Eventbrite

Julia and Kevin democratized live experiences.

Julia Hartz had been instrumental in building Eventbrite’s award-winning culture as co-founder and president—while her husband and co-founder, Kevin Hartz, served as CEO. When Kevin transitioned out of the operating role, Julia stepped in.
Julia remembers realizing the opportunity—and risk—of raising her hand as CEO.

Julia Hartz

Co-Founder & CEO, Eventbrite

A first-time CEO is inherently risky. I’d been at the table for every major decision at Eventbrite, I’d been running the office as an interim CEO since Kevin left, and I still didn’t think I’d get the job.

Roelof Botha

Sequoia

Julia was a proven leader. Understanding and motivating people is her superpower. But she didn’t have the usual experience—she’d never been in a general management role at this scale.

Julia Hartz

Roelof has been an incredible mentor, and I never doubted he’d be supportive. What surprised me was the entire firm throwing its weight behind me. I felt like Sequoia had my back.

Roelof Botha

There were a lot of experienced people we could have recruited, but they didn’t have Julia’s sense of the company culture, or her moral authority as a co-founder. The board thought she could rise to the challenge, and we were willing to do whatever we could to help her succeed.

Julia Hartz

When I took over, the company was on the edge of a cliff. I just kept delivering bad news. We’d fix one issue and it was on to the next. 2016 felt like a new trial by fire every month.

Roelof Botha

Julia’s first board meeting as CEO was a crucible moment. Eventbrite was growing, but losses were stubbornly consistent. We had a candid conversation, and I challenged the team to create a culture that was performance-driven, as well as happy. We needed to find efficiencies, do more with less, and be disciplined about saying, “No.”

Julia Hartz

We were getting all these accolades for culture, and at the same time, we were about to miss our financial plan. I even dreamed about it—I once had a nightmare where Roelof said, “Julia, congratulations on creating the happiest, most mediocre company on the planet.” That was a wake-up call.

Julia Hartz

We were also pouring a lot of resources into our core business and starting to see diminished returns. Roelof helped us break pricing into three packages and pushed us to invest more in international. Both of those things were fundamentally transformative and generated enormous growth. He has a wonderful perspective on what matters and how companies thrive. After Kevin, he’s my first call.

Roelof Botha

In addition to board meetings, Julia and I sit down every month to talk through whatever is top of mind. Building that trust and psychological safety is easier one-on-one. You can be more vulnerable.

Julia Hartz

2016 was tough, but 2017 more than made up for it. We reorganized the entire company, we made two large acquisitions, and we went from seeing significant losses to making strong progress toward profitability. That felt really good.

Roelof Botha

Under Julia’s leadership, growth has accelerated, we’ve confronted numerous tough decisions, and she’s built a team that embodies professionalism, mutual respect, and trust. She’s doing a spectacular job.

Powering millions of events for hundreds of thousands of event creators around the globe, Eventbrite is the world's largest ticketing platform. The company has more than 700 employees who are dedicated to bringing the world together through live experiences.

Eventbrite

Event marketplace for hosting, discovering and joining live experiences.


Milestones

Founded 2006
Partnered 2009


Team

Kevin Hartz
Julia Hartz
Renaud Visage


Partners

Roelof Botha