
Hello, I'm Finbarr Taylor, a Scottish software engineer, startup founder and angel investor based in Silicon Valley.
I co-founded Shogun and led the company to 8 figure ARR and $100m+ VC raised as CEO.
I also worked for Y Combinator and some other companies as a software engineer, and have invested in dozens of startups.
Currently, I'm focused on helping early stage founders. In my free time, I'm working towards my goal of visiting every US National Park, balancing my love of the indoors with my love of the outdoors.
Select Projects and Work History
Shogun (2014-2024) · Co-founder and CTO->CEO->CTO
Co-founded Shogun, an e-commerce storefront optimization startup that raised over $100 million in venture capital funding. Helped tens of thousands of merchants drive billions in sales annually. Led the company as CEO for ~8 years and CTO for ~2 years.
Y Combinator (2016-2017) · Software Engineer
Contributed to the development of Y Combinator's tools and platforms, supporting the growth of numerous startups, and YC's investing activities. Wrote a blog post about work on Investor Day. Built the first version of Startup School.
Pebble (2013, 2014) · Software Engineer (contract)
Built software to manage the launch of Pebble Time and Pebble Steel. Rebuilt entire order management system. Built a pre-order management system for the Pebble Time Smartwatch - a $20m Kickstarter campaign.
Giveit100 (2013-2014) · Co-founder and CTO
Co-founded Giveit100, a video site for inspirational progress videos. Attracted over 100,000 members with 40m+ combined video views. Innovated in video technology, implementing instant-play on hover and tackling performance challenges for hundreds of videos per page.
Exec (2012-2013) · Software Engineer
Developed core products including algorithms to schedule thousands of deliveries, errands, and house cleanings. Improved worker schedules and utilization, significantly increasing Exec's operating margin.
Groupon (2011-2012) · Software Engineer
Wrote and maintained infrastructure responsible for all orders placed on the Groupon website. Built large scale web applications with Ruby on Rails.
Select Angel Investments
I love supporting early stage founders and sometimes angel invest.
Name | Year | Stage | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|
Fathom Video | 2020 | Pre-seed | Live |
Deel | 2021 | Series B | Live |
DexScreener | 2022 | Pre-seed | Live |
Bland.ai | 2023 | Pre-seed | Live |
CrewAI | 2024 | Pre-seed | Live |
Latest Blog Posts
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September 23, 2024 · Hello, world.
Exploring US National Parks
I'm on a mission to explore every single US National Park. 31 down, 32 to go.
American Samoa
Arches

Badlands
Big Bend
Biscayne

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Bryce Canyon

Canyonlands

Capitol Reef
Carlsbad Caverns

Channel Islands
Congaree
Crater Lake

Cuyahoga Valley

Death Valley

Denali
Dry Tortugas
Everglades

Gates of the Arctic
Gateway Arch
Glacier
Glacier Bay
Grand Canyon

Grand Teton

Great Basin
Great Sand Dunes
Great Smoky Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains
Haleakalā

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes

Hot Springs
Indiana Dunes
Isle Royale
Joshua Tree

Katmai
Kenai Fjords
Kings Canyon

Kobuk Valley
Lake Clark
Lassen Volcanic

Mammoth Cave
Mesa Verde

Mount Rainier
New River Gorge

North Cascades
Olympic

Petrified Forest

Pinnacles

Redwood

Rocky Mountain

Saguaro

Sequoia

Shenandoah

Theodore Roosevelt
Virgin Islands
Voyageurs
White Sands

Wind Cave
Wrangell–St. Elias
Yellowstone

Yosemite

Zion
