Kevin Hartz

Who they are

Kevin Hartz is Managing Partner at Herd Freed Hartz — co-founded Eventbrite in 2006 (NYSE IPO in 2018) and Xoom in 2001 (acquired by PayPal for ~$1.1 billion).

Person

Kevin Hartz took a BS in Marketing from Indiana University, then cut his teeth in recruiting at RealNetworks during its streaming media heyday — rising from Senior Recruiter to Recruiting Manager before co-founding Herd Freed Hartz in 2001. In parallel he ran a separate founder track: he co-founded Xoom in 2001, the international money-transfer service that went public in 2013 and was acquired by PayPal in 2015 for ~$1.1 billion, then co-founded Eventbrite in 2006, which went public on the NYSE in 2018. He also did a stint as Partner at Founders Fund after Eventbrite's IPO cycle. In 2020 he launched A* Capital, an early-stage fund focused on fintech, AI, and consumer internet. Angel bets along the way included Airbnb and Uber — both calls made before either was a household name. The through-line is recruiting and company-building running in tandem: he has never been purely one or the other. Possibly — a 2024 venture called Sauron Systems in advanced home security suggests he's still backing new company formation alongside the fund and search work.

Company

The most recent notable development at Herd Freed Hartz is a leadership transition: Sean Thompson — former President and CEO of NAVEX with prior senior roles at SAP Ariba and Microsoft — is set to take over as CEO starting May 4, 2026. The firm was co-founded in 2001 and has completed 1,000+ searches over that span, serving 150+ publicly traded companies in the Seattle region with a combined market cap described as ~$1T. CEOWorld has named it the top executive search firm in the Northwest. Recent placement activity includes Craig Irwin as VP Sales at CopilotKit, signaling active work in the AI startup space. Headquarters are in Seattle, with additional presence in Portland and Alaska.

Market

Herd Freed Hartz operates in retained executive search — a segment where relationships, sector depth, and repeat mandates from public-company boards drive competitive position. The firm differentiates on Pacific Northwest density: its public-company client base spans tech, healthcare, biotech, private equity, and non-profit, and its CFO and COO practices emphasize IPO and M&A readiness. Executive search is a relationship-intensive business where brand reputation and fill quality matter far more than marketing, and the firm's 25-year track record in a region now home to several global tech giants is its primary moat.

Network

Kevin's closest collaborators at Herd Freed Hartz are co-Managing Partners Jim Herd and Paul Freed — both long-tenured given the firm's 2001 founding — and Partner Ryan Biancofiori. Incoming CEO Sean Thompson brings a Microsoft and SAP Ariba pedigree and previously ran NAVEX, which will shift the firm's senior leadership dynamic starting May 2026.

Jim Herd· co-Managing Partner, Herd Freed Hartz
Paul Freed· co-Managing Partner, Herd Freed Hartz
Ryan Biancofiori· Partner, Herd Freed Hartz
Sean Thompson· Incoming CEO, Herd Freed Hartz (effective May 4, 2026)

How they likely show up

Co-founded Xoom and Eventbrite while simultaneously running Herd Freed Hartz → operates in parallel tracks rather than serial focus; likely comfortable holding multiple large things at once.
Angel bets on Airbnb and Uber at seed stage, plus founding A* Capital → pattern-recognition investor who moves early on conviction; probably impatient with slow decision cycles.
Recruiting career started in-house at RealNetworks before going independent → understands operator pain from the inside, which likely shapes how he pitches and runs searches.
Appeared on CEOInterviews.AI podcast on both executive search topics and AI's impact on seed-stage investing → comfortable being visible and talking across multiple domains at once.
Possibly — interest in books like '4000 Weeks' (Oliver Burkeman on finite time) and 'Second Mountain' (David Brooks on purpose beyond ambition) → may be in a reflective phase about what work is for, not just what it produces.

Conversation tips

→ Ask about the Eventbrite or Xoom founding story — he's done both consumer internet and fintech from zero, and those experiences almost certainly inform how he thinks about executive talent today.
→ Reference the A* Capital thesis on AI and fintech — he's talked about it on the CEOInterviews.AI podcast and it's a live intellectual interest, not a past chapter.
→ The incoming CEO transition (Sean Thompson, May 2026) is the live moment at Herd Freed Hartz — asking what he's handing over and what he's moving toward will get a real answer.
→ He's a Seattle/Pacific Northwest operator at heart despite a San Francisco base — local market texture (KEXP, SAM, regional causes) lands with him.

Toolbox

Openers

Open on the A* Capital AI + seed-stage investing angle — he recorded a CEOInterviews.AI episode specifically on how AI is rewriting seed-stage investing, so it's a current preoccupation, not a talking point.
Reference the Xoom origin: co-founding an international money-transfer business in 2001 — the same year he co-founded Herd Freed Hartz — and running both through to a $1.1 billion PayPal exit is an unusual dual-track story worth unpacking.
The Sean Thompson CEO handoff is happening now — asking what prompted the transition and what Kevin is optimizing for next is a live, specific opener that shows you've done the work.

Discovery questions

You co-founded Herd Freed Hartz and Xoom in the same year — how did you manage the cognitive split between building a company and recruiting leadership for other companies?
A* Capital focuses on fintech, AI, and consumer internet — how has your view on what makes a strong founding team shifted from when you were building Eventbrite to what you back now?
With Sean Thompson coming in as CEO of Herd Freed Hartz in May 2026, what does the next chapter look like for you — more fund work, new ventures, or something else?

Avoid

Don't treat the executive search work as a side hustle to the 'real' story of Eventbrite and Xoom — Herd Freed Hartz is a 25-year firm he co-founded, and framing it as secondary will read as dismissive.

Make it yours