Finbarr Taylor

Energizer
DISC Type : I

Angel Investor at Self-employed

San Francisco Bay Area, United States

Overview

Finbarr Taylor is a Scottish software engineer turned Silicon Valley founder and angel investor. He co-founded the e-commerce platform Shogun, scaling it to an 8-figure ARR. A graduate of the University of Strathclyde, he previously built internal tools at Y Combinator. People who have worked with him describe him as an "exceptionally talented software engineer" and an "ideas generator".

Outside of his professional life, Finbarr is an avid outdoorsman currently on a personal mission to visit every US National Park. He balances his love for the outdoors with his passion for technology and helping other founders succeed.

He won the Charles Babbage Prize for his thesis project on using tactile feedback for predictive text entry.

Personality Overview

Imaginative

Believer

Informal

Unlike C or D types, they are vocal with their opinions but not so much with their questions.  They are not always early adopters but can be pursuaded by leveraging strong relationships. They are people oriented, friendly and like creating new connections.

Topics They Care About

Founder Mentorship
As an angel investor, he is committed to mentoring founders through fundraising, strategy, and the general challenges of startup life, leveraging his own experiences.
E-commerce Technology
Co-founded and led Shogun, an e-commerce storefront optimization startup, for nearly a decade. He has deep expertise in building tools that help merchants grow.
Capital Efficiency
His investment philosophy favors startups that can scale efficiently without large teams, believing this is the future of successful companies.

Media Appearances

Finbarr has no verified media appearances

Work History

Angel Investor at Self-employed
1-2015
Founder & Board Director at Shogun
1-2025 - 9-2025
CTO at Shogun
8-2023 - 8-2024
CTO at Shogun
2-2016 - 6-2017
Software Engineer at Y Combinator

Education

2006 - 2011
Master of Engineering with distinction from University of Strathclyde

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 5 Location : San Francisco Bay Area, United States Job Level : Leadership Designation : Angel Investor at Self-employed
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Insights For Selling To Finbarr

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Share some stories about how you you have helped people in similar positions succeed
  • Be friendly and entertaining in your conversation
  • Use phrases like ‘people will love’, ‘massive impact’ etc.

DONT's

  • Don’t push them to make a decision too fast, let them get comfortable first
  • Don’t assume a yes just because they have not said no
  • Avoid ifs and buts, don’t talk too much about the risks etc.

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Finbarr is

  • Relationship and trust can be vital with them, sometimes more than anything else.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Finbarr

  • They are unlikely to say no directly, you have to make that decision yourself.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Finbarr move?

  • They are not the fastest decision makers, their friendly approach can give false positive signals.
  • Can Finbarr take some risk or not?

  • They can take certain risks that are unlikely to have personal consequences.

You And Finbarr

Personality Compatibility


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