One of the biggest mistakes that founders can make is doing something that maybe seems like a great idea, and seems like a good use of time, but actually isn't measurable, significant, incremental growth.
It's important for founders to think about how they would build their company from scratch - again.
I was a dancer and performer.
I'm not good at throwing around rhetoric.
I've done everything from traditional yoga to Bikram yoga to Pilates.
We always had a sense that we were the underdog. There's lots of competition and niche players. But we have every type of event on Eventbrite, whether you're a consumer or you're organizing a bacon festival. Our identity is our users.
We wanted to harness the power of technology to make it possible for anyone to sell tickets to any type of event.
If you think about stripping away 80 percent of the things that don't matter and focusing on the the 20 percent that will actually make a difference, I think you'll find great results even in the toughest of situations and the harshest of environments.
We thought we could reinvent the way people came together for live events. We wanted to ticket everything from a five-person yoga class to a 10-person cookery class to a fashion event.
Acquiring customers at the start is one of the hardest things you'll ever experiences as an entrepreneur.
Our platform is self-service, so we enable people to host events themselves. The biggest events tend to be the free ones. We had 100,000 at a salsa congress in Mexico.
It's incredibly important to be - once you do have a product - acutely observational about the trends.
One of the reasons why we were so successful in integrating with Facebook was because we saw people using Facebook to promote their event and link back to Eventbrite before Facebook Connect and before the event's API was even available.
What we've found was that people were utilizing Eventbrite to turn their passions into revenue-generating ventures.
In television, things move quite slowly. It can take years to get a show off the ground.
Since the earliest days of Eventbrite, we've made our people core to our mission. Our culture is an ever-evolving manifestation of those on our team. As people join, we believe in earning their trust by demonstrating we'll embrace them and help them grow.
Showing that you consistently have their best interests at heart not only motivates your people to do their best work; it also builds goodwill that you may need to draw on when the going gets tough and you have to lean on one another to find the horizon.
As with any other crucial aspect of a growing business, you need the right technology and tools.
One of the most brilliant parts of being a first-time founder is that you experience everything for the first time. It never gets old.
I founded Eventbrite when I was 25 and had exactly five professional years under my belt. Perspective was lacking; idealistic views were not. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, and I'm beyond thrilled I took the leap from a comfortable corporate career into the abyss of founder-hood and entrepreneurship.
I started my career in Hollywood, where I learned the rumors were true - having success there really was dictated by how who you knew, not what you knew. I grew frustrated by the fact that careers could be made and broken by relationships alone.
At Eventbrite, we value quality results over everything else. So while working late is acknowledged, at the end of the day, I care more about the results you're producing.
Live experiences are more than fundamental - they're transformative.
I've been told many times that I should give up trying to find balance in my life, but I refuse.
My mom always instilled in me that it was braver to ask for help when you need it. That has absolutely stuck with me over the years but became even more important in practice once I became a mother. It may sound trite, but the concept of 'it takes a village' really could not be more true.
Leading Eventbrite has taught me a lot about how to connect with people to drive results.
I don't have just one role model - rather, pieces of inspiration from many different entrepreneurs. One of the great things about being an entrepreneur is that it naturally enables you to build a village of advisors and role models.
If I were to think of myself as a role model, I would say that it's really important to realize when you are a role model and to be willing to give advice, share how you do things.
I truly believe there is this confidence gap, at least for me. You have to 'manipulate' yourself to get over it,and I do think it has something to do with being a female. If you live in fear or doubt and have that confidence gap, you are simply not going to achieve your full potential and what you know you can achieve.
I think I lead with empathy and connection to our people. I find that the most effective leadership style for me is to just talk and listen. It sounds simple, but it's so effective.
Swaying to new beats, hearing old favorites, and drinking expensive beer are ageless pastimes.
People are multi-dimensional and crave a multi-sensory experience.
Being an entrepreneur can be learned, and that is exactly what I have done. You don't have to be born with it or have had the 'lemonade stand.' But, you do need to have the passion, devotion, conviction, and sheer will and drive to make it happen.
The beauty of being co-founders with your spouse is that we run our business and family together.
When we set out to build Eventbrite, we had to face many challenges and come up with creative solutions to get past them. Each time we learned new ways to cope, we became a stronger and more cohesive team.
I studied broadcast journalism at Pepperdine University. After a short career in television with MTV and later on at FX Network, I found my true calling in Eventbrite.
I think there's real value in having a founder CEO. Obviously, I'm biased, but I'm driven by a purpose and a mission and a vision, not just profits.
There has been an intention since day one that it's as important to us that we build profits as much as we build a wonderful culture and a lasting legacy of a great company. We've created this inclusive environment that's very thoughtful in terms of how we can create allyship, how we create mentorship, and what kind of voices are heard.
The gender parity is something that has been organic to Eventbrite since we started building a team.
The majority of our happiness at work is determined by the people who surround us. Strong teams produce more content, launch more products, and sign more contracts. And most importantly, they have fun doing it.
Being productive at work is rewarding, and feeling supported, challenged, and appreciated allows us to be our most efficient selves.
Whether you're a founder, a leader, or an individual contributor, building a strong team is critical to your success.
Co-founders shouldn't excel in the same areas - it's inefficient and will inevitably lead to conflicts down the road.
For the first two years of Eventbrite, all the work was done by just the three founders: me, my husband, Kevin, and our chief technology officer, Renaud Visage.
To be a true leader, I needed to better understand my unique strengths and how to apply them across the company as we grew.
Many tech companies experience steep growth curves that require them to build their teams at breakneck speeds.
If you want to build a sustainable culture, you have to have a strong philosophy and then let people do with it what they will and be OK with that.
We live in an experience-hungry society with advanced event technology and broad social reach at our fingertips. These external factors offers an ideal environment for organizers to create a connection with a broader set of people and maximize each interaction with their audience.
If you can't see an example of what you could be, you really aren't going to have that extra incentive to break through any types of barriers.