Shannon McClenaghan

This entrepreneur sold award-winning vibrators, scaled smart ovens to a $250M exit, and raised $15M for AI dog tech.

Shannon McClenaghan started her career in law.

She was a transactional attorney in real estate and corporate law, working with clients like Microsoft, TIAA-CREF, and Transamerica.

But in 1999, she made a pivot.

She co-founded Vectiv.

A SaaS platform that helped big-box retailers like Home Depot and Best Buy make real estate and store planning decisions.

That was the start of a 25-year run building and scaling frontier tech companies across Silicon Valley.

Her track record includes…

Jimmyjane: award-winning luxury sex accessories sold at Sephora, Selfridges, and Louis Vuitton’s Private Members Club.

Native Union: premium tech accessories sold at Apple, MoMA, Best Buy

Anova Culinary: smart kitchen hardware that grew 59% CAGR and sold to Electrolux for $250M

And Companion: AI-powered dog training and wellness tech, backed by Mars and MichelsonBut she didn’t just build her own ventures.

She advised others.

Sensel, Boosted Boards, Women 2.0.

And mentored founders for over a decade.

Then in 2025, she became the CEO of StartX, Stanford’s non-profit accelerator and founder community.

StartX doesn’t take equity.

It doesn’t charge fees.

It exists to serve one mission: helping Stanford’s most ambitious founders succeed.

And it’s working…
→ 1,300+ startups
→ $120B+ total valuation
→ 20+ unicorns
→ 165 companies worth over $100M
→ $42M raised on average

This year, StartX will anchor The Link, a new 10,000 sq ft innovation hub at Stanford Research Park.