The Exchanges

Q You said about when things, uh, kind of thinking it would never work, it would never work. When was the catalyst moment to realize that actually you did have something and that it was working?

A Well, I think it really came from our customers. When we, when we first started, we were used primarily by tech bloggers. So people like Michael Arrington, who used us for picketed events, and then eventually a tech conference that he wanted to start. Kevin and I actually printed out the guest list for the first TechCrunch Disrupt, and we worked the door. We actually checked people off the list, if that gives you any sense of how long ago it was. And it was really when all of a sudden speed dating organizers in New York adopted Eventbrite as their platform of choice. That I realized we had something because it was so far and gone from tech meetups and such a different genre. And then on the East coast, and it came onto the platform organically. That was really a pinnacle moment for us because we realized that what we were creating was in fact category agnostic. It did have a geographic reach and almost from the get go, because we, we built the original Eventbrite platform on, on the PayPal API. We had international business. So that's, in that first year, we started to see the breadth of what Eventbrite could be, and I think that's when we started to realize we had something. There was no one moment like a lightning strike. It was more of a compounding energy that was building, and it was really around the breadth of the customers that started to give us the notion like, okay, …

AI assessment note: “when all of a sudden speed dating organizers in New York adopted Eventbrite”

Q Okay, this one, this one's a very serious one that takes a lot of thought, and it's from an anonymous listener, and he asks, how do you follow in the footsteps of such a brilliant and handsome prior Eventbrite CEO?

A Miserably. When Kevin comes to Eventbrite, it's as if, you know, Gandhi's walking the halls now. I mean, he is so beloved by everyone here, and me included. You know, we're just, Huge Kevin fans. We adore him. And I had to actually, I'll take this to a serious place, um, maybe to help others who are walking in big, big shoes. I had to actively tell myself that on January first of this year, I was actually never, I was going to stop saying what would Kevin do? So I killed WWKD and I had to start making my own decisions. And the reason why I did that was because I think I was getting in my own way. By comparing myself to Kevin, that's a loser's game, by the way, because he is so fantastic. But also, I think I bring strengths to Eventbrite that are incredibly appropriate to the future of the company, and so I needed to focus more on that and less on wondering what Kevin would do.

AI assessment note: “I killed WWKD and I had to start making my own decisions.”

Q You said about when things, uh, kind of thinking it would never work, it would never work. When was the catalyst moment to realize that actually you did have something and that it was working?

A Well, I think it really came from our customers. When we, when we first started, we were used primarily by tech bloggers. So people like Michael Arrington, who used us for picketed events, and then eventually a tech conference that he wanted to start. Kevin and I actually printed out the guest list for the first TechCrunch Disrupt, and we worked the door. We actually checked people off the list, if that gives you any sense of how long ago it was. And it was really when all of a sudden speed dating organizers in New York adopted Eventbrite as their platform of choice. That I realized we had something because it was so far and gone from tech meetups and such a different genre. And then on the East coast, and it came onto the platform organically. That was really a pinnacle moment for us because we realized that what we were creating was in fact category agnostic. It did have a geographic reach and almost from the get go, because we, we built the original Eventbrite platform on, on the PayPal API. We had international business. So that's, in that first year, we started to see the breadth of what Eventbrite could be, and I think that's when we started to realize we had something. There was no one moment like a lightning strike. It was more of a compounding energy that was building, and it was really around the breadth of the customers that started to give us the notion like, okay, …

AI assessment note: “when all of a sudden speed dating organizers in New York adopted Eventbrite”

Q You mentioned Kevin's departure from the company on a day-to-day role. I'm intrigued because it's been an incredibly successful transition of CEO-ship. 10 years in, Eventbrite, Profitable, re-accelerating. What are the requirements for a successful CEO transition, do you think?

A Well, I call it a peaceful transition of power. How did we do it? Very carefully. Um, so three things, uh, trust. I mean, there just has to be an incredible amount of trust because there is a partnership or in the team itself, in the partnership and in the team, but first and foremost in the partnership, because at some point you are kind of grabbing hands and leaping, you know, there is inherent risk. In doing, in transitioning the CEO role. Obviously for us, we had the benefit of working together for a decade and for being co-founders and of course with Renault as well. I think it also takes intention and the right intention. So for us, the transition wasn't about a personal choice as much as it was deciding what Eventbrite needed for the next decade plus. And that intention being placed on what the business needed helped us be pretty objective and thoughtful and very clear in our communication. And I think the third thing it takes is, is a, you know, a willingness to accept change. And I would have to say that I probably have been a little slow to warm to that notion, but I have definitely come to a place of acceptance. If there's anything that I can rely on both With Kevin and I and our team, it's that we just have an incredible resilience. And it always, it always surprises me for some reason. I always figure that things are going to go to hell in a handbasket. And then, y…

AI assessment note: “so three things, uh, trust... intention... willingness to accept change”

Q You mentioned Kevin's departure from the company on a day-to-day role. I'm intrigued because it's been an incredibly successful transition of CEO-ship. 10 years in, Eventbrite, Profitable, re-accelerating. What are the requirements for a successful CEO transition, do you think?

A Well, I call it a peaceful transition of power. How did we do it? Very carefully. Um, so three things, uh, trust. I mean, there just has to be an incredible amount of trust because there is a partnership or in the team itself, in the partnership and in the team, but first and foremost in the partnership, because at some point you are kind of grabbing hands and leaping, you know, there is inherent risk. In doing, in transitioning the CEO role. Obviously for us, we had the benefit of working together for a decade and for being co-founders and of course with Renault as well. I think it also takes intention and the right intention. So for us, the transition wasn't about a personal choice as much as it was deciding what Eventbrite needed for the next decade plus. And that intention being placed on what the business needed helped us be pretty objective and thoughtful and very clear in our communication. And I think the third thing it takes is, is a, you know, a willingness to accept change. And I would have to say that I probably have been a little slow to warm to that notion, but I have definitely come to a place of acceptance. If there's anything that I can rely on both With Kevin and I and our team, it's that we just have an incredible resilience. And it always, it always surprises me for some reason. I always figure that things are going to go to hell in a handbasket. And then, y…

AI assessment note: “so three things, uh, trust... takes intention... willingness to accept change”

Q Wise man. I want to finish though on the next five years for you and for Eventbrite. Talk to me. What's the exciting road ahead?

A Well, I think you'll see Eventbrite continue to grow as an independent product. Growth company. And, you know, that may or may not include being a public company. I think what's more exciting is that we'll continue to extend ourselves globally into new markets, as well as fortify the growth in markets that where we're strong, like continental Europe and Australia and Latin America. And you'll see a much more defined platform approach. And I think that the future of Eventbrite looks much more than just being the largest ticketing platform, but actually being the global platform for all aspects of live experiences and Bringing to bear this idea, the original notion of Eventbrite, which is democratizing an industry and giving rise to independence for events that, you know, don't live in that very sort of premium space, but are, are relevant and dynamic and, you know, really make our lives better.

AI assessment note: “we'll continue to extend ourselves globally into new markets, as well as fortify”

Q So we've never had a romance story on the 20 Minute VC before. It's, uh, completely melted my heart to have it. So I want to ask then, in terms of kind of the chemistry with starting the business together, and then also being engaged and being married, how did you think about that and partnering with your husband? Were there reserves, concerns? What were your thoughts around it?

A Well, Kevin and I are quite different in many ways. I would say he's a natural born entrepreneur. It is without a doubt. You can see that in every way that he operates. I say that he was born without the chip that tells you that something might not work out. So eternal optimism, it's just innate in everything he does. I'm a natural born operator. So I look at a set of messy facts or a giant hairball and I get excited because I can see how How you can fix it, how you can make it better, how you can make it faster, how you can even make it bigger. So we're pretty opposites, but where we have a complimentary overlap is that we both love to break rules. And so meaning we're not naughty per se, but we love just to sort of buck the conventional wisdom and, and trends. And so when we started Eventbrite, we didn't know what Eventbrite would be. It wasn't even called Eventbrite, obviously. It was just Just an idea and a notion that we could use technology to democratize an industry.

AI assessment note: “we're pretty opposites, but where we have a complimentary overlap is that we both”

Q When you kind of talk about the very, very early days there, and as such a young founding couple, how have you seen yourself change with the scaling of Eventbrite and the changing of your, your personality and leadership within it?

A I've learned to love risks and seek out change, and that was not where I started. So this, you know, eleven-year journey has led me to become much more risks Seeking and to really revel in transformation. And I think for us, when we, when we looked at working together and we looked at what that might be, we sort of laughed at the idea that we were doing everything wrong. You know, it was just sort of this giddiness of like, wow, we're starting a company with a third co-founder who's overseas in Europe together as a couple. We're engaged about to be married and we want to create a horizontal platform in an abysmal industry. Like ticketing was just not something that people got excited about. And so we kind of both, well, we definitely both loved that notion. And we were very straightforward with each other and with everyone around us. I mean, we bootstrapped the company for three years, so we didn't need to really go out and present ourselves as a co-founding couple until we really kind of had a good sense of how we worked together. But we were very open and honest with each other in that, you know, it probably won't work out. And so we kept telling each other that and having plans for what if it doesn't work out? Let's just make sure we, we know a, the priorities and be the exit strategy for one of us. And then we went from there. And once we kind of figured that out, we just n…

AI assessment note: “I've learned to love risks and seek out change, and that was not where”

Q So we've never had a romance story on the 20 Minute VC before. It's, uh, completely melted my heart to have it. So I want to ask then, in terms of kind of the chemistry with starting the business together, and then also being engaged and being married, how did you think about that and partnering with your husband? Were there reserves, concerns? What were your thoughts around it?

A Well, Kevin and I are quite different in many ways. I would say he's a natural born entrepreneur. It is without a doubt. You can see that in every way that he operates. I say that he was born without the chip that tells you that something might not work out. So eternal optimism, it's just innate in everything he does. I'm a natural born operator. So I look at a set of messy facts or a giant hairball and I get excited because I can see how How you can fix it, how you can make it better, how you can make it faster, how you can even make it bigger. So we're pretty opposites, but where we have a complimentary overlap is that we both love to break rules. And so meaning we're not naughty per se, but we love just to sort of buck the conventional wisdom and, and trends. And so when we started Eventbrite, we didn't know what Eventbrite would be. It wasn't even called Eventbrite, obviously. It was just Just an idea and a notion that we could use technology to democratize an industry.

AI assessment note: “we're pretty opposites, but where we have a complimentary overlap”

Q When you kind of talk about the very, very early days there, and as such a young founding couple, how have you seen yourself change with the scaling of Eventbrite and the changing of your, your personality and leadership within it?

A I've learned to love risks and seek out change, and that was not where I started. So this, you know, eleven-year journey has led me to become much more risks Seeking and to really revel in transformation. And I think for us, when we, when we looked at working together and we looked at what that might be, we sort of laughed at the idea that we were doing everything wrong. You know, it was just sort of this giddiness of like, wow, we're starting a company with a third co-founder who's overseas in Europe together as a couple. We're engaged about to be married and we want to create a horizontal platform in an abysmal industry. Like ticketing was just not something that people got excited about. And so we kind of both, well, we definitely both loved that notion. And we were very straightforward with each other and with everyone around us. I mean, we bootstrapped the company for three years, so we didn't need to really go out and present ourselves as a co-founding couple until we really kind of had a good sense of how we worked together. But we were very open and honest with each other in that, you know, it probably won't work out. And so we kept telling each other that and having plans for what if it doesn't work out? Let's just make sure we, we know a, the priorities and be the exit strategy for one of us. And then we went from there. And once we kind of figured that out, we just n…

AI assessment note: “I've learned to love risks and seek out change, and that was not where I started.”