comes out - and Jake's clients are consistently surprised to discover that version is far more compelling than anything they've rehearsed.

The goal isn't to sound polished. The goal is to sound like you.

Stop Perfecting. Start Being Human.

Here's a counterintuitive truth that Jake has seen backed by psychological research: the more human you are, the more sales you'll make.

Not the more polished. Not the more buttoned-up. The more human.

Study after study has shown that when buyers have to choose between someone who's perfect with every word versus someone who stumbles, spills coffee, and speaks from the gut - the imperfect human wins almost every single time. Because people don't buy from experts. They buy from people they trust. And trust is built on relatability, not perfection.

This doesn't mean you get to be sloppy about the value you're delivering. It means you stop hiding the person behind the product. Let them see you, including the parts that aren't polished to a mirror shine.

Jake spent years and a lot of money trying to find the perfect marketing language, the perfect positioning, the perfect pitch. What he eventually discovered was that people just wanted to buy him. The product was almost secondary.

The Silence That Closes More Deals Than Any Script

If there's one tactical insight from this conversation that's immediately actionable, it's this: shut up after you name your price.

Most founders - and Jake admits he was guilty of this early in his career - quote a number and then immediately start talking. Filling the space. Offering discounts before they've been asked for. Financing options. Rebates. Whatever it takes to escape the discomfort of silence.

But here's what that behavior signals to a buyer: I don't believe this is worth what I'm charging.

Jake describes silence as the place where decisions actually get made. When you fill it prematurely, you rob the buyer of the mental space they need to say yes. Research shows that humans start to feel fight-or-flight discomfort after just two seconds of silence in a conversation - and most founders crack right around that mark.

The solution isn't to become cold or robotic. It's to let the tension work for you. Name your price. Stop talking. Let them sit with it. You'll be surprised how often they simply say, "Okay."

Your Story Is Your Differentiator - Especially in an AI World

Jake's client wanted investment for a leukemia-related health product. In early pitches, he led with ROI projections and technical specs. He got nowhere.

Jake asked him why he was actually doing this. The answer: his best friend died of leukemia.

"Why aren't you telling that story?" Jake asked.

That became the pitch. And he got an investor in his very next round of presentations.

People don't want to be sold to. They want to feel like they're part of a solution. They want to help you build something. When you lead with your "why," you invite them into the story instead of presenting them with a transaction.

This matters even more today, in a world increasingly dominated by AI-generated outreach. Jake sees authenticity emerging as the most powerful differentiator available to founders - not because it's some new strategy, but because almost everyone else has abandoned it in favor of automation.

"Just being you," Jake observed, "is now enough to differentiate yourself from 90% of the people out there."

That's a remarkable statement. And a remarkable opportunity.

Intentional Networking: Quality Over Volume

When it comes to building influence and growing your reach, Jake rejects the spray-and-pray approach entirely.

His framework - what he calls intentional networking - is deceptively simple. Instead of going to events and talking to as many people as possible, you identify two people who genuinely know your work and respect what you're doing. You ask each of them to introduce you to two more people. Not to sell to - to get advice from.

That framing matters. Nobody turns down a request for their advice. And once they're giving it, they naturally want to hear what you're doing in return. The conversation opens.

If you do this consistently, Jake points out, you end up with 360 solid, warm connections over the course of a year - people who came to you through genuine referral, not cold outreach. And those relationships compound. Like the old story of the farmer who asked the king for one grain of rice doubled for each square on a chessboard, intentional networking starts small and ends enormous.

We tend to mistake the number of people we talk to for results. Jake is unambiguous: it's the quality of those connections, not the volume, that actually moves the needle.

The Bottom Line

The throughline of everything Jake shared is the same idea stated different ways: your product is not the thing that closes deals. You are.

The passion, the story, the humanness, the willingness to show up imperfect and real - that's what people are actually buying. In a world where AI can generate a pitch, write an email, and simulate a human conversation, the one thing that can't be replicated is genuinely you.

So stop trying to be the polished version of a founder. Be the real one.

If you're a fractional executive or consultant looking to clarify your LinkedIn positioning and start attracting the right clients - not just any clients - I offer a free LinkedIn positioning review at Mylance. It's a no-fluff, no-pitch look at how you're showing up and what you could be doing differently. You can find it at mylance.co.

And if you want more from Jake Stahl, find him on LinkedIn or check out his podcast, Own the Room with Jake Stahl, available on Spotify, YouTube, and everywhere else you listen. His book, Own the Room: How to Communicate to Be Seen, Heard, and Respected, is on Amazon.

Mylance

This article was written by Mylance, the LinkedIn content system built for founders and experts who want consistent, high-quality posts that attract clients. We help you lock in your positioning, clarify your ideal customer, and build a content strategy that actually resonates. Then our system gives you a content calendar, drafts posts in your authentic voice, and keeps you accountable - so you stay visible and attract the right clients while saving hours each week!If you’re ready to grow your presence and pipeline on LinkedIn, sign up at Mylance.co.