George Sheppard

Visionary
DISC Type : Ds

Founding Engineer at Highlo

Farnborough, England, United Kingdom

Overview

George is an engineering leader with over 15 years of experience building and scaling fintech and AI products from the ground up. A graduate of the University of Birmingham, he has a track record of launching platforms to millions of users at startups like Highlo, Treecard, and Banked. Colleagues describe him as an innovative, passionate, and customer-focused leader.

Outside of work, George is a family man who recently welcomed his third child. He is a vocal advocate for more supportive paternity leave rights, sharing his personal perspective on the financial challenges that new fathers often face during this important time.

He has a keen interest in the quirks of AI, once sharing his amusement when an LLM had an "existential crisis" over whether the seahorse emoji exists.

Personality Overview

Risk Tolerant

Direct & Assertive

Objective Evaluator

They might take some time to make their mind up but once they do, they don't change it easily.  They exhibit a rare combination of being result-oriented but patient at the same time. Reading between the lines and seeing beyond your words comes naturally to them.

Topics They Care About

AI Product Building
As the Founding Engineer at Highlo, he is building an AI-powered product from scratch and shares his experiences using LLMs in development.
Fintech Platforms
Has extensive experience leading engineering for fintech products at companies like Cleo AI, Banked, and Treecard, focusing on payments and consumer apps.
Zero-to-One Products
Specializes in the 0→1 building phase, having successfully launched multiple new products and scaled them to millions of users and significant revenue.

Media Appearances

George has no verified media appearances

Work History

5-2025 - 12-2025
Founding Engineer at Highlo
1-2023 - 2-2025
VP of Engineering at Treecard
6-2021 - 1-2023
Lead Engineer at Treecard
3-2020 - 5-2021
Principal Engineer at Banked :
10-2019 - 1-2020
Technical Lead at Imagine Mortgages Ltd

Education

MRes from University of Birmingham
BSC (Hons) from University of Leeds

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 7 Location : Farnborough, England, United Kingdom Job Level : N/A Designation : Founding Engineer at Highlo
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Insights For Selling To George

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Come across as a trustworthy professional and be respectful, they usually know their game
  • Ask them at the end if they see a strong value prop in your product; expect an honest answer
  • Stick to your standard pitch and qualifying script, don't try to wing it

DONT's

  • Don't take their patience for granted, avoid long-winding sermons
  • Don't go over them unless you are left with no other option
  • Avoid putting conscious effort into relationship-building

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with George is

  • Strong proof of impact and their conviction will matter the most, but they wouldn't want to act unilaterally either
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from George

  • They will say no if they are not convinced but you will have to prompt them.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will George move?

  • They will want to understand things well but can move fast once they have a clear picture.
  • Can George take some risk or not?

  • They have good risk tolerance but are likely to think it through once or twice.

You And George

Personality Compatibility


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