LinkedIn has the power to change your business and life. All you have to do is use it right!

Hi, I’m Renier Lombard – 

One relationship can change everything > Let me show you how to use your LinkedIn Personal Brand to find and attract those relationships.

It’s the superpower many don’t know they have in their arsenal.

I’ve seen the landscape on all platforms change. LinkedIn is no exception. It’s evolved into a powerful tool that many people and companies don’t utilise to its full potential. 

This is understandable as it requires a vast amount of time and energy to visit profiles, create content, invite users to connect, run searches, manage the messages, see who visited your profile, connect with them and much, much more…

With FDC, you don’t have to do any of the above but still reap the rewards.

LinkedIn is a professional landscape with opportunities at your fingertips; all you need is the right team to bring those opportunities to you.

👉  We will build your personal brand, 
👉  Grow your network
👉  Add value for your audience through your content.

With your industry knowledge and our LinkedIn expertise, we'll grow your business from great to the upper-most echelons.

If you'd like to save money and time and still grow your business, LinkedIn's the place to do it.

It is the vehicle to achieve your goals, from talent acquisition to networking, lead generation, investor sourcing and personal brand awareness.

And if you'd like all that the easy way, connect with me, and let's get the conversation rolling.

So get in touch!

📧  Email me at renier@flance.co.za 
🤝   Book a time with me on https://go.oncehub.com/RenierLombard 
💻   To see more, visit https://fdc.agency/linkedin/

Renier Lombard "The Digital Animal"

If you want to help South Africa,
Here’s my advice to all South African entrepreneurs:

Grow your business.

You don’t need to donate to every cause.
You don’t need to volunteer every weekend.
You don’t need to carry the country on your back.

You just need to build something that grows.

Here’s why 👇

1. Growth creates jobs
More revenue → more hires.
More hires → less unemployment.
Less unemployment → stronger families, communities, and futures.

That impact compounds fast.

2. Growth stimulates the economy
Growing businesses buy assets.
Pay suppliers.
Invest in systems.
Money moves. Confidence follows.

3. Global growth brings capital home
International clients = forex inflows.
Foreign capital strengthens the local economy.
That matters more than most people realise.

So if you’re asking how to contribute this year:

Don’t overcomplicate it.

Build.
Grow your business.
Hire more people.

If you have one goal this year, make it this.

Happy building 🚀

Renier Lombard

One relationship can change your business & life > Let me show you how to use your LinkedIn Personal Brand to find and attract those relationships. | Building in public. Follow to watch us build our agency.

I never went to a traditional high school.

When I finished primary school, I realised something pretty quickly: I could get my school work done far faster without someone constantly telling me what to do, when to do it, or how to do it. 

And to be honest, I hated being told what to do.

Primary school was great, but I always felt restricted. I knew I needed a different way of learning, something more practical, more hands-on, and more aligned with how my mind worked.

My dad noticed this early on. Instead of forcing me down a traditional path, he gave me a choice: take responsibility for my own education and do it my way, or go the conventional route. I chose to back myself.

He set up a small workspace next to his own office and supported me in completing my schooling through the UK Cambridge system online. This allowed me to learn at my own pace and in my own way, blending structured education with real-world exposure.

We still had dial-up internet back then, so it wasn’t exactly seamless, but I made it work.

My days weren’t just about studying. I spent hours sitting next to my dad, watching him negotiate, strategise, and run his small construction business. 

My “high school friends” weren’t classmates, they were my dad’s contractors. The construction workers, The carpenters, The plumbers, The electricians. I had lunch with them. I observed them. I engaged with them. I listened.

That became my real education.

This combination of self-directed learning and hands-on experience taught me discipline, independence, and a deep understanding of how business actually works. 

I finished school a year early, not because I was rushing, but because I was driven and motivated to learn on my own terms.

The most valuable lessons didn’t come from textbooks. They came from proximity, observing work ethic, decision-making, and problem-solving in real time. 

It showed me that while building a business is complex, it becomes far more manageable with the right mindset and systems.

Today, I apply those lessons daily as I lead our companies. 

And I encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to look beyond conventional education paths.

Sometimes the best school is life itself, and the best lessons are learned by doing.

Happy building ✌️

There are almost a million South Africans living abroad around the world.

Read that again.
Nearly a million.

South Africans are building companies in London boardrooms, Running mining operations in Perth, Scaling tech in Amsterdam, Closing deals in Dubai, And leading teams in New York.

We are wired to make a plan.
To figure things out.
To punch above our weight.

This is what The Lekker Network is really about.

Not complaining about why people left. But recognising that South African grit didn’t stop at the border.

We multiplied.

And what excites me most is what becomes possible when you connect them. Shared opportunities. Trusted introductions. Global reach with local heart.

We are everywhere.
Now it’s time to act like it.

Happy building!

And just like that.. the year is officially underway. 

We were back last week, but it feels like this is the week when the world really switches back on.

This morning kicked off with my first in-person meeting of the year with Nic Latouf and a few incredible Lekker Network supporters at the wonderful Tasha's, and honestly, the energy is next level.

We have so much planned for this year it’s almost hard to believe.

🌍 International meetups across nine countries, including:

-Netherlands (Mid February)
-Ireland (end of March)
-Isle of Man
-Australia
-Finland
-England
-USA
-China
-Dubai

Our first major international meetup will be in Amsterdam, and I’ll be sharing more details and comms on that very soon.

We’re also on track to hit 500 members at The Lekker Network, likely before the end of January. 🚀

Last year was about building, testing, refining, and learning what truly works. 

This year? We’re perfectly positioned to scale, market, and expand in a big way.

It’s going to be a significant year, and yes, we’re very glad we managed to squeeze in a bit of downtime, because things are about to get wildly busy.

Wishing everyone an incredible year ahead.

Nic and I are here for you, and we’re just getting started.

Let’s build. 🌍

What if generosity is our greatest strength?

South Africa was recently recognised as the most generous country in the world, based on a global study conducted by Remitly.

What matters is how generosity was measured.

This wasn’t about money.

It was about everyday human behaviour.

The study looked at things like:
>Empathy
>Emotional support
>Patience and kindness
>Willingness to put others first

Thousands of people across multiple countries were surveyed using a recognised behavioural scale, and South Africa came out on top. 

Not because we have the most, but because we show up for others.

And honestly, I think this is exactly why, as a country, we keep overcoming things.

- We always find a way through.
- We always come out the other side.

And I believe this is why.
It shows up in a simple question we ask so naturally:
 “How can I help you?”

So if there’s anything I’d love to encourage this year, it’s this:
Just keep being you.

- Be the South African you are.
- Be the generous person you are.
- Be the empathetic person you are.

That’s why we’ve been recognised.
That’s why this matters.

Let’s make generosity a daily habit in how we lead, how we do business, and how we show up for one another.

Because when you give time, energy, support, and belief, you receive tenfold.

I love buying from you, but I hate being sold to.

Most people join a network and immediately ask: Who can buy from me?

Wrong question.

The real value to be found in any network is in becoming the kind of person people want to introduce. The kind of person people trust and want in their corner.

If you walk into a community guns blazing, you will get isolated fast.
If you walk in curious, you will get pulled into rooms you did not even know existed.

Ask questions.
Observe first.
Connect people without needing a kick back.
Help someone solve a problem, even if it does nothing for you today.

Because the funny thing about business is this.

People buy from the people they like.
People buy from the people they trust.
People buy from the people who played the long game.

Put in the time, and you will be surprised by the outsized returns.

Just under a year ago, this was an idea.

Today, we’re ten months into building something special.

The Lekker Network has grown into a global community of South African business owners, professionals, founders, and investors, connected across continents, industries, and time zones.

And in March, we take a big step forward.

We’re hosting our first annual Lekker Network Summit in Cape Town.
A two-day, fully catered gathering with 200+ confirmed attendees already locked in > business owners, professionals, investors, and members flying in from around the world.

We’ve lined up some exceptional speakers, including:

- John Sanei
- Christo Wiese (fireside chat)
- Barry Hilton, speaking openly about mental health

Add to that world-class catering by Bertus Basson, curated experiences, and a room full of people who genuinely want to connect, collaborate, and build.

Because of demand, we’ve decided to open a limited number of tickets to the public.

Only 25 tickets are available.

They are paid tickets, fully catered, and once they’re gone, they’re gone.

If you’re a business owner or professional, based anywhere in the world, and you’d like to be part of this experience in Cape Town, 

send me a DM and I’ll share the ticket link.

Cheers 🙌🏼

Happy 2026 to all our wonderful followers and connections here on LinkedIn. 

We’re kicking off the year with something special.

Have a listen to this powerful song that Guy Ellis and Tanner Wareham have collaborated on.

Guy wrote this song for The Lekker Network, and for all South Africans, wherever they may be in the world.

It speaks to our shared spirit, our connection, and the belief that no matter where we land, we still belong to something bigger.

We collaborated with Tanner to bring this to life, and this marks his first song of 2026, which makes it even more special.

He’ll also be performing live at The Lekker Network Summit in March, which is going to be phenomenal.

The idea of South Africa’s 10th province, spread across the world but united by the same heartbeat, has never felt more real. And 2026 is shaping up to be an absolute banger of a year.

We’ve got close to 25 international  Lekker Network events planned across the globe, incredible people coming together, and big things ahead for this community.

Wishing everyone a beautiful, successful, and meaningful 2026.

Let’s build, connect, and show up for one another.

Remember this one? 
Good luck getting this out of your head today! 

It's a silly, simple ad that worked because it understood something important.

South Africans buy familiarity. 
We buy humour. 
We buy brands that make you smile before they make you buy. 
That feels like a braai conversation with mates on a Sunday. 

That's the lesson here for every brand trying to “localise” their message.

Culture isn’t a gimmick.
It’s a shortcut to trust.

If you tap into it with respect, people lean in.
If you miss it, they scroll right past, or worse, never look again. 

We remember that Wimpy ad because it wasn’t trying to be clever.

It was trying to be South African.

And that’s usually enough.

There are certain places in the world that quietly mark turning points in our lives.

This is the Platō Coffee, just as you exit Stellenbosch towards Somerset West.

In April 2024, I had just stopped here after a meeting to grab a coffee.

That’s when my phone rang.

It was Nic Latouf

We hadn’t spoken properly in almost a year. Out of the blue, he called and said:

“Renier, I need help. Will you come and help me build The Lekker Network?”

It didn’t take much convincing.

I’d been watching what was happening online. I could feel the momentum. I wanted to be part of it.

Standing there, coffee in hand, I said YES > without hesitation.

“Let’s do this. Let’s take this journey together.”

That moment changed everything.

My trajectory shifted.
My future took a different path.

And this spot became etched in my memory as the place where that decision was made.

I’ll always remember Plato as the place where I said yes, and where my life changed course.

Do you have places like this in your journey?

A café, a street corner, a parking lot…

A spot where one decision changed everything?

👇 Would love to hear your story.

Helping Founders Become Thought Leaders | Founder of Cue Studios

You’re already sitting on a goldmine (your personal brand). Let’s unlock it.

I never set out to "build a personal brand." I just started sharing what I knew.

And then, something unexpected happened. Opportunities started coming my way. Clients. Speaking invites. Partnerships.

That was my first “aha” moment. This isn’t just posting online. It’s a growth engine.

Most founders ignore their personal brand. Here’s why that’s a mistake.

Right now, you’re running a business. You’re solving problems. You’re having conversations every day that could be turned into valuable content.

But instead:

• You don’t know what to talk about
• You’re not sure how you want to come across
• You’re not leveraging your experience to attract the right people

What if I told you you don’t have to do anything extra?

Your daily insights are already content. You just need the right strategy to get it in front of the right people.

This is where I come in.

I help founders turn their expertise into authority without wasting time or chasing vanity metrics.

What I do:

• Define your personal brand. Who you are, what you stand for, and how you should show up online
• Create the right content for the right audience so you attract clients, investors, or opportunities
• Develop a system so your brand runs without taking over your life

And here’s what happens when we get it right:

• Speaking engagements on top-tier stages
• Inbound leads and investment opportunities
• Industry recognition that makes you the go-to name in your field
• A network of high-value relationships that drive your business forward

I’ve helped tech founders, Web3 builders, and executives grow their influence and I can help you do the same.

So, what’s your next move?

You can keep letting others control the narrative about who you are.

Or you can start shaping it yourself and attract the kind of opportunities that change everything.

DM me or book a call. Let’s make your brand work for you.

Byron Grealy

I hit 10k followers.

Eight days later than planned.

I know it’s just a number.
I also know people with 2k followers who make more money than people with 100k.

So no, it’s not an objective measure of success.

But to me, it means something else.

It means I’m slowly building a network of smart, capable people who are at least mildly interested in what I put out.
It means conversations, pushback, support, and the odd disagreement that forces me to think properly.

Putting your thoughts out there does two things:

• It broadens the surface area for opportunity.
• It keeps you honest by pressure testing your ideas in public.

2025 brought a lot of change for me.
I expect 2026 to do the same.

Thanks to everyone who’s been following, engaging, agreeing, disagreeing, and sticking around.

On to the next milestone.

I spent a lot of my early career second-guessing my decisions.

Waiting for certainty would have kept me stuck.

I finished university without a clear plan and took a role at a startup as the only employee. 
I learned a lot, then realised it was heading in a direction I didn’t agree with, so I moved on.

Still no plan. 

At that point, the only thing I was sure about was that I wanted to live and work abroad. 

With a fairly weak passport, that narrowed my options, so I worked backwards.
Teaching English opened the door, I applied to anywhere that would take me, and I ended up in Hong Kong.

From there, a pattern formed. 

Periods of comfort followed by the urge to stretch myself, step into discomfort, and grow. 
Each move added something, even when it didn’t feel that way at the time.

I met my wife there, and she’s pushed me at every stage since. 
When I felt drawn towards something new, I committed properly. 
Not everything lasted, but I always stayed long enough to learn before deciding what was next.

Looking back, that approach mattered more than having a perfect plan.

Most people early in their careers wait for certainty. 
They research, compare themselves to others, and look for reassurance that rarely arrives.

I was the same.

Some research helps. 
Too much of it keeps you stuck.

Clarity comes from movement, taking action. 
Experience compounds when you make the call, learn quickly, and adjust.

You don’t need all the answers upfront. 
You need action, and then you need to keep the momentum.

What's the "riskiest" career decision that you've made?

Ever notice how some things feel effortless...

While others feel like you’re constantly pushing uphill?

You can have the same ambition, the same goals, and still get completely different results depending on where you place yourself.

When progress feels hard, most people assume they are the problem and try to force change through effort alone. 

In my experience, that’s not the only solution.

What makes progress feel easier isn’t just willpower. 
It’s being pulled in the right direction.

And that's because of proximity.

If you surround yourself with people who train daily, compete, and care about performance, certain behaviours stop feeling optional. 
Skipping a workout feels strange. 
Training twice a day feels normal. 
You’re not pushing yourself, you’re matching the standard around you.

Earning works the same way.

In some countries (like where I'm from), earning $5k a month puts you well ahead of the average person. 
Life feels comfortable and stable. 

But place yourself in a room where people earn $200k a month, and your perspective completely changes. 
Your ceiling breaks, and your thinking changes without conscious effort.

Nothing about you changed. 
Your environment did.

This is why pushing can work long-term, but changing your surroundings works faster.

It’s also why I moved to Dubai. 
It completely shifted how I think about business and what I believe is possible.

If you want growth to feel less forced, don’t push harder. 
Put yourself somewhere that pulls you forward.

It doesn't have to be moving country, but it does mean actively finding your tribe. 

What change in proximity had the biggest impact on you?

Founders are starting to realise that the only real moat left is you.

It's about how people connect with you before they ever touch your product.
With your personality and how you think.

And the only way to build that connection at scale is content.

The mistake most founders make is thinking content means starting from scratch every time.
A new post. A new idea. Expending lots of energy for each platform.

That’s why it feels exhausting.
And why so many founders give up.

In reality, you only need one source of truth.
One piece of content where you do the heavy lifting once.

That could be:

• A podcast episode
• A YouTube video
• A long-form article

You’ve already done the work, so letting it live once and disappear makes no sense.

That single piece can become multiple:

• LinkedIn posts
• X posts
• Shorts, Instagram or TikTok videos
• A blog
• A newsletter

Same idea. Different formats.

There are plenty of ways to break it down, but the principle is simple.
When you have a system, the effort is front-loaded.
The thinking happens once, and everything else gets easier.

Do the heavy lifting once.
And use it to connect with people at scale.

Perception isn’t about tricking people into thinking you’re someone you’re not.

It’s about becoming the person you say you are.

I see a lot of people doing content like it’s a chore. 
Doing the bare minimum with their posts.
Leaving low-effort AI comments.

Yes, you’re “showing up”, but the signal you’re sending isn’t competence or credibility.

It’s laziness.

And that’s a problem, because the whole point of building a personal brand is to create better opportunities, not repel them.

Perception doesn’t change because you say the right things.
It changes when your behaviour does.

When you actually take the time.
When the effort is obvious.
When you give a shit.

You don’t fake your way into a better reputation.
You earn it by becoming the person you want to be seen as.

Most founders say they don’t post because they don’t have time.

The real cost is not time.
It’s not starting.

Here’s what waiting actually does:

1. You postpone connection.
People don't connect with finished brands as much as they connect with people figuring things out.

2. You hide the part that builds trust.
The building is the proof. People don't expect polished outcomes anymore. 
The process is what earns belief.

3. You let others define the space.
While you wait to be “ready,” someone else becomes the familiar voice in your market.

4. You misunderstand what a brand really is.
A brand is not visuals or messaging. It's repeated exposure to how you think.

5. You delay your only real moat.
Products are now easy to copy with AI and markets shift. 
But your point of view compounds.

Building a business is never perfect.
Everyone already knows that.

The sooner you start posting, the sooner people can grow with you.

What are you waiting for?

Most of the lessons that actually shape you can’t be taught.

They have to be lived.

Chris Williamson wrote an essay on unteachable lessons, and it’s the reason I’m writing this.

It made me reflect on how my relationship with advice has changed over time.
Both receiving it and giving it.

When you’re late teens or early 20s, you think you know everything.
Advice gets brushed off because you assume you’re different.
Your situation is always the exception.
So you learn the hard way anyway.

I was exactly like that.

I got plenty of good advice and ignored most of it.
Then years later, I learned the same lessons through experience and realised they were right all along.

That’s changed how I give advice now.

When I speak to people in that age bracket, I don’t expect them to listen just because I’ve been there.
It's obvious now that unteachable lessons don’t land through words.
They have to land through action, failure, and consequence.

So instead of trying to convince them, I’m experimenting with a different approach:

• Call out inaction
• Push them to take the first step
• If they're ready, hold them accountable
• Let them learn by doing
• Encourage faster failure
• Shorten the feedback loop

The goal isn’t to be right.
It’s to help them reach the lesson sooner.

Learning by doing and failing has become a core part of my life.
I just wish I embraced it earlier.

I’ll drop Chris’s essay in the comments.

taplio

The Battle

Renier Lombard "The Digital Animal"

Byron Grealy

Followers

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Performance ScoreRenier Lombard "The Digital Animal"'s LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreByron Grealy's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Renier Lombard "The Digital Animal"

Byron Grealy

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Renier Lombard "The Digital Animal"'s LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreByron Grealy's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreRenier Lombard "The Digital Animal"'s LinkedIn Performance