#185 How to Fail a Proposal (Part 1)

Link to the episode websiteLink to Marie's LinkedIn post In this episode, I have the great freelance EU grant consultant Marie Prouteau in the virtual podcast studio, who was one of my first guests. Some time ago she made a popular LinkedIn post on how to utterly fail a proposal inspired - this inspired the theme of our discussion. We use her post as a starting point to explore the emotional rollercoaster of writing EU funding proposals - from the buzz of securing a new assignment to the inevitable panic that sets in two weeks before submission. Marie shares honest reflections on physical and mental exhaustion, the rush of adrenaline, and the unglamorous reality of managing late-stage chaos, unclear partner responsibilities, and acronym-heavy titles. We exchange on how even experienced grants consultants get caught up in the same traps.But this isn’t just a technical conversation - it’s a human one. We dig into the toll this work takes on our well-being: the burnout, the solitude, and the pressure of being solely accountable for a proposal’s quality. Marie talks about the post-submission crash, the difficulty of setting boundaries, and why deadlines just after the holidays feel particularly cruel. This episode is both a warning and a comfort: a reminder that if you’ve ever found yourself writing from a hut in Sri Lanka or frantically formatting at 2 am, you’re not alone.Time codes:00:02:06 Introduction00:08:29 Fly in00:14:39 The life of a proposal writer