Lyle Heneke

I had mentors at the points where I couldn't see my next move, and they changed the direction I took. I'm here to be that for someone else. Every call I take is free. and If you want the marketing and business side as well, I've got you. With over a decade of product, brand and business launches across Southern Africa, The Nordics and Western Europe.

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  Branding

  My entire career on brands turning over hundreds of millions and on brands starting from nothing. What you stand for, why anyone should care, and how to say it in one line instead of a paragraph. This is the thing I've done longest and the thing I enjoy most.

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  Career guidance

  I spent thirteen years going up inside a global business and then walked away. No plan, a complete break, now building my own things. If you're weighing up staying or leaving, or you've already left and it's harder than you expected, I'll give you the honest version rather than the LinkedIn one.

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  Idea validation

  I'm doing this right now across a few ventures, so you'll get an honest read rather than an encouraging one. The fastest way to find out whether an idea works is almost always cheaper and more uncomfortable than the plan written. I can help you design the test.

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  Leadership

  I ran teams across three countries and more than 40 nationalities. Some built, some inherited. Most leadership challenges I see turn out to be avoidance challenges: there's a conversation someone hasn't had yet. Happy to talk about managing people who used to be your peers, or leading when you're not the smartest person in the room (I've never been).

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  Mindset coaching

  I'm not a trained coach and I won't pretend to be. What I have is the lived version: leaving a career at its peak, the year with no plan, and building with no salary coming in. If you'd rather talk to someone who's been in that headspace than someone certified in it, I'm useful.

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  Product launches

  I launched new categories, new brands and new formats across South Africa, the Nordics and Western Europe. What to do in the days before, what actually matters on day one, and how to avoid spending the whole budget on the launch and nothing on the six months after it, which is where it's won or lost.

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  Product market fit

  I've had launches find it and launches that didn't, and the second kind taught me more. I'll help you work out whether you have it, whether you're mistaking activity for it, and what you'd need to see to actually believe it. Honest answers only, which is not always what people want.

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  Product marketing

  Brand and product owner across a lot of launches (100+) and more than 15 countries, so positioning, proposition, pricing and the story that carries the thing.

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  User research

  I ran consumer insights and learnt what to ask, who to ask, and how to tell a real signal from someone being polite to you. Most founders I speak to have already done the research and simply didn't like what it said

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  Venting frustration

  Bring it. No agenda, and no advice unless you ask for it. Building anything is lonely and most of the people around you have a stake in your answer. I don't, and I've had the weeks where nothing works and you can't say so out loud.