Shaun So Biography

Shaun So began his career in 2003, when he joined the Defense Intelligence Agency of the US federal government, as an intelligence analyst. He worked with the federal agency from June 2003 to April 2006. He then worked as a defense contractor for McNeil Technologies from July 2006 to March 2009. Meanwhile, from October 2003 to sometime in 2011, Shaun served as a counterintelligence special agent for the United States Army. The team for domestic and international combat operations was led by Shaun. He also served as a tactical intelligence team sergeant.

Shaun So co-founded the urban logistics start-up called Cubby and remained its CEO from June 2011 to April 2012. Calling it an “urban personal logistics company,” Shaun said that he had the idea of launching the pop-up store after he realized his wife had to carry several bags with her for work, and when the two met, he had a difficult time managing the luggage. The pop-up store provided short-term storage facility for luggage so that one could explore the town freely while storing his/her baggage with Cubby for a charge. The company, however, closed within a year. From May 2012 to December 2014, he worked as a Forbes contributor. During his tenure with the American business magazine, he wrote pieces on different subjects, including entrepreneurship, veterans, and business. Since April 2012, Shaun has been the CEO and managing partner of The So Company. Clients of the content-driven service design company range from large government agencies to small start-ups in the US and Europe. Two such clients of the company are Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

Shaun So was born to Asian immigrant parents in 1980 in the US. Although his exact birth date is not known, some sources mention it as January 1. Not much is known about his family background, parents, siblings, or early life, except that he is from a Chinese family. In 1999, he enrolled at the University of Chicago. He obtained his BA degree in political science in 2003. Meanwhile, in 2001, he took language immersion classes and studied Mandarin at the Tsinghua University. He then joined the City University of New York and earned an MBA degree.

He was introduced to Anna Chlumsky at a college party in 2000, when the two were studying at the University of Chicago. For years, they maintained a long-distance relationship because of Shaun’s military service. From 2004 to 2006, Shaun was deployed to Afghanistan. He returned safely from Afghanistan in January 2006, and while he came home on a break in May that year, he proposed to his lady love. They eventually got engaged. Anna announced their engagement in October 2007. They married in Brooklyn, New York, on March 8, 2008, in a private wedding ceremony attended by family members and close friends. The couple is blessed with two daughters, Penelope Joan So, born in July 2013, and Clara Elizabeth So, born in August 2016.