Julia Hartz: How to Build, Scale, and Exit a Billion-Dollar Startup From Scratch | Entrepreneurship | E398

Young and Profiting with Hala Taha

YAP Media Network | Hala Taha

Entrepreneurship, Business, Marketing

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2026

⏱️ 85 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A small town ballerina with no business background, Julia Hartz had no guarantee that Eventbrite would work. What began as a bootstrapped startup she co-founded became a 20-year journey full of challenges, including a crisis like no other: COVID, wiping out the events industry almost overnight. But each challenge sharpened her leadership skills, and Julia ultimately turned Eventbrite into the powerhouse it is today before exiting on her own terms. In this episode, Julia shares how these moments shaped her leadership and taught her how to build, scale, and evolve a meaningful business, even when it costs you everything. In this episode, Hala and Julia will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (02:08) Julia’s Empathy-Driven Founder Mindset (04:46) Launching a Startup Without a Business Background (14:14) Co-Founding Eventbrite: Spotting the Gap in 2006 (25:23) Leading Through Crisis and Change (35:18) The Return of Live Events (44:04) Building a Company Culture That Evolves (48:24) CEO Mindset and Underrated Leadership Skills (1:04:48) Balancing Family and Entrepreneurship (1:11:02) Leadership Advice in the AI Era Julia Hartz is the co-founder and former CEO of Eventbrite, one of the world's leading platforms for live events. She co-founded Eventbrite in 2006 with her husband Kevin Hartz and Renaud Visage, later becoming the sole CEO in 2016 and leading the company through its 2018 IPO. Eventbrite entered a new chapter in December 2025 when Bending Spoons announced a $500 million all-cash acquisition, which closed in March 2026, taking Eventbrite private. Sponsored By: Huel - Get over $50 in savings with the Discovery Bundle from Huel. Use my exclusive code YAP15 for 15% off at huel.com/yap15. Indeed - Get a $75 sponsored job credit to boost your job's visibility at Indeed.com/profiting Shopify - Start your $1/month trial at Shopify.com/profiting. Quo - Run your business communications the smart way. Try Quo for free, plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to quo.com/profiting Fabric - Protect your family with term life insurance from Fabric by Gerber Life. Apply today in just minutes at meetfabric.com/profiting ZocDoc - Stop putting off those doctors’ appointments. Find and instantly book a doctor you love today at Zocdoc.com/PROFITING Blinkist - Turn the world’s best nonfiction books into quick 15-minute reads or listens. Grab your free trial plus an exclusive 30% discount at blinkist.com/profiting Remitly - Transfer money internationally with Remitly, with no hidden fees. Use code BUSINESS to get a $100 bonus after you send $300 or more. New customers only. Prolon - Reset and rejuvenate your body with Prolon’s five-day plant-based fasting mimicking program. Go to ProlonLife.com/PROFITING for 15% off sitewide plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe to their 5-Day Program. Resources Mentioned: Julia’s Instagram: instagram.com/juliahartz Julia’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/juliahartz The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker: bit.ly/PP-TAOG Active Deals - youngandprofiting.com/deals Key YAP Links Reviews - ratethispodcast.com/yap YouTube - youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting Newsletter - youngandprofiting.co/newsletter LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Instagram - instagram.com/yapwithhala/ Social + Podcast Services: yapmedia.com Transcripts - youngandprofiting.com/episodes-new Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Podcast, Business, Business Podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal Development, Starting a Business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Psychology, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Marketing, Negotiation, Money, Finance, Side Hustle, Startup, Mental Health, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Health, Growth Mindset, Passive Income, Online Business, Solopreneur, Networking Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today's episode is sponsored in part by Hewle, AT&T business, for Mently and Prolon.
0:06.0	Heel makes nutritionally complete meals that you can drink.
0:09.1	Get 15% off with my code to Yap15 at Hewle.com slash Yap 15.
0:14.2	AT&T business delivers reliable business-grade connectivity that gives your team a competitive
0:19.1	edge.
0:20.0	Switch to AT&T business at business.
0:22.2	com. Millions of people trust Remitly to move money globally. Use code business to get a
0:28.4	$100 bonus after you send $300 or more with Remitly. To redeem, visit the rewards tab on the
0:35.0	Remitly app and enter the code business.
0:41.3	Prolon puts you in the right fasting state so you can lose weight and reset your body.
0:46.2	Get 15% off plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe to their five-day program.
0:49.0	Just visit prolonlif.com slash profiting.
0:54.9	As always, you can find all of our incredible deals in the show notes or at young and profiting.com slash deals.
0:58.3	We were processing more refunds than revenue.
1:01.5	Our tableau dashboards broke because our revenue was negative.
1:06.8	14 years in the making was actually completely gone in 14 days.
1:07.5	Wild.
1:12.3	Julia Hartz is co-founder and former CEO of Eventbrite. She helped turn a bootstrapped idea into a household brand through grit, vision, and relentless execution.
1:19.3	I wasn't thinking that in my life I would be part of starting a company.
1:24.0	Certain people come together, call it fate, the universe.
1:30.3	Those people may have complementary skill sets such that they're able to create something magical. Changing the company was a non-negotiable.
1:37.3	We couldn't actually keep going. I started with a core question, which was, given what we know about this business, what would we do if we could do it all over again?
	...

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