Duncan McDowell

Enthusiast
DISC Type : i

Head of Engineering at Ground News

Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

Overview

Duncan McDowell is an engineering leader with a passion for building companies and scaling teams from the ground up, notably growing an engineering organization from 0 to 50. He possesses expertise in data engineering pipelines and achieving SOC 2 compliance. He holds a Masters degree from the University of Waterloo.

Having built companies in San Francisco, NYC, Miami, and Kitchener-Waterloo, Duncan values diverse experiences. He recently took a career break focused on health and well-being, spending time with family and friends to recharge before his next venture. People who have worked with him describe him as skillful, dedicated, and passionate.

He has successfully led engineering for a company as it scaled from 100 to over 3000 residents.

Personality Overview

Non-Confrontational

Story Driven

Consensus Focused

They are more about building relationships than just cutting deals.  Unlike D or C types, they are convinced more by stories and testimonials. They agree with others often, so exercise caution when relying on their word.

Topics They Care About

Scaling Engineering Teams
He has a passion for taking teams from "zero to one" and has experience growing an engineering organization from 0 to 50 members at Bungalow.
Data Engineering Pipelines
At Korbit AI, he was responsible for creating data pipelines using tools like Airbyte, Snowflake, and Metabase to drive data-driven decisions.
Proactive Career Growth
He has publicly advised engineers to be proactive and seek one-on-one time with leadership to stand out and advance their careers.

Media Appearances

Duncan has no verified media appearances

Work History

10-2025
Head of Engineering at Ground News
12-2023 - 6-2025
Vice President of Engineering at Korbit AI
3-2023 - 12-2023
Health and well-being at Career Break
4-2020 - 3-2023
VP of Engineering at Bungalow
9-2018 - 4-2020
Director Of Engineering at Bungalow

Education

2009 - 2010
Masters from University of Waterloo
2014 - 2014
Education details unavailable from AngelPad

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 11 Location : Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Job Level : Mid-senior Designation : Head of Engineering at Ground News
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Insights For Selling To Duncan

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Invite them for a lunch or a drink/coffee
  • Refer to interesting customer testimonials and stress on great customer experience
  • Speak from experience about success that the product has seen with other customers

DONT's

  • Don’t be too formal with them, they trust informality more
  • Avoid overloading them with too much information
  • Don’t ask too many questions in one go, weave them into the flow

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Duncan is

  • Relationships and rapport matter to them, but so does the value of the product.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Duncan

  • They probably won't say no directly.


Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Duncan move?

  • They are not the ones to make fast decisions, even while they stay committed.
  • Can Duncan take some risk or not?

  • If it seems really necessary, they can take small risks.

You And Duncan

Personality Compatibility


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