Lisa Van Gelder

Inspirer
DISC Type : id

VP, Engineering at Pleo

London, England, United Kingdom

Overview

Lisa van Gelder is the VP of Engineering at Pleo, an experienced leader focused on scaling engineering organizations and aligning technical strategy with business objectives. An alumna of The University of Manchester, colleagues describe her as a strong, collaborative leader and an excellent coach.

Lisa is passionate about sharing her expertise through public speaking at conferences like Lead Dev and appearing on podcasts. She enjoys discussing how to debug teams and create environments where engineers can excel, focusing on mastery, autonomy, purpose, and safety.

She is a published author with three essays in the book "97 Things Every Engineering Manager Should Know".

Personality Overview

Charming & Persuasive

Confident & Optimistic

Fast Adopter

They usually prefer to drive the conversation.  They respond well to objective pitches but also attach some value to relationships. They don’t mind taking a stand if they believe in something.

Topics They Care About

Debugging Engineering Teams
A core passion of hers, she has appeared on podcasts to discuss her methods for debugging teams and removing obstacles to improve engineering execution.
Engineering Management
Authored three essays in "97 Things Every Engineering Manager Should Know, " covering topics like engineering ladders and psychological safety, showcasing her thought leadership.
Scaling Tech Organizations
Brought in post-Series A at a previous company specifically to scale the technology and the team to support a 10x increase in customers.

Media Appearances

Lisa has no verified media appearances

Work History

7-2025
VP, Engineering at Pleo
3-2025 - 7-2025
Interim VP Engineering at Pleo
3-2021 - 12-2023
VP of Engineering at Avvir
1-2020 - 2-2021
SVP Engineering (CTO) at Spring Health
10-2017 - 9-2019
VP, Engineering at Meetup

Education

1997 - 1998
MA from The University of Manchester
1994 - 1997
BA from The University of Manchester

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 7 Location : London, England, United Kingdom Job Level : Senior Designation : VP, Engineering at Pleo
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Insights For Selling To Lisa

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Clearly address the competitive aspects
  • Look like someone who is on top of their game
  • Get them to a point where they are ready to bat for your product internally

DONT's

  • Don’t be very informal even if they are being so themselves
  • Don’t keep repeating the same information, it could make them impatient
  • Don’t be too verbose or overly friendly; a little bit, however, is fine

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Lisa is

  • Confidence in the product’s value is critical, followed by relationship and a sense of achievement.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Lisa

  • They will not hesitate to say no if they do not develop conviction.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Lisa move?

  • If they develop confidence in your product and you, then they can make fast decisions.
  • Can Lisa take some risk or not?

  • If necessary, they have the ability to take risky decisions.

You And Lisa

Personality Compatibility


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