Picture this: You’ve spent 14 years building a company that revolutionized how live events are organized, and are finally approaching profitability. Then a pandemic shuts down live events globally. What do you do? This was the reality Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz faced as lockdows went into effect in March of 2020. “Even if you have spent 14 years building something, it could truly be gone in 14 days,” she remembers thinking. The company had faced crucible moments before—a change to its pricing model to become profitable without alienating users, and a bold acquisition to expand into live music. Julia relied on the same blend of grit and analytic insight she'd used to navigate these earlier inflection points, and put them to work to reinvent Eventbrite in a pandemic—and emerge ready to enable the future of events.

Julia Hartz
Julia co-founded Eventbrite in 2006 with her husband Kevin Hartz and CTO Renaud Visage. She became CEO in 2016 after initially serving as President. Outside of Eventbrite, Hartz is an investor in startups and serves on the board of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

Kevin Hartz
Kevin Hartz is the co-founder and Chairman of Eventbrite as well as an investor and advisor to startups. Prior to co-founding Eventbrite, Kevin served as the co-founder and CEO of Xoom, which went public and was acquired by PayPal.