Hugh Stephens
I push buttons on the computer
and it appears on the internet
Founder, investor, and recovering button-pusher. I started Sked Social, back early-stage companies at Galileo Ventures, and occasionally write things down.
A short biography of a person who is fine, probably
I'm a Melbourne-based founder and investor. I co-founded Sked Social, a social media scheduling platform used by tens of thousands of marketers, and I'm a General Partner at Galileo Ventures, where we write first cheques into ambitious early-stage founders.
Before all that I did a stint in academia — health research, the occasional paper in journals with intimidating names — then realised I'd rather build things and help other people build things. So now I do that.
My actual job is mostly typing into boxes, clicking buttons, and being mildly optimistic about technology. The internet appears. It's a good deal. I also angel invest, advise, and answer a truly heroic volume of DMs.
A vaguely chronological list of jobs
Galileo Ventures
General Partner 2021 — nowWriting first cheques into ambitious pre-seed and seed founders across Australia and beyond. Mostly Zoom calls and conviction.
Sked Social
Co-founder 2014 — nowBuilt a social media scheduling platform now used by tens of thousands of marketers worldwide. A lot of buttons were pushed to make this happen.
Various portfolio
Angel Investor 2016 — nowBacking early-stage founders with small cheques and large enthusiasm. Eight-plus companies and counting.
SocialSitter
Founder 2019 — 2021An experiment in automating the boring parts of social media management. Learned a lot; shipped a lot.
Dialogue Consulting
Founder 2012 — 2018A digital consultancy that quietly became the home base for everything that followed. The mothership.
Mayo Clinic
Researcher 2010 — 2013Health research and academic papers in journals with intimidating names. Then I discovered I preferred building things.
Things I built
> All started from a blank page. Some still running, some wound down with the lessons kept.
Sked Social
Visual social media scheduling for marketers and agencies. Tens of thousands of users, one very tired button.
Galileo Ventures
A first-cheque fund for ambitious early-stage founders. We back people before it is obvious.
Dialogue Consulting
The digital consultancy that started it all — and quietly incubated everything since.
SocialSitter
An experiment in automating the tedium of social media management. Wound down; lessons kept.
Back when I wrote serious things
> A previous life in health research. Real journals, real peer review, real footnotes.
Let's chat
Got an idea, a pitch, or just want to argue about something on the internet? I read everything. I reply to most things.
hugh@hughstephens.com