Oct 19, 2023 · 48m · how-i-built-this
Leading through radical change with Julia Hartz of Eventbrite
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of How I Built This Lab, Eventbrite co-founder and CEO Julia Hartz details how she guided the company through the COVID-19 pandemic's complete shutdown of live events, transforming into a wartime CEO and evolving the platform into a creator-centric discovery marketplace.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Guy holds 38% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Guy as informed peer 3.9 Guest teaching 3.8 Guest disagreement 1.4 Guy pushing back 2.4
speaking balance: gold is Guy, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 40:21 Refuting the wellness vs hard work trade-off
Julia directly rejects the conventional narrative that hard work and ambitious productivity are inherently harmful to mental health and wellness.
Hardest push from Guy ▶ 35:43 Guy challenges meeting productivity claimsGuy interrupts to express skepticism about solving corporate meeting fatigue, pressing Julia on whether Eventbrite can truly tackle a universally hated problem.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:13 Julia reveals pre-pandemic structural issuesJulia educates Guy on the company's real history, revealing that Eventbrite was already buckling under competitor acquisition debt before COVID provided an unexpected catalyst for a complete reset.
Guy holds their own ▶ 7:29 Guy draws on war correspondence backgroundGuy leverages his past professional domain expertise as a war and Pentagon reporter to provide nuanced context to the concept of wartime leadership.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Guy as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Guy pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navigating Mass Layoffs and Pivoting to Virtual Events | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Guy asks Julia directly about managing the sudden crisis and laying off half her workforce in April 2020. Julia explains the immediate decision to discard the existing roadmap and pivot toward supporting virtual creators during the total live event hiatus. | |
| Embracing the Leadership Mindset of a Wartime CEO | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 | Guy pushes on the wartime CEO label by drawing parallels to his past experience reporting in war zones and working the Pentagon beat. Julia articulates shedding the urge to please everyone, focusing instead on high-stakes crisis leadership and capital preservation. | |
| Uncovering the Core Strategy for Frequent Super Creators | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | Guy questions how the business survived without live ticketing revenue. Julia reveals an untold story: Eventbrite was already struggling before the pandemic due to a difficult competitor integration, and COVID accelerated a vital pivot to frequent super creators. | |
| Mid-Roll Break: LinkedIn Ads and Listener Voice Memos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mid-roll break featuring sponsor messaging for LinkedIn Ads and an audience callout for listener voice memos. | |
| Weathering Pandemic Waves and Managing Capital Reserves | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Julia outlines weathering multiple COVID variants and raising convertible debt while receiving skepticism over recovery assumptions. Guy and Julia agree on the vital principle of preparing for worst-case scenarios. | |
| Positioning Eventbrite as the Marketplace for Live Experiences | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Guy relates Eventbrite's marketplace ambition to reading the Village Voice or browsing Etsy for niche creators. Julia asserts that solving local event discovery remains an unsolved challenge that Eventbrite is uniquely poised to win. | |
| Introducing Marketing Tools, ToneDen Acquisition, and Monetization | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | Julia shares how the ToneDen acquisition enabled Eventbrite Boost and AI marketing tools, announcing a newly launched two-sided marketplace fee. Guy probes on the breakdown of ticketing fees versus marketing revenue. | |
| Managing Public Company Pressures and Stock Performance | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | Guy inquires about the pressure of managing a public company whose stock price has dropped significantly. Julia addresses the morale impact of underwater stock options while emphasizing long-term operational grounding. | |
| Redefining Work Culture and Meeting Intentionality | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | Guy openly pushes back against claims of fixing workplace meetings, asking pointedly how Eventbrite actually solves meeting bloat. Julia explains calendar-clearing weeks and training leaders to be intentional conveners. | |
| Fostering Remote Mentorship and Balancing Demands with Compassion | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Guy questions how remote teams can mentor junior staff compared to traditional in-office cultures. Julia rejects the premise that high workplace demands and mental wellness are mutually exclusive, proposing a compassionate yet demanding leadership balance. | |
| Navigating Political Pressures and Protecting Freedom of Assembly | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | Guy asks how Eventbrite handles political controversies and content moderation boundaries. Julia explains stepping back from issuing frequent political statements to anchor the company around the core principle of freedom of assembly. | |
| Slowing Down, AI Innovation, and Final Reflections | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | Guy circles back to Julia's five-year goal of slowing down and living less transactionally. Julia reflects on finding operational grounding and shares optimism regarding AI innovation across the Bay Area. |
Statements from this episode (12)
Hartz: Eventbrite went from record ticket sales to negative revenue in 14 days
“We went from, you know, record high ticket sales to negative revenue in 14 days, and something we had spent 14 years building was It basically evaporated in the span of two weeks.”
Hartz: Total event shutdown was a silver lining reset for Eventbrite
“For about two to three weeks, there were no events happening. And that pause guy was the silver lining for our business. We were forced to pause and reset. And what business gets to do that after 14 years and also a public company?”
Investor Henry Ellenbogen advised Eventbrite to immediately cut costs and raise capital.
“And by and large, the most important guidance I got were from people like Henry Ellenbogen, who said, you know, cut costs and raise money now, don't wait, and be severe about it.”
Eventbrite was buckling under a competitor integration before the pandemic hit.
“Prior to COVID, things weren't going great at the company. We were a newly public company. We had acquired our largest competitor. We were buckling under the weight of that integration and migration and disappointing everyone.”
Frequent creators drove most Eventbrite revenue despite a poor product experience.
“Frequent creators, those who are coming to Eventbrite, regardless of their category, geo size, But they were using the platform at least one time a month. They were a small portion of creators producing a big portion of revenue, and our product absolutely suck…”
Hartz: Eventbrite virtual events swung from 1% to 90% and back to 10%
“So virtual events went from one percent of the events on Eventbrite to 90% of the events on Eventbrite to now 10%.”
Hartz: Eventbrite cut 50% of staff and raised two convertible debt rounds
“So when we halved the company, which was so extreme, no one was doing that, and when we raised more than we needed, and this is where being a public company was a virtue, because we could raise convertible debt, which, you know, we raised two rounds in very fa…”
Eventbrite generates 95% of its revenue from ticketing fees averaging $3.
“Well, so, 95% of the revenue comes from ticketing fees. And over 80% of the time, those ticketing fees are actually paid for by the consumer. And Eventbrite's ticketing fees, on average, are three dollars.”
Eventbrite clears all recurring calendar meetings for one week every quarter.
“Yeah, so that means taking a step back periodically about once a quarter we take a week to scrub the calendar of our regular, regularly scheduled programming and reassess why we meet and what the intention is.”
CEO Julia Hartz argues workplace productivity is the antidote to social isolation.
“But I don't think work is the enemy. Like, I think being productive and being in community is the antidote to social isolation and mental health challenges.”
Hartz: CEOs should not be expected to take stances on every issue
“There has to be space for CEOs to be human and to be learning and growing alongside everyone else, and I reject the notion that a CEO should be You know know-all, be-all. Like, that's really dangerous, right? That's not good. So I stepped back from that practi…”