Latest news with #RescueMe
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Eventbrite's CEO quit a cushy career in Hollywood to launch the $225 million company with her own money: ‘If it's a disaster, we'll just be broke'
Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz ditched her cushy TV career working on hit shows like Friends, Jackass, and The Shield to bootstrap the ticketing platform with her two cofounders, scaling it from a windowless phone closet. She exclusively tells Fortune they shelled out less than $250,000 to get the company up and running, reasoning that 'if it's a disaster, we'll just be broke.' But the Gen Xer's nail-biting sacrifice paid off, as Eventbrite now boasts a $225 million valuation and serves 89 million monthly users. Most people would jump at the idea of working on hit TV shows like Friends, Jackass, and The Shield, but Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz left it all behind to pursue her passion of bringing people together. Just five years into her rising TV career—where she'd climbed the ranks to junior executive at FX—Hartz tossed the towel in on her 9-to-5 to launch Eventbrite in 2006, bootstrapping the company entirely with her husband and fellow cofounder Renaud Visage. The pitch was: 'Come work on something that doesn't exist. We'll use our own money to fund it, and if it's a disaster, we'll just be broke,'' Hartz tells Fortune. Eventbrite is now estimated to be worth $225 million, and offers events ranging from wrestling classes, to comedy shows, to cheese raves with Queer Eye star Antoni Porowski. But it all started when Hartz and her husband—serial entrepreneur and early PayPal investor Kevin Hartz—assembled a dream team to get Eventbrite off the ground. They recruited fellow cofounder Visage to come on board as chief technology officer, and the trio of entrepreneurs decided to chuck $250,000 of their own money to get Eventbrite running, moving to San Francisco. Hartz had to sacrifice her job to put all her energy into Eventbrite, skirting the route other entrepreneurs have gone down: juggling a full-time job while scaling a company on the side. Instead, she found it best to wipe her slate clean and leave her TV career behind to pursue Eventbrite. It was a professional gamble that paid off in the long run. 'I've seen entrepreneurs do that, and I think that that's a clever way to gain validation and product market fit, without putting yourself in such a perilous state,' Hartz says. 'I did not do that.' Inspiration struck during her 9-to-5 job in TV working on Friends and The Shield Hartz started working at just the age of 14—pouring coffees in cafes, and driving kids to after-school activities—and hasn't taken her foot off the gas since. While attending Pepperdine University, she worked as an intern on the set of hit TV-show Friends, later scoring an internship at MTV in the series development department. It was a 'magical' experience that eventually landed her a job at the station—once she graduated, Hartz went straight into developing shows including Jackass, The Shield, and Rescue Me across MTV and FX. Part of her job entailed researching fandom events, and suddenly, something clicked. 'I remember going to this fandom event that was insanely niche, and feeling the energy of the people in the room, it just stuck with me,' Hartz says. 'It was this palpable, kinetic energy…When we started Eventbrite, I was thinking about that all along: 'How do we enable the people who gather others around these niche passion areas and create this magic?'' While most couples may wring their hands at the idea of putting their finances on the line to launch a company together, Hartz's partner was enthusiastic about going all-in on a light bulb moment. In fact, the Gen X CEO's nearly 20-year success may have never panned out if it wasn't for her husband Kevin—who's success investing in the then little-known startup called PayPal—persuaded her to take the leap into entrepreneurship. 'It's only serial entrepreneurs who can convince someone of that,' Hartz says. 'We made it on less than a quarter of a million dollars…I'm really, really proud of it.' Scaling a business idea into a $225 million ticketing giant Once Hartz made the decision to leave TV forever, she packed her things into boxes, and drove up the coast of California to settle in her company's new headquarters: San Francisco. The Silicon Valley hub had the tech connections and industry access to help get things off the ground. So just like that, she set up shop in Potrero Hill, the 'warehouse district'. 'I was moving saw horses and plywood into a windowless phone closet on Monday, in this warehouse district in San Francisco, going in my head, 'Wait, what if he's crazy?' Well, it's a little late for that,' Hartz says. 'I've been working since I was 14 with no break. So it was really important to me that I be working on day one.' Eventbrite was able to get things off the ground thanks in part to perfect timing; in the mid-2000s, social media platforms were looking to bring together its users in real life. Facebook made Eventbrite one of its first connect partners, solidifying a huge new customer base looking for community events to partake in. Then 2008 came, and thousands of workers from all across the U.S. were being laid off in droves during the financial crisis. Hartz said 'the world collapsed' in those dire years, and people were desperate for community while facing hardship. It was a tough era for corporate American workers, but was an opportunity for Eventbrite to bring them together. Over the next decade the business would amass a total of $373 million in equity funding through 11 fundraising rounds, according to Pitchbook, attracting investors like Tiger Global Management, Sequoia Capital and Square. The ticketing platform has since amassed a fanbase in nearly 180 countries—in 2024 alone, it had distributed 83 million paid tickets for over 4.7 million events. With 89 million monthly users, people are scoring seats at events ranging from a sunset Bach concert in Central Park to a house music cruise on the Hudson river. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Former Boston Bruins tough guy Lyndon Byers dies at 61
Former Boston Bruins tough guy Lyndon Byers has died at 61, the team announced on July 5. The Bruins said he died on July 4, though they didn't list a cause of death. "Lyndon was a fan favorite across his nine seasons in the Black & Gold thanks to his rugged, rough-and-tumble style," the team said in a statement. Advertisement Byers played for the Bruins from 1983-1992, racking up 959 penalty minutes, 11th in team history. He was part of the Bruins teams that went to the Stanley Cup Final in 1988 and 1990, playing a total of 28 games in those postseasons. Byers' best season was in 1987-88, when he had 10 goals, 24 points and 236 penalty minutes. He had another 62 penalty minutes in the playoffs. According to Byers had 92 career fights, including a total of 30 in the 1987-88 regular season and playoffs. He also played for the San Jose Sharks in 1992-93 before finishing his professional hockey career with two seasons in the International Hockey League. He had 28 goals, 71 points and 1,081 penalty minutes in 279 NHL games. Advertisement After retiring, Byers spent about 25 years as a radio host for Boston's WAAF. He also appeared in four episodes of the television show "Rescue Me" and had small roles in "Shallow Hal," "Stuck on You" and a few other movies. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lyndon Byers, former Bruins tough guy, dies at 61
USA Today
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Former Boston Bruins tough guy Lyndon Byers dies at 61
Former Boston Bruins tough guy Lyndon Byers has died at 61, the team announced on July 5. The Bruins said he died on July 4, though they didn't list a cause of death. "Lyndon was a fan favorite across his nine seasons in the Black & Gold thanks to his rugged, rough-and-tumble style," the team said in a statement. Byers played for the Bruins from 1983-1992, racking up 959 penalty minutes, 11th in team history. He was part of the Bruins teams that went to the Stanley Cup Final in 1988 and 1990, playing a total of 28 games in those postseasons. Byers' best season was in 1987-88, when he had 10 goals, 24 points and 236 penalty minutes. He had another 62 penalty minutes in the playoffs. According to Byers had 92 career fights, including a total of 30 in the 1987-88 regular season and playoffs. He also played for the San Jose Sharks in 1992-93 before finishing his professional hockey career with two seasons in the International Hockey League. He had 28 goals, 71 points and 1,081 penalty minutes in 279 NHL games. After retiring, Byers spent about 25 years as a radio host for Boston's WAAF. He also appeared in four episodes of the television show "Rescue Me" and had small roles in "Shallow Hal," "Stuck on You" and a few other movies.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Former Boston Bruins tough guy Lyndon Byers dies at 61
Former Boston Bruins tough guy Lyndon Byers has died at 61, the team announced on July 5. The Bruins said he died on July 4, though they didn't list a cause of death. "Lyndon was a fan favorite across his nine seasons in the Black & Gold thanks to his rugged, rough-and-tumble style," the team said in a statement. Advertisement Byers played for the Bruins from 1983-1992, racking up 959 penalty minutes, 11th in team history. He was part of the Bruins teams that went to the Stanley Cup Final in 1988 and 1990, playing a total of 28 games in those postseasons. Byers' best season was in 1987-88, when he had 10 goals, 24 points and 236 penalty minutes. He had another 62 penalty minutes in the playoffs. According to Byers had 92 career fights, including a total of 30 in the 1987-88 regular season and playoffs. He also played for the San Jose Sharks in 1992-93 before finishing his professional hockey career with two seasons in the International Hockey League. He had 28 goals, 71 points and 1,081 penalty minutes in 279 NHL games. Advertisement After retiring, Byers spent about 25 years as a radio host for Boston's WAAF. He also appeared in four episodes of the television show "Rescue Me" and had small roles in "Shallow Hal," "Stuck on You" and a few other movies. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lyndon Byers, former Bruins tough guy, dies at 61
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Authenticity As Important As Comedy To ‘Going Dutch' Star & Producer Denis Leary — Contenders TV
Denis Leary said authenticity to the military is as important as being funny on his new show Going Dutch. Leary plays Army Col. Patrick Quinn, who gets re-assigned to a base in the Netherlands after ranting against the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He and the base's soldiers engage in comic hijinx, but they're never making fun of the Army. 'I know we're supposed to be funny but we're also supposed to be soldiers,' Leary said. 'We're all dressed that way. Even if we're just in the hair and makeup trailer, generally we're in our uniforms. It's a constant reminder.' More from Deadline Deadline Contenders Television 2025 Arrivals Gallery: Ellen Pompeo, Bella Ramsey, Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Paul Feig & More Deadline Studio At Contenders Television 2025: Brandon Sklenar, Christina Ricci, Elisabeth Moss, Ellen Pompeo, Bella Ramsey & More Martin Scorsese's Yes Opened Doors To All 'The Studio' Cameos, Ike Barinholtz & Producers Say - Contenders TV Leary developed the show as executive producer with creator Joel Church-Cooper. Leary said detail is so important to him, he insists on acoutrements the audience will never see. 'There are certain props the audience will never see that I want my character to have with him,' Leary said. 'In this case there was a challenge coin I wanted made that comes from my character's background, back when he was winning medals in Iraq and Afghanistan. The audience will never see it but my character would have it with him every day.' In that respect, Going Dutch reminded Leary of his firefighter drama Rescue Me. He and his co-stars played firemen, and couldn't just fake it. RELATED: 'When you put on the bunker gear, even as much training as you've done for the part, the day that you put it on and we're shooting, you better look like a motherf*ckin' firefighter,' Leary said. 'That show we had real firefighters on set.' Going Dutch films on a real Dutch Army base, so there are constant reminders of the real deal soldiers amongst the actors. 'There's jet planes, cargo planes, tanks,' Leary said. 'It's usually a vast pretty flat area that's pretty windy because there's not buildings around. And there's real soldiers advising you. Off in the distance they're really drilling for something. You feel really intimidated.' Leary said Joel based the show on a real Netherlands base that closed because soldiers were engaging in the country's legal prostitution and drugs. 'This base was in charge of laundry for the other 32 naval bases and cheese and wine,' Leary said. 'They had to shut it down because there was some prostitution and other things being sold on the base. So they shut it down. The base that this is based on now has a bunch of barbed wire and fencing. They built a new base four miles away that now has the same problems.' Going Dutch concluded its first season on Fox in March and streams on Hulu. Check back on Monday for the panel video. Best of Deadline '1923' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? Everything We Know About 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 So Far Everything We Know About 'Hacks' Season 4 So Far
