Young and Profiting with Hala Taha

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

May 11, 2026
Guest
Julia Hartz
Julia Hartz, co-founder and former CEO of Eventbrite who led the company through an IPO and exit, shares her founder mindset. She recounts launching a startup without a business background. She talks leading through COVID, rebuilding the business, evolving company culture, and preparing leaders for the AI era.
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ADVICE

Prioritize Capital Efficiency Over Hype

  • Be capital efficient: bootstrap until product-market fit and choose investors who add value rather than extract agendas.
  • Capital discipline buys freedom, options, and power, so avoid raising big rounds purely for optics.
ANECDOTE

When 14 Years Of Revenue Disappeared In 14 Days

  • In March 2020 Eventbrite's revenue flipped: they processed more refunds than revenue and dashboards broke because revenue became negative.
  • Julia and the team immediately shifted focus to help creators with refunds, credits, and online events to preserve creators' businesses.
ADVICE

Use The Blank Slate Exercise To Rebuild

  • Ask your team the blank slate question: given what we know, what would we do if we could start over? then rebuild to that model.
  • Use this to simplify, discard bolt-on complexity, and refocus on core customer needs (e.g., online events, refunds, credits).
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