Anthony Hughes is the co-founder and CEO of VITALS, a science-based self-awareness platform built on the Watterson Personality Inventory. He launched VITALS in 2025 with a team drawn largely from Tech Elevator, the coding bootcamp he founded and scaled before its acquisition by Stride (NYSE: LRN) in 2020.
Tech Elevator was named to the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies and placed thousands of career changers into software engineering roles across multiple cities. Earlier, Anthony served as President of Software Craftsmanship Guild, which was acquired by Wiley in 2015. Across both companies, he focused on the same problem: building infrastructure that helps motivated people break into careers they could not access on their own.
Before becoming an operator, Anthony founded JumpStart's Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program in partnership with MIT's Venture Mentoring Service, recruiting 50+ accomplished entrepreneurs to advise early-stage companies. The program helped over 100 startups raise $45M in investment capital. Beyond his operating roles, Anthony continues to invest in and mentor early-stage founders.
He has been recognized as a two-time Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist and named to Crain's Forty Under 40 and Notable Entrepreneurs lists. He is a former member of the Forbes Technology Council.
Anthony holds an MA with Honors from the University of Edinburgh and has lived and worked in Australia, Japan, the UK, and the United States.
