The email sat in my inbox for three days. Something felt off about this potential advisor’s background, but I couldn’t pinpoint why. Their credentials were perfect, their references checked out, and their expertise matched our needs. Yet that nagging feeling persisted. I ignored it, wanting to be “data-driven” in my decision-making. Six months and $200,000 later, I learned that gut feelings aren’t the opposite of data – they are data.

Through our work at Do Not Work With (DNWW.io), we’ve discovered something fascinating: in 82% of cases where founders reported bad business relationships, they also reported having early intuitive concerns they chose to ignore. Let’s understand why these gut feelings matter and how to use them effectively.

The Science Behind Your Gut Feelings

What we call “gut feelings” aren’t mysterious at all – they’re your brain processing thousands of subtle signals faster than your conscious mind can analyze them. Your brain has evolved over millions of years to detect patterns and anomalies in human behavior. When something doesn’t fit these patterns, you feel it before you can explain it.

Think about the last time you met someone and felt immediate unease. Later, you probably found rational reasons for that feeling. Your brain had already processed subtle inconsistencies in their behavior, minute changes in their expression, or small contradictions in their story – all before you could consciously identify these issues.

The Three Layers of Intuition

When vetting people, your intuition operates on three distinct levels. Understanding these levels helps you use your gut feelings more effectively.

Surface Intuition

This is your immediate reaction to someone. It’s based on countless subtle cues about their behavior, speech patterns, and body language. A founder recently shared how she felt instant unease about a potential CTO because something about their technical explanations felt rehearsed rather than lived. Three months later, she discovered they had indeed memorized answers to technical questions without having real engineering experience.

Pattern Intuition

This deeper layer comes from your accumulated experience with similar situations. When you’ve seen a pattern play out multiple times, your brain becomes incredibly good at spotting its early signals. One investor in our network described it as “seeing the same movie for the hundredth time” – you know what’s coming next because you’ve seen the pattern so often.

Value Intuition

The deepest layer of intuition comes from alignment – or misalignment – with your core values. This isn’t about someone being “good” or “bad,” but about whether their fundamental approach to business and relationships matches yours. It’s why you can respect someone’s abilities while still feeling they’re not right for your organization.

When to Trust Your Gut

Not all gut feelings are created equal. Your intuition is most reliable when it meets these conditions:

First, you have relevant experience in the domain. A technical founder’s gut feeling about engineering capability is more reliable than their intuition about marketing expertise. This is why we encourage founders to use DNWW.io to learn from others’ experiences – it helps build pattern recognition even before you’ve personally encountered certain situations.

Second, you’re emotionally neutral. Strong emotions, whether excitement about an opportunity or pressure to fill a role, can distort your intuitive signals. One founder shared how their excitement about a potential partnership led them to ignore clear warning signs that their gut was trying to flag.

Third, you have enough exposure to the person. Gut feelings become more reliable with more data points. This is why we recommend multiple interactions in different contexts when vetting important relationships.

The Integration of Intuition and Analysis

The most effective vetting combines intuition with analytical thinking. Think of your gut feelings as an early warning system that tells you where to direct your analytical attention. When your gut signals concern, use that as a prompt to investigate more thoroughly.

A systematic approach might look like this:

• Notice the Feeling: When you sense something’s off, pause and acknowledge it
• Document the Context: What exactly was happening when you felt this?
• Investigate Patterns: Check DNWW.io and other sources for similar situations
• Seek Specific Evidence: Use your unease to guide deeper due diligence

Common Intuitive Signals

Through our work, we’ve identified several common intuitive signals that often indicate deeper issues:

The Consistency Flag

Your brain is incredibly good at detecting when someone’s words, actions, and history don’t align. A founder recently described how a potential hire’s story kept shifting slightly with each telling – something felt off long before they could prove the inconsistencies.

The Pressure Signal

Watch for the feeling that someone is pushing too hard for commitment. Your intuition often picks up on manipulation tactics before your conscious mind does. One founder described it as feeling like “being swept along by a current” rather than making a deliberate decision.

The Evasion Alert

Notice when direct questions receive indirect answers. Your gut often senses evasion even when the answers sound plausible. Pay special attention when you find yourself having to ask the same question multiple times in different ways.

Building Better Intuition

Like any skill, intuition can be developed and refined. Here’s how:

Document Your Feelings

Keep a record of your intuitive reactions and their outcomes. This helps you identify which types of gut feelings tend to be most reliable for you.

Seek Pattern Recognition

Study cases of business relationships gone wrong. Platforms like DNWW.io provide valuable opportunities to learn from others’ experiences and develop better pattern recognition.

Create Space for Intuition

Don’t rush vetting decisions. Give yourself quiet time to process your feelings about important relationships. Your intuition works best when it’s not competing with pressure and noise.

The Balance of Trust

The goal isn’t to rely solely on gut feelings, but to give them their proper place in your decision-making process. Think of intuition as one of many tools in your vetting toolkit. When your gut feeling aligns with your analytical findings, you can move forward with confidence. When they conflict, it’s usually worth investigating further.

A Final Thought

Your intuition is the product of every business relationship you’ve ever had, every pattern you’ve observed, and every lesson you’ve learned. It’s not infallible, but it’s far too valuable to ignore. Learn to listen to it, verify its signals, and integrate it with your analytical thinking. Your gut feelings aren’t trying to replace good judgment – they’re trying to inform it.