We all know that co-founders with a longstanding personal bond have a better chance of building a successful company than co-founders who don?t share a strong friendship. But what about when that bond between two co-founders is a bit deeper, as a romantic relationship?
Eventbrite co-founders Julia and Kevin Hartz have shown that building a business with your significant other ? in this case, a spouse ? can lead to big success. The online event planning and ticketing platform, which is understood to be making its way to an IPO, just hit a major milestone this week, crossing $1.5 billion in gross sales and 100 million tickets sold.
I had the pleasure of interviewing the Hartzes in a fireside chat last month at the really fantastic Startup Grind 2013 conference headed up by tech entrepreneur Derek Andersen in Silicon Valley. In our 30-minute conversation, we talked about all things Eventbrite, from the early days as a budding startup to its current status as a sizable tech company, and you can watch it all in the video embedded above.
But, being that today is said to be the wedding of Wildfire Interactive co-founders Victoria Ransom and Alain Chuard, another uber successful co-founding couple (congratulations!), I especially wanted to highlight Julia and Kevin?s comments about running a business with a loved one.
Kevin and Julia said placing a priority on keeping their interpersonal relationship strong was a smart decision that should be used by other co-founding teams, whether they?re in a romantic relationship or not. Starting at around 4:50, Kevin said:
?There?s been famous husband and wife teams where it?s worked out remarkably, and famous husband and wife teams, as in the case of Cisco, where it?s kind of a disaster ? but, you know, Cisco became a great company. Like anything, it?s a co-founder relationship, and in our case we had to be extra sensitive about it because there was this extra personal relationship important aspect about it.
So, we approached it somewhat cautiously. We had many different chances where we would say, ?OK, we?re not going to ruin the marriage,? so you know, one of us steps out, and we have this kind of a Plan B if things went poorly. I also think it?s a great exercise in really ensuring we?re compatible founders, and we were very conscientious of it. When you?re working with founders, your fellow founders, that relationship is fundamental whether it?s romantic or not.?
And Julia added:
?We were so cautious about the decisions we made and what kind of modes of operations we would have. We had this law that we would divide and conquer, and wouldn?t work on the same thing at the same time. It just so happened we had complimentary skills so that was an easy thing to do.
When I overlay that over any co-founder relationship, it?s vital actually to be talking about those kinds of things.?
There was much more where that came from, and you can see it all in the video above.
Eventbrite believes that anyone can be an event organizer. That?s why they offer tools that make it easy to sell tickets to all kinds of events whether it?s a photography class or a sold-out concert, an inspiring conference or an air-guitar competition. With Eventbrite, organizers can create a customizable event page; spread the word with social media; collect money; and gain visibility into attendees and sales. Eventbrite is for anyone planning or attending an event. It empowers event organizers to...
? Learn moreJulia spends her day focusing on the happiness, productivity, and growth of the team at Eventbrite (aka the Britelings). She strives to foster the culture that has defined Eventbrite, and that has placed the company among the Top 5 Best Places to Work in the Bay Area two years in a row, according to the SF Business Times. Prior to co-founding Eventbrite with her husband, Kevin Hartz, Julia enjoyed a career in Television Development at MTV Networks and FX Networks....
? Learn moreKevin Hartz is the Co-Founder & CEO of Eventbrite and an early-stage investor. He was previously Co-Founder and CEO of Xoom Corporation, an international money transfer company providing remittance services to over 40 countries worldwide. Xoom?s investors include Sequoia Capital, NEA, Fidelity Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank Capital, Stanford University, and Peter Thiel. Kevin previously Co-Founded ConnectGroup, a start-up providing high-speed Internet access to the hotel industry that was acquired in 1998 by LodgeNet (LNET). Kevin has also worked in venture...
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