From Hollywood to Silicon Valley: How Eventbrite’s CEO Bet $250K On A Phone Closet Startup

Contents

Leaving TV for Tech Riding the Rise of Social Media Recession-Proofing Through Real-World Connection A Platform With Global Reach The Human Element

Julia Hartz left a rising TV executive career at FX to co-found Eventbrite Inc. (NYSE:EB), launching the ticketing startup from a phone closet in San Francisco.

She, her husband Kevin Hartz, and engineer Renaud Visage pooled $250,000 of their personal savings to bootstrap the venture, Fortune reported.

Leaving TV for Tech

Before making the leap, Hartz had built an early resume that included internships at “Friends” and MTV’s development department, eventually working on series such as “Jackass,” “The Shield,” and “Rescue Me.” She rose to junior executive at FX before walking away.

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While many entrepreneurs choose to build their companies on the side, Hartz committed full-time from day one.

“I’ve seen entrepreneurs do that, and I think that that’s a clever way to gain validation and product market fit, without putting yourself in such a perilous state,” Hartz told Fortune. “I did not do that.”

Eventbrite’s early growth aligned with a critical moment in tech: the expansion of social media platforms in the mid-2000s. Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) selected Eventbrite as one of its first Connect partners, giving the company access to a growing network of users seeking in-person experiences.

This partnership, combined with Eventbrite’s self-service platform, enabled organizers, including creators, performers, and niche communities to quickly set up and promote events with minimal overhead. This accessible model helped Eventbrite scale across a wide variety of event types and locations, according to Fortune.

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Recession-Proofing Through Real-World Connection

Hartz described the 2008 Great Recession as a moment of collapse for corporate America. Yet the demand for meaningful human connection remained strong as many people turned to affordable, local events as a way to stay connected, Fortune reported.

Between 2006 and 2019, Eventbrite raised $373 million in equity funding across 11 funding rounds from investors including Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, and Square, according to Pitchbook. The company went public in 2018.

A Platform With Global Reach

By the end of 2024, Eventbrite had expanded to support events in nearly 180 countries. It sold 83 million paid tickets over the year, powered by 4.7 million events, the company reported. The platform reached 88 million average monthly active users in Q1 2025.

Event types have evolved with their user base, including everything from Bach concerts in Central Park and mixed martial arts showcases to house music cruises and cheese-themed parties hosted by Antoni Porowski of “Queer Eye,” according to Fortune. That diversity reflects Eventbrite’s original mission: to make it easy for people to gather around their passions—no matter how niche.

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The Human Element

Hartz credited much of her startup journey to a single moment from her days in television: attending a fan event.

“I remember going to this fandom event that was insanely niche, and feeling the energy of the people in the room. It just stuck with me,” she told Fortune. “It was this palpable, kinetic energy…When we started Eventbrite, I was thinking about that all along: ‘How do we enable the people who gather others around these niche passion areas and create this magic?'”

That experience, combined with her husband’s encouragement and prior success with PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL), helped her make the leap.

“We made it on less than a quarter of a million dollars,” Hartz said. “I’m really, really proud of it.”

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