Primal Intelligence: How Entrepreneurs Create Value in Uncertainty with Angus Fletcher
Sat Jan 10 2026
We’ve been taught that business success comes from logic, prediction, and data-driven strategy. But what happens when uncertainty makes all of that break down?
In this episode of The Value Creators Podcast, Hunter Hastings speaks with Angus Fletcher, author of Primal Intelligence, about why entrepreneurs don’t succeed by predicting the future — but by creating it.
Angus Fletcher is uniquely qualified to draw on both neuroscience and entrepreneurial theory, and to add perspective from a field he himself pioneered, story science. He runs a special research lab at Ohio State University called Project Narrative, and its insights have been applied in US Army Special Forces, NASA, Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Angus explains how the human brain is designed for uncertainty, not optimization, and why intuition, imagination, emotion, and judgment are not flaws that interfere with rationality, but essential decision-making systems for entrepreneurial action.
Key Insights:
Why logic and prediction fail in conditions of true uncertaintyHow primal intelligence helps entrepreneurs act when the future is unknowableWhy storytelling, not data, is the brain’s primary way of making sense of the worldIf you want to rethink intelligence, leadership, and entrepreneurship for a world that can’t be predicted, this conversation offers a powerful new lens.
Resources:
➡️ Learn What They Didn’t Teach You In Business School: The Value Creators Online Business Course
Learn more about Angus Fletcher
Connect with Angus Fletcher on LinkedIn
Get the book "Primal Intelligence. You Are Smarter Than You Know"
Connect with Hunter Hastings on LinkedIn
Subscribe to The Value Creators on Substack
More
We’ve been taught that business success comes from logic, prediction, and data-driven strategy. But what happens when uncertainty makes all of that break down? In this episode of The Value Creators Podcast, Hunter Hastings speaks with Angus Fletcher, author of Primal Intelligence, about why entrepreneurs don’t succeed by predicting the future — but by creating it. Angus Fletcher is uniquely qualified to draw on both neuroscience and entrepreneurial theory, and to add perspective from a field he himself pioneered, story science. He runs a special research lab at Ohio State University called Project Narrative, and its insights have been applied in US Army Special Forces, NASA, Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Angus explains how the human brain is designed for uncertainty, not optimization, and why intuition, imagination, emotion, and judgment are not flaws that interfere with rationality, but essential decision-making systems for entrepreneurial action. Key Insights: Why logic and prediction fail in conditions of true uncertaintyHow primal intelligence helps entrepreneurs act when the future is unknowableWhy storytelling, not data, is the brain’s primary way of making sense of the worldIf you want to rethink intelligence, leadership, and entrepreneurship for a world that can’t be predicted, this conversation offers a powerful new lens. Resources: ➡️ Learn What They Didn’t Teach You In Business School: The Value Creators Online Business Course Learn more about Angus Fletcher Connect with Angus Fletcher on LinkedIn Get the book "Primal Intelligence. You Are Smarter Than You Know" Connect with Hunter Hastings on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Value Creators on Substack