Seasoned Leaders from eBay and MapR Technologies Will Join Company as Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Data Strategy Officer

Eventbrite, a global ticketing and event technology platform that powers millions of events around the world, announced the addition of two prominent hires to its leadership team. Deborah Sharkey has been appointed as Chief Commercial Officer and Crystal Valentine will join the company as Chief Data Strategy Officer.

“The mid-market of live experiences is massive, and we are pursuing multiple opportunities to build continued scale, add new capabilities to our platform and expand into new countries and categories,” said Julia Hartz, co-founder and CEO of Eventbrite. “Deborah and Crystal are two remarkably talented leaders who will play critical roles in accelerating our global business and helping to create long-term and sustainable growth and value at Eventbrite. I’m thrilled to welcome them to the team.”

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Deborah Sharkey, Chief Commercial Officer

As Chief Commercial Officer, Deborah will drive the company’s global go-to-market strategy and expansion efforts in addition to leading the sales and account management teams, sales enablement and regional marketing strategy worldwide.

Deborah brings nearly two decades of leadership in consumer internet companies and a proven track record for scaling marketplace and e-commerce businesses across multiple geographies. Deborah spent more than ten years at eBay in various general management roles, which included leading eBay Australia to expand its market leadership and building a global “in store pickup” product. Most recently, she was Chief Operating Officer at DogVacay, a pet services marketplace, which was acquired by Rover, where she led the product, marketing, operations and engineering teams in addition to sitting on the company’s board of directors.

“I’m passionate about technology that creates economic opportunity, and Eventbrite’s platform is a perfect example, empowering creators to turn their interests into successful businesses.” said Sharkey. “I look forward to applying my experience in accelerating international growth and exploring further category expansion opportunities at this exciting inflection point for Eventbrite.”

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Crystal Valentine, Chief Data Strategy Officer

As Chief Data Strategy Officer, Crystal will oversee all technical and operational aspects of data within the company. This will include leading a global team of data scientists, architects and analysts to augment the Eventbrite platform with new functionality to empower event creators, while simplifying the consumer experience. She will also partner with key stakeholders across the organization to guide the company’s product roadmap through data-driven decision-making.

A PhD with nearly two decades in technology research and practice, Crystal brings a rare combination of deep expertise in computer science and big data coupled with operational and business strategy experience. She worked at Ab Initio Software where she consulted with Fortune 500 companies to design and implement enterprise applications, and has also consulted extensively with equity investors focused on technology. Most recently, she served as VP of Technology Strategy at MapR Technologies, a data platform for AI and Analytics. A former professor of computer science at Amherst College, Crystal has authored many academic publications and also holds a patent for Extreme Virtual Memory.

“What attracts me most to Eventbrite is the tremendous opportunity to leverage data to create a powerful and integrated experience for creators and a rich and smooth interaction for consumers,” said Valentine. “I’m excited to bring my deep expertise in the application of data science and algorithms to enhance the Eventbrite platform in support of millions of live experiences every year.”