Julia Hartz

I didn't play any extreme sports growing up. I never surfed, and I grew up in Santa Cruz. I was very good at doing what I was told, taking direction, and staying middle of the road. I mean, they called me 'grandma' in college.

Eventbrite is 50-50 male-female, and this has been accomplished organically.

That seems to be my superpower - really understanding what motivates people.

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.

Co-founders shouldn't excel in the same areas - it's inefficient and will inevitably lead to conflicts down the road.

I think a universal feeling that we all share is that live experiences create indelible memories.

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 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 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.

There is no finish line to leadership.

The gender parity is something that has been organic to Eventbrite since we started building a team.

I think having a visionary CEO is awesome, and visionary leadership is one thing, but you also need checks and balances on whether this company can withstand a very honest and critical look at itself.