Episode Details

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How Eventbrite survived the business apocalypse — and why the internet made real life more valuable than ever

Husband and Wife duo Kevin and Julia Hartz, co-founders at Eventbrite, join us on the NEW ECONOMIES podcast show to share how they built one of the world’s largest event marketplaces, navigating a leadership transition after a decade as co-founders, surviving COVID when their entire industry (and revenue) shut down overnight, and why the future belongs to companies bringing people together.

About Eventbrite:

Eventbrite is one of the world's largest event technology platforms, enabling anyone to create, promote, and sell tickets for live experiences. Since its founding in 2006, the company has powered millions of events across more than 180 countries, helping creators — from independent organizers to major venues — connect with audiences at scale.

In our latest podcast episode, Kevin and Julia share Eventbrite's origin story — from a married founding team working out of a windowless office and surviving on cup noodles to building a global marketplace that transformed how people create and discover live experiences. They explain why curiosity became their greatest competitive advantage, why they ignored conventional startup advice by serving every event category from day one, and why complementary founders consistently outperform identical ones.

If that’s not enough, we also unpack the brutal reality of leading a public company through COVID after revenue turned negative almost overnight, why acting before everyone agrees is often a founder’s greatest advantage, what selling Eventbrite to Bending Spoons (who went public this week) taught them about long-term stewardship, and why, despite every wave of technology, they believe the most valuable human experiences will always happen in real life.

Timestamps

(0:00) Kevin & Julia Hartz(1:45) A Blossoming Relationship(3:40) The Aha Moment for Eventbrite(8:15) Ideas Outside Eventbrite(9:24) Eventbrite’s First Year(12:50) The Product Market Fit Moment(14:58) Building a Self-Serving Product(17:25) 2016: Julia Takes Over as CEO(23:00) The Brilliance of Eventbrite vs. Competitors(30:22) The COVID Moment That Changed Us(38:22) IRL Is Back(41:34) Bending Spoon Acquires Eventbrite(45:13) A* Star Raises $450M(47:10) Young Founders to Watch(48:25) What’s Next?

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