Shane Mac on Communication and Formative Collaborations

The Altogether Show with Eric Satz

Shane Mac is particularly proud of one of the several successful companies he co-founded in the last 10 years: Squared Away. Co-founded with his former assistant without venture funding, Squared Away connects military spouses with quality remote employment opportunities.

In addition to Squared Away, Shane is the co-founder and President of XMTP, founder and General Partner of Logos Labs, and a passionate writer and musician. He also co-founded and served as CEO of Assist, which was acquired by Verint after merging with Conversocial.

In this episode, Shane provides insight into his impressive trajectory, beginning with crucial advice he received from his brother during his senior year of high school. He discusses the additional influential figures who have helped shape his path and what they have accomplished together by embracing curiosity and communication. Shane opens up about managing anxiety and sobriety while discussing relocating from San Francisco to Nashville, and his exciting ideas for the “switchboard” city. Later in the episode, Shane talks Eric through his current projects, including a glimpse into his ready-to-launch XMTP, a new communication protocol for Web3, which, if all goes well, will be virtually invisible.

• (1:44) – Following his curiosity
• (4:55) – A brother’s impact
• (6:21) – Baseball
• (8:09) – Finding music
• (12:32) – Exploring e-commerce
• (15:00) – Microblogging
• (17:25) – Developing Assist
• (23:33) – Examining company culture
• (28:03) – Squared Away
• (35:12) – Escaping San Francisco for Nashville
• (37:01) – Dealing with anxiety
• (40:24) – Designing the perfect day
• (43:50) – Cauliflower gnocchi and Taco Bell
• (47:05) – XMTP
• (57:44) – Logos Labs

Eric Satz—entrepreneur, serial investor, lover of hot peppers— is the founder and CEO of Alto. The idea behind Alto was born out of a problem. Eric found a clear need to give people more control over their investments (and investment opportunities) in a simple, streamlined way and created Alto to make these opportunities available to all investors, not just the ultra-wealthy or institutional investors.

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Podcast episode production by Dante32.