Shane Mac

Quick Facts

• Current Focus: Co-founder and President at XMTP; building communication protocol infrastructure
• App Product: Convos Messenger on the App Store, built by XMTP Labs
• Prior Company: Co-founder and CEO of Assist (acquired by Conversocial in 2019)
• Earlier Exit: Worked on Gist, acquired by BlackBerry for over $40M
• Investor Role: Founder and GP at Logos Labs, investing in product-first teams

What He Is Building Now

XMTP is an open communication protocol intended to make messaging portable and permissionless across apps, wallets, and communities. Shane has framed it as base-layer communication infrastructure for the next generation of the web.

Convos is the consumer expression of that work: a privacy-forward messaging app with no phone number requirement, ephemeral "explode" chats, and open-source security assumptions backed by XMTP.

Companies and Product History

• Assist: Built AI and conversational commerce products used by large brands before its acquisition
• Squared Away: Co-founded to create remote executive-assistant opportunities for military spouses
• Gist: Early social CRM product that reached scale before acquisition
• Zaarly: Led product during a difficult chapter he openly describes as a major learning experience

Network and Backing

XMTP's disclosed investor group includes major funds and operators such as a16z Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, and angels including Naval Ravikant and Alexis Ohanian. That blend of capital and operator support is a big signal on the size of the opportunity.

Why This Page Matters

Shane is a strong example of founder evolution: multiple companies, real wins, hard failures, and a clear return to first-principles product building. The combination of protocol-level work plus a polished App Store product makes him especially relevant to keep in a high-value founder network.