Over the past decade I've helped build developer ecosystems and platform marketplaces at Facebook, HubSpot and Intercom. I've also helped developers, agencies, and venture backed SaaS startups scale through platforms like Slack, Shopify, Microsoft and Atlassian.
Director, Platform Ecosystem
Growth & Partnerships, Platform
10+ years helping Facebook, Intercom and HubSpot create world-class platform ecosystems.
Facebook
Part of the core team that launched Facebook Preferred Marketing Developers, which we later relaunched as Facebook Marketing Partners. It's now Meta Business Partners (naming things is fun!). By 2015, the ecosystem we built influenced a third of Facebook's ad revenue - US$18 billion in 2015.
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HubSpot
Grew HubSpot's nascent "Connect Partner" ecosystem from ~150 apps and integrations to over 1,000 in less then 4 years. Along the way, redesigned and relaunched it as the HubSpot App Partner Program, built an App Marketplace team, and launched the HubSpot App Accelerator.
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Intercom
I joined Intercom to help them "launch a developer platform." Within 18 months our team launched a Developer Hub, Integrations Hub (App Store), OAuth, and strategic integrations with Facebook, Trello, Shopify, Microsoft Teams, and more.
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And I'm excited to help you navigate the complex world of platform ecosystems, or to build and scale your own.
I was incredibly fortunate to persuade Hugh to join me in 2017 to lay the foundation of our App Partner Program at HubSpot. Hugh is one of the rare individuals who understands both the product-side and the partnership-side of successful platform ecosystems. He set an inspiring, high-level platform vision, but he also deeply understands the actual mechanics of how to deliver on that potential.
Scott Brinker
VP Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot
During our time working together I was constantly amazed by Hugh's creativity, focus and ability to execute on the projects he felt were important for us to pursue. My favorite is the work Hugh did with companies like Paypal on their Facebook integrations. He has an incredible natural understanding of what makes products good for users.
Richard O'Connell
Strategic Partnerships and Business Development at Box
Hugh was Sr Product Manager on the Developer Platform team at Intercom for my first year with the company, and he introduced me to a ways of thinking about platforms that I've carried forward in my work to this day. He's passionate about what he does, and he led a team that was always a pleasure to work with — open, friendly, and deeply engaged and collaborative.
Elizabeth McGuane
UX Director at Shopify; Author, Design by Definition
Hugh is an incredible product, partnership and program leader. Thanks to his thought leadership and strategic guidance he has cultivated and delivered on an ambitious and impactful product roadmap and early stage ecosystem. Intercom now has good relationships with many top tier partners like Slack, Atlassian, Shopify, and Microsoft. This would not have happened without him.
Tom Richards
Co-Founder & CEO @ Pavlov
I had the pleasure of working with Hugh during his at Intercom, and was constantly impressed with his strategic thinking, leadership, and his ability to build and unite teams. I constantly looked forward to the next project I would get to work on with Hugh, he's an absolute pleasure to work with, and I always knew I would learn from him. If you have the chance to work with Hugh, I would highly recommend it; there are few people that are better to work with.
Jillian Wells
Staff UX Researcher at Stripe
His vision and focus has helped build the developer platform team from the ground up and he's done a fantastic job of fostering a strong, aligned, cross-functional team. Hugh is great at building relationships, both inside and outside the company, as demonstrated by the many partnerships he has helped Intercom develop with other leading companies, as well as his many contacts in the industry.
Jasmine Jaume
Director, Product Marketing at Intercom
OpenAI DevDay was exciting for most. Apparently scary for some.
The "original" Pareto Principle observed that 20% of Italy's population owned 80% of its land. For fun, let's apply it to a different type of "land" - valuable platform ecosystem real estate.
All SaaS companies - whether they like it or not - will need to build "strategic" integrations at some point. Sure, you can build APIs for your customers to build with, but most of the time that isn't enough to win them over.
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Product Management, Platform