# Kevin Hartz

> Kevin Hartz is a Silicon Valley serial founder and venture investor who co-founded Eventbrite (NYSE: EB) and Xoom (acquired by PayPal for $1.1B), made seed-stage bets on PayPal, Airbnb, Uber, Pinterest, Palantir, Square, Stripe, and Slack, and now runs A* Capital — a $300M early-stage fund that bets heavily on teenage founders. His career spans 30+ years of building and backing transformative tech companies from Berkeley to the world stage.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & General Partner at A* Capital; Co-Founder & Chairman at Sauron
- **Organizations:** A* Capital, Sauron, Eventbrite, Xoom, Founders Fund
- **From:** Berkeley, California, USA
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A./B.Sc., Stanford University, M.St. (Masters), University College, Oxford
- **Known for:** Co-founded Eventbrite, which IPO'd on NYSE in 2018 at ~$1.8B valuation, Co-founded Xoom, acquired by PayPal for $1.1 billion in 2015, Made seed investments in PayPal, Airbnb, Uber, Pinterest, Palantir, Square, Stripe, Slack, and Reddit

## Career timeline

- **1992** — Graduated Stanford University with degrees in History and Applied Earth Science
- **1992-1993** — Masters in British History at University College, Oxford
- **1995-1997** — Product Manager at Silicon Graphics (SGI) for Cosmo Player VR browser
- **1998** — Co-founded ConnectGroup (hotel high-speed internet); sold to LodgeNet for ~$10M in under 10 months
- **1999** — Invested virtually all ConnectGroup proceeds into PayPal (then FieldLink/Confinity) seed round
- **2001** — Co-founded Xoom Corporation, international money remittance service, with Alan Braverman
- **2005** — Stepped back as Xoom CEO to board role
- **2006** — Co-founded Eventbrite with wife Julia Hartz and Renaud Visage
- **2009** — Made early seed investment in Airbnb (and later lost the deal over exploding term sheet)
- **2013** — Xoom IPO'd on NASDAQ
- **2015** — Xoom acquired by PayPal for $1.1 billion
- **2016** — Joined Peter Thiel's Founders Fund as Venture Partner
- **2018** — Eventbrite IPO'd on NYSE at ~$1.8B valuation; left Founders Fund
- **2020** — Co-founded A* Capital with Gautam Gupta and Bennett Siegel
- **2024** — Co-founded Sauron with Jack Abraham — perceptual home security platform
- **2025** — A* Capital backing ~20% of fund in teenage founders; spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

## Achievements

- Co-founded Eventbrite, which IPO'd on NYSE in 2018 at ~$1.8B valuation
- Co-founded Xoom, acquired by PayPal for $1.1 billion in 2015
- Made seed investments in PayPal, Airbnb, Uber, Pinterest, Palantir, Square, Stripe, Slack, and Reddit
- Built A* Capital to $300M AUM with 11 unicorns and 22 exits
- Recognized as 'Famous Phi' by Phi Delta Theta for entrepreneurial achievement
- Board Trustee of the California Academy of Sciences
- Featured in Bloomberg's 'How Did I Get Here?' series
- Co-founded Sauron with clients including U.S. Special Operations Command and Department of State
- Pioneer of the 'teen founder' investment thesis — 20% of A* fund in teenage entrepreneurs

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — A* Capital invested in Arthos, latest portfolio company (announced February 10, 2026)
- **2025-10** — Spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 (StrictlyVC LP Track, October 28)
- **2025-10** — TechCrunch reported A* Capital betting close to 20% of fund on teenage founders
- **2024-10** — Co-founded Sauron with Jack Abraham as Chairman, the perceptual home security platform
- **2024-07** — Featured on 20VC discussing the Airbnb exploding term sheet story and investment philosophy

## Links

- Website: https://www.a-star.co
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hartz
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/kevinhartz

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kevin-hartz
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-29