Lian Mico
Founder & CEO, Pentalian Ltd
Overview
At Pentalian our happy place is qualitative research methodologies, and it’s our joy and privilege to answer our client’s business and research objectives through the right blend of communities, in-depth-interviews, focus groups, secondary research, ethnography, and more!
Services
Pentalian is founded on the principle of doing things right. With consideration given to quality, time, budget, people & planet, we work to uncover insights, share stories and craft recommendations to help make the world a better place one product, service and innovation at a time.
Whilst we specialise in qualitative research, and where the brief calls for it, we enhance this with quantitative solutions through our in-house capabilities or selected partners.
We tailor our approach to each brief, combining our expertise with the right blend of research tradition and technology – including AI – to deliver meaningful insights and actions, keeping in mind the pillars of our Pentalian Pentagram.
When it benefits the project, we partner with trusted experts to bring additional statistical, cultural, subject matter or local knowledge. We don’t see our clients as dollar signs, but rather unique relationships built on trust and nurtured over time, enjoying each one’s individual, special quirks. Pentagrams – much like the one that forms our business and project pillars – have a long history of rebellion, luck, health, golden ratios and, especially, magic.
Summon us to find out more about how Pentalian can bring some magic to your next research project.
About
With a career in market research spanning 16 years, I have expertise across a range of sectors including travel & tourism, media, telecoms, utilities, retail/fashion, education, food & drink and FMCG. My experience spans B2C and B2B across client- and agency-side roles, combining research, operational delivery and business improvement. My career, however, didn’t begin with research. It began with a girl and a dream.
That girl is now a founder and multi-business owner, but originally, I wanted to be an actress. And so – like many good researchers – I found my way into this industry entirely by accident! At 17, I was already showing entrepreneurial instincts, even finding myself rubbing shoulders with Dragon’s Den’s Peter Jones, long before I truly understood what a career in research could look like. At that point, “research” meant little more to me than a paper survey filled in with different coloured pens. Fast forward to 2025 and after more than 15 years in market research I made the decision to step away from the constraints of large-scale research models and carve my own path!
When I’m not helping businesses make smarter decisions, I’m usually event planning or mixing cocktails at my cocktail bar.
