Founder-led advisory & execution

Independent advice and hands-on support for building and growing businesses.

Hero-ic helps founders, leadership teams and investors assess opportunities, strengthen their financial plans and turn ideas into practical progress.

Philip Holbrook brings institutional finance experience alongside first-hand experience of founding technology businesses, developing products and navigating changing markets.

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CFA charterholder
Institutional investment and treasury background
Cambridge MBA
Awarded with distinction
Founder experience
Built and led a venture-backed technology business
Working style
Direct, practical and grounded in your commercial reality

Services

Support shaped around what the business actually needs

Most conversations start with one of a handful of needs: choosing a direction, preparing for funding, developing a new proposition, improving financial visibility, or getting an important project delivered.

The work is organised under six headings. Open any of them for the problems it addresses and what you can expect to come away with.

About

Philip Holbrook

Founder, Hero-ic

Philip Holbrook is a CFA charterholder and Cambridge MBA whose career spans institutional treasury and structured finance, technology company founding and commercial strategy.

He combines the perspective of a capital provider with the experience of building a business, developing products, managing limited resources and working through difficult decisions.

Philip Holbrook, founder of Hero-ic

CFA charterholder · Cambridge MBA (Distinction) · Former Prudential · Founder, encloud

Institutional finance

Senior roles in investment, treasury and structured finance at Prudential, a global insurance and asset management group. Experience across multi-asset portfolios, structured lending and regulatory-driven transactions.

Founding

Founded and led encloud, a venture-backed technology business, securing funding led by the University of Cambridge. First-hand experience of developing products, managing constrained resources and navigating changing markets.

Commercial strategy

Worked with private and public companies on positioning, narrative and financial strategy — often where capital, product and commercial decisions meet.

How I work

Scoped around the business need

Support can take the form of a focused review, a defined project or an ongoing advisory or fractional assignment. Scope and deliverables are agreed around the business need.

Focused review
A short, independent assessment of a specific question — a plan, a decision, a set of numbers.
Defined project
A piece of work with clear outcomes, a timeline and agreed deliverables.
Ongoing advisory
Regular input as decisions arise, without a large retained commitment.
Fractional assignment
Embedded, part-time support where the business needs a specific capability for a period.

Areas

Experience and interest

The work is not restricted to any sector. The areas below are where Philip has direct experience or an active interest.

Experience

  • 01
    Financial technology and fintech

    Building and advising businesses that sit between finance and technology.

  • 02
    Cloud and enterprise infrastructure

    Products and platforms built for scale, security and cost discipline.

  • 03
    Structured finance and credit

    Institutional treasury, lending structures and regulatory-driven transactions.

Interest

  • 01
    Digital assets

    Where digital asset models intersect with mainstream financial practice.

  • 02
    Private AI and applied machine learning

    Practical, well-governed AI where it earns its place in a business.

  • 03
    Environmentally beneficial businesses

    Ventures whose commercial case and environmental case reinforce each other.

Evidence

A career at the intersection of capital, technology and building businesses

Selected, attributable detail from Philip’s career. No client names or confidential results are disclosed.

Prudential
Senior roles in investment, treasury and structured finance at a global insurance and asset management group, including establishing and leading a structured finance business unit and managing a multi-asset, multi-currency portfolio.
encloud
Founded and led a venture-backed technology business, securing funding led by the University of Cambridge and building enterprise cloud infrastructure.
Commercial
Worked with private and public companies on positioning, narrative and financial strategy where capital, product and commercial decisions meet.
Qualifications
CFA charterholder, Investment Management Certificate and Cambridge MBA, awarded with distinction.

Start a conversation

Discuss what you are working on

Tell me a little about the business and the decision in front of you. There is no obligation and no fixed pitch — the first conversation is about whether I can genuinely help.

Response
Usually within one working day
Confidentiality
Discussions are treated as confidential