Episode #74. Volitional Science: Freedom, Markets, Value, and Entrepreneurship with John Deming & Mike Hamel

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What does it mean to build a civilization that advances forever—and what role do entrepreneurs play in that project? In this episode of The Value Creators Podcast, Hunter Hastings interviews John Deming (author) and Mike Hamel (editor) about their book Blueprint for a Spacefaring Civilization: The Science of Volition. Deming and Hamel frame markets, innovation and entrepreneurship through the lens of volitional science: a scientific approach to subjective value and long-term progress.

Key insights include:

  • Markets are non-coercive discovery engines that reveal value through voluntary exchange.
  • Volitional science reframes entrepreneurship as an experimental, long-horizon activity that discovers meaning and utility.
  • Institutional design matters: intellectual property, revenue-share structures, and time-horizons shape whether innovation translates into civilization-scale progress.

This episode mixes economic theory, civilizational vision, and practical proposals—from licensing regimes to new corporate structures—aimed at accelerating durable progress.

Resources:

➡️ Learn What They Didn’t Teach You In Business School: The Value Creators Online Business Course

Purchase the book “Blueprint for a Spacefaring Civilization: The Science of Volition”

Connect with Hunter Hastings on LinkedIn

Subscribe to The Value Creators on Substack

Knowledge Capsule

  1. Markets as Non-Coercive Discovery Processes
    • Markets provide a solid foundation on which to build civilizational progress.
    • Critically, market transactions are voluntary, revealing value through choice.
    • Value is determined by the buyer, not by producer claims.
    • Decentralized systems serve diverse preferences more effectively.
  2. Volitional Science: A Framework for Subjective Value
    • “Science of volition” applies scientific inquiry to valuation.
    • Explains how inventions become market-tested innovations as a result of user evaluation.
    • Recasts entrepreneurship as an experimental process.
  3. Entrepreneurship as Practical Experimentation
    • Every entrepreneurial act is a hypothesis tested in the marketplace.
    • Consumer adoption serves as confirmation or rejection.
    • Iteration builds cumulative, practical knowledge.
  4. Value Emerges from Customer Experience
    • What matters most is the post-exchange experience.
    • Retention and referrals follow consistent value delivery.
    • Businesses must design both the exchange and the lived experience.
  5. Time Horizons and Civilizational Progress
    • Extending time horizons beyond quarterly results reshapes strategy.
    • Long-term orientation changes investment and innovation incentives.
    • Civilizational progress requires durable, compounding growth.
  6. Intellectual Property and “Primary Capitalism”
    • A proposed system for registering and licensing scientific ideas.
    • Two principles: non-coercive use and positive-market royalty agreements.
    • A public registry would let innovators license without losing diffusion.
  7. Alternative Corporate Structures: Equity vs. Revenue Shares
    • Distinction between ownership (equity) and revenue participation.
    • Aligns incentives between entrepreneurs and collaborators.
    • Designed to reduce conflict and foster cooperation.
  8. Opportunity To Move Beyond Employer–Employee Relationships
    • Suggestion to replace fixed employment with value-based associations.
    • Contributors compensated through revenue shares rather than wages.
    • Though challenging in practice, this could align incentives more closely.
  9. Asset Stewardship as a Driver of Value
    • Neglecting assets reduces customer experience and long-run value.
    • Maintaining and improving assets safeguards future value creation.
    • Short-term profit extraction at the expense of assets undermines sustainability.
  10. Science and Innovation as Civilizational Engines
    • Science and markets are cumulative processes that push progress forward.
    • Scientists could engage in markets of ideas through licensing systems.
    • Linking science more directly to entrepreneurship broadens prosperity.
  11. Civilizational Risk and the Spacefaring Imperative
  • Humanity faces existential risk from destructive technologies.
  • Expanding into space spreads risk and accesses new resources.
  • Progress must be paired with governance that preserves freedom.
  1. Institutional Transformation for Civilizational Shifts
  • Legal and incentive changes are key to enabling innovation.
  • Open markets, licensing mechanisms, and long time horizons drive progress.
  • Entrepreneurial leadership is central to building new institutions.

Fear Of Branding

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Grok Image 2025-09-21 at 2.57.57 PM.png

Image from Grok (where there is no fear

Brands are among capitalism’s most ingenious inventions: intangible assets that conjure premium cash flows in competitive markets. They endure longer (fostering loyalty through recognition and trust), command higher margins (as consumers pay up for that reliability), and weather volatility (loyal fans don’t bail during downturns). At their core, brands embody subjective value—the economic lifeblood where my devotion to an Apple iPhone coexists happily with your allegiance to a Google Pixel, amplifying overall prosperity.

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Different and better

This magic hinges on differentiation. Brands stake claims, positioning themselves as superior in specific ways, even if it means alienating non-believers. They court controversy through critique—think Pepsi mocking Coke’s heritage or Burger King trolling McDonald’s consistency. The payoff? A devoted niche that evangelizes, drawing in converts via word-of-mouth. Strong brands aren’t milquetoast; they’re bold, unapologetic declarations: “We’re for you, not them.” As the adage goes, they must stand for something—or risk standing for nothing.

Corporate bureaucrats are not brand-builders

Enter Cracker Barrel, a chain whose recent rebrand exemplifies the epidemic of “fear of branding.” Rooted in Americana, the original concept evoked the humble cracker barrel—a 19th-century staple for shipping soda crackers, symbolizing protection, community, and simplicity. At country stores, the cracker barrel doubled as a social hub for gossip, checkers, and neighborly bonds. Cracker Barrel’s branding channeled this: a logo featuring the barrel, an “old-timer” in overalls lounging on a rocker, and the tag “Old Country Store.” Interiors brimmed with eclectic knick-knacks, walls alive with vintage ads and tools. It wasn’t for everyone—it targeted those craving nostalgic wholesomeness, unironically embracing rural charm in a fast-paced world.

But new leadership, eyeing “long-term trends,” deemed this too polarizing. They axed the barrel, the old-timer, and much of the folksy decor, opting for a sanitized, “inclusive” aesthetic critics dubbed “corporate blandness.” Menu tweaks followed, diluting signature comfort foods. The backlash was swift: loyalists flooded social media with laments, decrying the loss of soul. Sales dipped, and the chain’s stock tumbled, underscoring a harsh truth—differentiation isn’t optional; it’s the brand’s oxygen.

Cultural rot

This isn’t isolated cowardice; it’s a cultural rot infiltrating marketing. Fast-food chains churn identical price-war ads, shunning flavor showdowns like the old Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” campaigns. Tech giants fare no better: Google’s search is pitched as universal utility, not a rebellious disruptor; AWS markets as a commoditized cloud, ignoring its e-commerce revolution roots. Even automotive titans blur lines—tell me, what’s the real distinction between a Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, or Ford Explorer beyond badges? They’re all “family-friendly SUVs,” a euphemism for safe sameness.

Why this retreat? Blame a toxic brew of bureaucracy and risk-aversion. In boardrooms, compliance trumps creativity; algorithms favor “broad appeal” over bold edges. Social media amplifies outrage, turning differentiation into a liability—why risk a Twitter storm when vanilla vanishes into the feed? Yet this fear is self-defeating. History’s icons—Nike’s “Just Do It” defiance, Harley-Davidson’s outlaw ethos, Red Bull’s extreme-sports audacity—thrived by polarizing. They didn’t chase universality; they built tribes.

Society suffers when brands cower. We need provocateurs to spark innovation, challenge norms, and fuel progress. As Apple’s legendary “Think Different” campaign urged, honoring misfits and rebels drives change. Marketers, reclaim your spine: overcome your fear of branding, or watch your creations fade into irrelevance. The market rewards the brave, not the bland.

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Brand uniqueness emerges from entrepreneurial intelligence. Our brand uniqueness blueprint is included in The Value Creators online business course.

The Value Creators is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Episode #73. Systems, Value & Action: Organizational Design with Mike Jones

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This episode has been reposted from Strategy Meets Reality Podcast.

How do organizations create meaningful value in a world that’s complex, nonlinear, and constantly changing?

In this episode of The Value Creators Podcast, Hunter Hastings talks with Mike Jones — consultant, organizational psychologist, and host of Strategy Meets Reality — about systems thinking, value creation, and practical implementation. Mike explains why older, linear management models let people down in adaptive environments, how leaders should think about value exchange and asset stewardship, and why action and learning matter more than perfect forecasting.

Key insights include:

  • Why systems thinking is essential for organizations operating in a complex, adaptive world.
  • How value is discovered through exchange and experience—not merely engineered inside firms.
  • Why action, not endless planning, generates the information leaders need to adapt and create value.

This episode is for founders and leaders who want frameworks that actually work in messy, real-world organizations.

Resources:

➡️ Learn What They Didn’t Teach You In Business School: The Value Creators Online Business Course

Learn more about Strategy Meets Reality Podcast

Connect with Hunter Hastings on LinkedIn

Subscribe to The Value Creators on Substack

Knowledge Capsule

1. Systems Thinking Is the Right Mental Model

  • Organizations are adaptive systems (not machines).
  • Systems change in response to internal and external signals.
  • Leaders must design for adaptation, not for control.

2. Old Management Models Are Becoming Obsolete

  • 19th/20th-century function-based organizations are designed for continuity and assume predictability.
  • Those models prioritize control, measurement and efficiency in a stable environment.
  • In dynamic markets, those assumptions are wrong – they cause mismatch and brittleness.

3. Value Is Discovered, Not Merely Produced

  • Value emerges through exchanges and customer experience relative to customer expectations and aspirations.
  • Producers can’t unilaterally declare value—customers reveal it through choices.
  • Pricing is downstream of the value exchange; customer response validates value.

4. Value Exchange and the Customer Experience

  • The value exchange is followed by a value experience that determines repeat behavior.
  • Consistently meeting expectations in experience is central to retention and referrals.
  • Design and operations must orchestrate both the exchange and the subsequent experience – even those parts of it that are invisible to the producer..

5. Asset Stewardship Matters for Sustained Value

  • Creating less value means that assets have depreciated.
  • Neglecting infrastructure or capabilities reduces the customer experience.
  • Investment in assets is an investment in future value creation.

6. Teams Need Clarity, Roles and Autonomy

  • Clear role definition and trust among team members enable fast, coordinated action.
  • Self-organizing teams reduce the friction of top-down control.
  • Empowered teams adapt quicker to changing conditions.

7. Action Over Endless Analysis

  • Action creates evidence: you learn by doing, not by over-modeling.
  • Speed of iteration produces information to update beliefs and strategy.
  • Execution (tested action) beats perfect plans in uncertain contexts.

8. Failure Is Informational, Not Just Negative

  • Small experiments reveal what customers do and don’t value.
  • Failure is a feedback and learning mechanism that refines hypotheses.
  • Low-cost tests reduce downside while increasing learning velocity.

9. Leadership Is About Intent and Moral Commitment

  • Values and intent shape how organizations interpret signals.
  • Leaders’ moral framing (why they create value) affects long-run choices.
  • Purpose-aligned decisions sustain culture through ambiguity.

10. Institutions & Policy Create the Operating Environment

  • Policy layers and management rules can add friction and cost.
  • Policy chaos raises the cost and risk of investment.
  • Entrepreneurs must design-in resilience given institutional uncertainty.

11. Capital Allocation Requires Courage and Judgment

  • Capital must be deployed without perfect knowledge; courage is a factor.
  • Investors and entrepreneurs balance risk, timing, and learning horizons.
  • Resource commitment is necessary for the discovery process.

12. Organizations Must Design for Continuous Adaptation

  • Systems of review (after-action learning) are essential for improvement.
  • Simplicity of communication and clarity of purpose reduce internal noise.
  • The work of leaders is to enable learning at scale and speed, not to try to eliminate uncertainty.

Episode #72. How Entrepreneurial Businesses Can Harvest The Science of Meaning: Semiotics, Emotion, and Customer Value With Duncan Berry

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Why do customers choose one offering over another—often in a split second? In this episode of The Value Creators Podcast, Hunter Hastings talks with Duncan Berry, PhD, a consultant to leading brands at the intersection of semiotics, psychology, and neurology. Duncan explains how value is meaning from the customer’s point of view, why most behavior is pre-conscious and emotional, and how entrepreneurs can design signals, experiences, and narratives that align with what people actually feel and do.

Key insights include:

  • Value = meaning: Start from the customer’s lived experience, not the firm’s internal value chain.
  • Emotion and speed: People form judgments in tens of milliseconds; design must communicate instantly.
  • Signals & archetypes: Semiotics and association help brands encode meaning customers recognize fast.

This conversation reframes value creation as a human science: understand meaning, design signals, and earn the right to your customer’s next choice.

Resources:

➡️ Learn What They Didn’t Teach You In Business School: The Value Creators Online Business Course

Learn more about Applied Iconology

Connect with Duncan Berry on LinkedIn

Connect with Hunter Hastings on LinkedIn

Subscribe to The Value Creators on Substack

Knowledge Capsule

1. Value Is Meaning (when it is viewed through the lens of Austrian economics)

  • Value doesn’t reside in the object; customers bring meaning to it.
  • Entrepreneurs discover that meaning through exchange and experience.
  • Start with the customer’s perspective, not internal metrics.

2. From Value Chain to Customer Bullseye

  • Traditional value creation models taught in business school (like Michael Porter’s 5 Forces model) pursue a linear process in the wrong direction – from the inside of the company to the outside..
  • The correct direction is to work backwards from the customer to uncover what they truly prize.
  • Treat internal processes as means, not ends.

3. Emotion Drives Choice

  • Much consumer behavior is habitual and pre-conscious.
  • Emotional states shape attention, preference, and loyalty.
  • Blend qualitative + quantitative tools to surface emotions that matter.

4. Bandwidth & Filtering

  • The nervous system processes millions of bits per second; all but a tiny fraction of them are filtered out and never register in a customer’s consciousness.
  • Attention is scarce; perception is heavily pre-conscious.
  • Design for fast, intuitive appraisal, not rational analysis.

5. First Impressions in ~50 ms

  • People form website/app reactions in tens of milliseconds.
  • Color, typography, layout, and affordances carry instant meaning.
  • Consistency turns quick impressions into trust.

6. Semiotics Beyond Logos

  • Semiotics = how signs and symbols convey meaning.
  • Markets are signal systems; customers interpret patterns, not parts.
  • Map the signals your category encodes (and where you fit).

7. Category Cues

  • Packaging, labels, and form factors imply attributes (e.g., “healthy”).
  • Misaligned cues create friction or rejection.
  • Align design language with the meanings your audience expects.

8. Associative > Persuasive (Often)

  • Associative networks can outperform direct persuasion.
  • Build webs of related cues that guide perception holistically.
  • Over time, associations become a moat for your brand.

9. Archetypes Compress Complexity

  • Archetypes are dense packets of meaning humans intuitively grasp.
  • Use them to organize story, design, and messaging coherently.
  • Avoid clichés—choose archetypes that fit your promise.

10. Design as Valuation Engine

  • IConsumers are constantly evaluating – as an experience, not a computation..
  • Design orchestrates the sensorium (sight, sound, touch) to create value.
  • Efficiency matters, but experience moves the needle.

11. What AI Can’t (Yet) Feel

  • AI models patterns but lacks embodied, sensory experience.
  • Human perception shifts with context; static models lag.
  • Advantage: entrepreneurs can notice subtle gradations and adapt.

12. Experiment with a Hypothesis

  • A/B tests help—when tied to a value hypothesis.
  • Avoid “spray & pray”; let judgment and neuroscience inform tests.
  • Iterate toward finer distinctions customers actually care about.

The Value Creators Podcast Episode #70. Will Today’s Students Redefine Entrepreneurship? AI, Agency, and New Roles: A Conversation With Raushan Gross

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AI is now at the leading edge of value creation, where creativity, innovation and new business thinking will exercise great leverage. Entrepreneurs – and especially young entrepreneurs unburdened with the baggage of old business models – will lead the value creation revolution. 

Dr. Raushan Gross is a professor, author, and expert in AI, in business systems, and in entrepreneurship, all of which he is teaching to students in preparing them to enter a rapidly evolving marketplace. With Hunter Hastings, he explores how AI can empower these young entrepreneurs, and why agency—not technology—is the driver of progress, especially for new startups and small businesses who embrace technology and automation without losing their human advantage.

Dr. Gross shares how entrepreneurial thinking must evolve in a world of predictive algorithms, and how leaders can build businesses that remain adaptive, authentic, and focused on value creation.

Key insights include:

  • Why entrepreneurs must focus on agency over automation—and how to stay proactive in a reactive world.
  • How small businesses can leverage AI as a strategic collaborator, not just a productivity tool.
  • Why the new economic advantage isn’t size, but speed, flexibility, and intentionality.

If you want to lead with clarity in an AI-enabled world, this episode offers the mindset shift and tools to help you do it.

Resources:

Raushan Gross AI Articles Archive

➡️ Learn What They Didn’t Teach You In Business School: The Value Creators Online Business Course

Connect with Hunter Hastings on LinkedIn

Subscribe to The Value Creators on Substack

Knowledge Capsule

1. Agency Is the Core Entrepreneurial Advantage

  • Professor Gross’s message to entrepreneurs: Don’t  fear AI—focus on preserving and expanding your own agency.
  • Agency means the power to choose, to act, and to innovate intentionally.
  • Automation can be powerful only when paired with human direction.

2. Technology Is a Tool—Not a Replacement for Thought

  • Entrepreneurs must view AI as a collaborator, not a substitute.
  • Critical thinking and vision remain irreplaceable assets.
  • Tools should enhance decision-making, not dictate it.

3. The New Edge Is Speed, Adaptation, and Flexibility

  • Large enterprises move slowly; entrepreneurs can learn and pivot faster – it’s the ultimate advantage.
  • Small businesses that adopt AI intentionally gain a competitive edge.
  • Advantage now lies in responsiveness, not scale.

4. Predictive Systems Can Reinforce Old Biases

  • AI tools trained on outdated data may replicate legacy thinking.
  • Entrepreneurs must challenge assumptions, not automate them.
  • Intentional input leads to more valuable outcomes.

5. Entrepreneurship Requires Systems Thinking

  • Business owners must think in systems, not isolated tasks.
  • AI can help visualize and improve those systems.
  • Strategic automation happens at the systems level.

6. AI Literacy Will Define Future Business Success

  • Entrepreneurs need fluency in AI to use it responsibly. Fluency comes from experience: practice, practice, practice.
  • Literacy includes knowing limitations, risks, and opportunities.
  • This doesn’t require coding—just clear conceptual understanding.

7. AI Can Unlock New Levels of Customer Insight

  • Data-driven tools can help anticipate needs and personalize service.
  • But value comes from how entrepreneurs apply the insight.
  • Empathy + analytics = human-centered advantage.

8. Intentionality Beats Automation

  • Blind automation creates detachment and risk.
  • Entrepreneurs should deploy AI with clear objectives and constraints.
  • Design determines whether AI empowers or alienates.

9. Decision-Making Remains a Human Function

  • AI assists, but it doesn’t replace context, judgment, or nuance.
  • Leaders must remain accountable for the choices made.
  • The ultimate value creator is the human who wields the tool.

10. Entrepreneurial Education Must Evolve

  • Current business education is rigidly based on old models that have been superseded.
  • New teaching frameworks must incorporate digital fluency and ethics.
  • Future entrepreneurs will need systems awareness and AI navigation skills.
  • Learning must combine theory, tools, and lived experimentation.

11. AI Will Not Equalize—It Will Amplify Differences

  • Businesses that use AI strategically will accelerate.
  • Those who ignore it risk falling behind.
  • The gap will widen between the adaptive and the passive.

12. Value Creation Is Still the Ultimate Goal

  • Regardless of tools or trends, entrepreneurs exist to create value.
  • AI is only useful to the extent that it enables better outcomes.
  • The human intention behind the tool is what matters most.

The Value Creators Podcast Episode #69. AI, Trust, and the Return to Human-Centered Marketing: A New Marketing Framework with Bryan Phelps

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Many businesses and business functions are grappling with the question of the role of AI in future value creation, none more so than marketing agencies and the marketing function in business. Bryan Phelps is CEO of the marketing agency Big Leap, actively navigating this challenge every day. Bryan shares how his team developed a clear AI policy to guide innovation—and why humans must remain at the center of creativity, decision-making, and brand expression.

This episode is a practical and forward-thinking look at how businesses can build trust, scale responsibly, and stay human in the age of algorithms.

Key insights include:

  • Why your AI strategy should start with a policy—and how to align teams with clear principles.
  • How to preserve brand essence and emotional connection while integrating AI into marketing.
  • Why trust and empathy are the new growth engines—and how to lead with values, not just data.

If you’re building a brand in the age of AI, this conversation will help you navigate the future with clarity, integrity, and confidence.

Resources:

➡️ Learn What They Didn’t Teach You In Business School: The Value Creators Online Business Course

Learn more about Big Leap

Connect with Bryan Phelps on LinkedIn

Bryan’s Newsletter

Connect with Hunter Hastings on LinkedIn

Subscribe to The Value Creators on Substack

Knowledge Capsule

1. Don’t let AI replace or eclipse Human Creativity

  • Big Leap’s first principle is keeping humans at the center of marketing strategy.
  • AI tools support ideation, but don’t originate brand essence.
  • The best outcomes emerge from human-AI collaboration.

2. The best way to navigate the AI challenge is to start with Policy, not with Technology

  • Big Leap created a 9-point policy before deploying AI tools.
  • A clear framework builds internal confidence and external trust.
  • Policy drives alignment across teams and clients.

3. Responsible Design Demands Human Oversight

  • AI can generate inaccurate or misleading – or just not very good – outputs.
  • Users must verify quotes, facts, and context, and provide critique.
  • Responsibility is shared between tool and operator.

4. Brand Essence Must Be Protected

  • AI should enhance—not dilute—core brand identity. Does it truly understand?
  • Bryan suggests building a “brand avatar” that holds the brand’s soul.
  • Human input can train AI on voice, tone, and values.

5. Experimentation Fuels Innovation

  • Big Leap runs dozens of simultaneous experiments, without assuming the right answers in advance.
  • Testing helps discover new formats, messages, and channels.
  • Speed of iteration becomes a competitive edge.

6. SEO Is Evolving, not Static. But it’s still SEO.

  • Traditional keyword search is shifting toward knowledge exploration.
  • Brands must optimize for questions, not just clicks.
  • Bryan emphasizes helpfulness over hacking the algorithm.

7. Trust Is the Foundation of Modern Marketing

  • Metrics like engagement – a mechanical idea – must be reframed as emotional outcomes.
  • Marketing returns to its roots: relationships, trust, value.
  • AI helps, but human touch builds brand love.

8. Big Companies Must Embrace “Venture Mode”

  • Startups iterate fast—enterprises must learn to do the same.
  • Bureaucracy can’t keep pace with AI-enabled shifts.
  • Big Leap helps large firms act with entrepreneurial agility.

9. Clients Want Impact, Not Just Efficiency

  • AI enables better brand perception, faster results, and meaningful insights.
  • Bryan notes a shift away from pure efficiency to effectiveness.
  • Value creation now trumps cost-cutting.

10. Brand Monitoring Must Extend Beyond Owned Media

  • Teams now track Quora, Reddit, and other forums for consumer and customer insights.
  • Presence in conversations requires both listening and participating.
  • Tools + human review ensures brand is represented “lovingly.”

11. Communities Can Be Built Intentionally

  • Brand communities don’t have to be organic only.
  • Bryan discusses how to nurture them with content, interaction, and value.
  • AI helps scale presence—but humans spark connection.

12. Optimism in a High-Speed World

  • Bryan believes we should welcome change—and prepare for it.
  • Culture, systems, and mindset help Big Leap adapt.
  • Relationship-based marketing is the stabilizing force amid AI disruption.