Sustainable business: is growth the right metric?
summary
Eventbrite recounts a bootstrapped decade that scales to 2.1 million events in 180 countries with ~500,000 active organizers and 40+ million buyers, and claims profitability at scale. Growth strategy separates core ticketing, emerging tech (RFID wristbands, mobile box office) and adjacent marketplaces, uses local playbooks and “boots on the ground” launches (Netherlands), and enforces a rational audit process to reallocate resources away from attractive but nonmaterial initiatives toward sustainable, measurable returns.
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chapters (10)
- 0:00Introduction and context
- 1:09Eventbrite’s first decade
- 3:40Core growth and scaling challenges
- 6:10Emerging growth strategies
- 8:59International expansion focus
- 10:24Rational vs irrational growth
- 12:12Scaling culture alongside business
- 14:39Profitability and board evolution
- 17:07Mistakes and lessons learned
- 19:14Future of growth expectations
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