About Daniel

I’m Daniel Sheppard, a builder, operator, and fractional executive with over 20 years of experience turning strategic ideas into scalable businesses. My career has been defined by a founder’s mindset: owning P&Ls, validating markets, and leading complex product and operational initiatives across companies ranging from early-stage startups to global technology leaders.

I’ve built a $100M product portfolio from scratch with Rackspace, scaled global consumer applications to 80M+ users at Google, and launched enterprise programs that generated billions in committed revenue. Before that, I led major infrastructure and ERP transformations at Electronic Arts and McGraw-Hill, driving millions in operational savings.

Outside of work, I’m a father of four, married to my wife Sara, and have lived just outside Austin for 14 years. I’m an avid DIYer; woodworking, home improvement, and cooking anywhere I can put my creativeity to work to build! When I am not building I enjoy coaching my daughters’ softball teams. I founded Sheppard Strategy to bring that same distinct blend of hands-on craftsmanship and dedicated coaching to the business world, helping founders turn their vision into enduring reality.

My Passion

My passion has always centered around mentorship, coaching, and teaching. Whether I’m working with founders, emerging leaders, or internal teams, I love helping people grow into the strongest versions of themselves. Guiding others by giving them clarity, confidence, and the tools to succeed, energizes me!

I’m also driven by a deep passion for building. In my career, that means building products, systems, teams, and scalable businesses. In my personal life, it shows up in the form of carpentry, woodworking, furniture making, refinishing, and DIY projects. There’s something meaningful about taking raw materials (whether wood or an early-stage idea), and turning them into something strong, useful, and lasting.

At my core, I’m a builder and a teacher. I love developing people, creating things with my hands, and bringing structure and purpose to whatever I’m working on. Those passions guide how I show up in my work and in my life.

My Goals

My mission is simple: help leaders build lasting companies, not just successful ones.

I believe strategy only matters when it becomes action. I started Sheppard Strategy because too many organizations have vision but lack the operational muscle, systems, technology, and leadership depth to execute at the next level.

My “why” is helping teams break through that barrier by providing the experience, stability, and execution they need to scale with confidence. When a founder or CEO can finally step out of the weeds, operate at their highest level, and watch their business run the way they always imagined — that’s why I do this.

I’m here to help turn ambition into reality, and vision into something that lasts.