Kevin Hartz

Background

Kevin Hartz was born in Berkeley and raised in Orinda, California. He graduated from Stanford University in 1992 with a B.A.S. in history and applied earth sciences, then completed an M.A. in British history at University College, Oxford in 1993 ¹.

He began his technology career at Silicon Graphics (SGI), where he served as product manager for Cosmo Player, a VRML browser for interactive 3D web content ¹. In the late 1990s, he co-founded ConnectGroup, a company that provided high-speed internet services to hotels; it was acquired by LodgeNet Entertainment within ten months for approximately $5–10 million ¹². He then joined Outlook Ventures as a Principal, where he made early-stage investments including a seed bet on PayPal — investing, by his own account, as much as possible from his ConnectGroup exit proceeds ³⁴.

In 2001, Hartz co-founded Xoom Corporation with Alan Braverman, an international digital money transfer platform serving more than 30 countries ¹. He served as CEO through 2005 and remained on the board through Xoom’s IPO on the NASDAQ in February 2013 (raising approximately $101 million). PayPal acquired Xoom in November 2015 for approximately $890 million to $1.1 billion ¹².

In 2006, Hartz co-founded Eventbrite with his wife Julia Hartz and Renaud Visage, building a self-service event ticketing and management platform ¹. The company bootstrapped for roughly four years before taking outside capital and went public on the NYSE in September 2018 under the ticker EB, raising approximately $232 million at a roughly $1.8 billion valuation ¹⁵. Hartz served as Chairman after stepping back from the CEO role; Julia Hartz led the company as CEO through its IPO.

Between his operating roles, Hartz built a notable angel portfolio backing PayPal, Airbnb (2009, post-YC Sequoia round), Pinterest (seed, ~2010), Uber (Series B, ~2011), Trulia, Yammer, TripIt, Lookout, Gusto, Square, Palantir, SpaceX, and Anduril, among others ¹²⁶⁷.

In September 2016, Hartz joined Founders Fund as a General Partner, where he worked alongside Peter Thiel, Cyan Banister, and Trae Stephens, among others ⁵. He departed in June 2018 after roughly two years; a Founders Fund spokesperson noted: “After nearly two years with Founders Fund, Kevin is ready for a new challenge. He remains a friend of the firm and we’re excited to see what he does next.” ⁵

In 2020, Hartz co-founded A Capital (pronounced “A-star,” a nod to the computer science pathfinding algorithm) with Bennett Siegel (formerly of Coatue) and Gautam Gupta (formerly of Uber and Opendoor) ⁸⁹. A raised a first fund with backing from prominent founders including Max Levchin and Peter Thiel, then closed a second fund of $315 million in June 2024 — its second oversubscribed raise in three years ⁸. The firm describes its mission as “Guiding Outliers From Idea to IPO” and operates from 900 Kearny Street, San Francisco ¹⁰.

In 2024, Hartz also co-founded Sauron, an AI-powered home security startup targeting high-end consumers, alongside Jack Abraham (Atomic) and a founding team with Zipline and Palantir pedigree ¹.

Stated Thesis

(Self-reported: These represent what Hartz says publicly about his investing approach. See Inferred Thesis for analysis of actual investment behavior.)

Hartz publicly emphasizes talent over thesis. In a 2020 interview he stated: “I really focus on talent. Some mistakes I’ve made have been overly focusing on a segment or something I personally want in the world. When focusing on talent, great things happen.” ¹¹

He describes his overall approach as founder-centric: “In the early days, it was always based on people.” ¹² He frames his evaluation through character archetypes: “You have the Greek — the great thinker and architect of ideas — and the Roman — the road builder, the executor, the operator.” He looks for complementary co-founding teams that combine both ¹¹.

At A, the firm states it leads at seed, doubles down at Series A, and incubates companies from inception ¹⁰. A’s publicly stated sector focus spans fintech, AI, marketplaces, consumer, and proptech, investing between $100K and $10M per check with a sweet spot around $3M ⁷.

On AI specifically, Hartz said at TechCrunch Disrupt in October 2025: “We’re just at the beginning of what I’d call a super cycle of expansiveness in tech, with AI and everything else — especially AI. We’re in very early innings.” He cited companies like Cognition (coding co-pilots) and Decagon and Sierra (AI CRM) as early manifestations but said many categories remain to be disrupted ¹³.

On teen founders — an unplanned theme that emerged in A*’s portfolio — Hartz said: “You find these really bright kids who are just very bored in school. I see classes of Stanford freshmen or sophomores who fall into this category — they were completely bored, some ended up homeschooling, and just excelled. Even in top universities, they still go and drop out with a thirst to build, to learn, to push the envelope.” He described teen founders as having a “new manner of thinking” — able to “see around corners” to what the world will look like in five to ten years ¹³³.

On investing in downturns: “I get a little bit giddy about these downturns because it really separates out the tourists. This is really when great businesses are formed. When you have people thinking against the grain are starting companies and will really endure in a capital efficient manner.” ¹⁴

On choosing investors: “Choose not the highest price but the best investor and somebody that you’re willing to work with.” ¹⁵

Inferred Thesis

Based on verified investments across Hartz’s angel career and A* Capital’s Fund I and Fund II, the following patterns emerge. Note: Hartz’s publicly disclosed investment count across aggregators ranges from approximately 21 (Arete Index) to 82+ (various aggregators including personal angel investments), reflecting incomplete public data. The analysis below is based on the 33 investments for which sourced records are available.

Platform and marketplace dominance (pre-A*): The clearest pattern in Hartz’s angel era is his concentration in two-sided platforms and networks: PayPal (payments network), Airbnb (accommodation marketplace), Uber (ride marketplace), Pinterest (visual discovery network), Trulia (real estate marketplace), Yammer (enterprise social), Reddit (community platform). This predates his stated thesis and appears to reflect genuine pattern recognition from building Eventbrite and Xoom.

Fintech infrastructure: His Xoom/PayPal background is reflected across investments in fintech: PayPal (seed), Xoom (founded), Gusto, Square, Mercury, Ramp, Rillet, Multiply Mortgage. Payments and financial infrastructure appear in at least 7 of his documented portfolio entries.

AI and deep tech (A* era): A*’s Fund I and II have moved decisively into AI application layer companies: Decagon (AI customer service, led $131M Series C in June 2025), EyeTell (AI video, led seed 2023 alongside Ron Conway), Tako (AI search visualization, led $5.75M seed in October 2024), Hedra (AI video generation, seed 2024) ^16171819. Deep tech bets include Etched (application-specific semiconductors, 2024), Reflect Orbital (satellite tech, seed 2024), and Fuse Energy Technologies (alternative energy, 2023) ²⁰.

Teen and young founder concentration: As of October 2025, approximately 20% of A*’s current fund is deployed to companies with a teenage founder — described by Hartz as “an unplanned investment thesis” that developed as he noticed exceptional young builders ¹³.

Geographic focus: Predominantly San Francisco Bay Area, with some national reach ⁷.

Co-investor patterns: Ron Conway / SV Angel (EyeTell seed), Stanley Druckenmiller, Naval Ravikant, Guillermo Rauch, and Aravind Srinivas (Tako seed). A* has also incubated alongside Jack Abraham’s Atomic (Sauron) and operated alongside Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, and Bain Capital Ventures at growth stages (Decagon Series C).

Check size evolution: As an angel, Hartz wrote small checks ($25K–$250K range). At A*, the stated range is $100K–$10M with a $3M sweet spot at seed, expanding to lead larger follow-on rounds (e.g., the $131M Decagon Series C) ⁷⁸.

Key divergence from stated thesis: Hartz says he focuses on “talent over segment,” yet his actual portfolio shows persistent sector patterns — heavy fintech/payments, platform businesses, and now AI. The talent-first framing appears to be a heuristic for entry decisions, not a description of portfolio composition.

Portfolio

The table below covers verified investments with sourced records. Hartz’s full disclosed investment history is larger; aggregators cite 50+ A* investments and a personal angel portfolio spanning 30+ years. Entries marked ~YYYY use founding year as proxy where exact investment date is unavailable.

In Their Own Words

On why he invested everything in PayPal’s seed round:

“It’s all about the team. I had known Peter Thiel since we were students at Stanford. He was an extraordinary person.” — Kevin Hartz, LinkedIn post via Turner Novak, January 2026 ⁴

On founder evaluation:

“I look very carefully at the backgrounds of founders to understand what really motivates them, that they’re going to really want to win, and that they have the intellectual capacity to make the right decisions.” — Kevin Hartz, Off RCRD interview with Cory Levy ²²

On his investment identity:

“I really have spent most of my career on the operating side, having founded a couple companies and actually recoil when I hear the term venture capitalist.” — Kevin Hartz, 20VC podcast (Founders Fund era), 2017 ¹²

On intellectual curiosity as an investment edge:

“I think that in investing, it’s really how inquisitive you are. Intellectual curiosity, intrigue, and also kind of the fearlessness to go into segments that other investors tend not to go into has made it really exciting.” — Kevin Hartz, 20VC podcast, 2017 ¹²

On downturns and great companies:

“I get a little bit giddy about these downturns because it really separates out the tourists. This is really when great businesses are formed. When you have people thinking against the grain are starting companies and will really endure in a capital efficient manner. I had the good fortune of being a seed investor in Airbnb back in 2009… And they were scrappy and they were hungry. And it was a recession. And they have what it takes to survive.” — Kevin Hartz, Bloomberg interview, Sun Valley, July 2022 ¹⁴

On the AI wave:

“We’re just at the beginning of what I’d call a super cycle of expansiveness in tech, with AI and everything else — especially AI. We’re in very early innings. You have the coding co-pilots like Cognition, and then you have Decagon and Sierra in the AI CRM space. But there are so many other categories still to be disrupted.” — Kevin Hartz, StrictlyVC at TechCrunch Disrupt, October 2025 ¹³

On young founders:

“You need that new manner of thinking. I describe it as seeing around corners. Teen founders just know what the world is going to look like in five and 10 years.” — Kevin Hartz, The Split podcast, 2025 ³

On adversity and ingenuity:

“Ingenuity comes out of scarce resources.” — Kevin Hartz, Maddyness UK, June 2020 ¹¹

On complementary founding teams:

“I think the push and pull of some of the most brilliant companies is that complementary aspect of founders.” — Kevin Hartz, Maddyness UK, June 2020 ¹¹

On the Tako investment:

“Their drive is unmatched.” — Kevin Hartz, quoted in Semafor on the Tako seed round, October 2024 ¹⁸

On public markets for founders:

“Choose not the highest price but the best investor and somebody that you’re willing to work with.” — Kevin Hartz, Mercury Blog (SPAC discussion), ~2021 ¹⁵

On enduring businesses:

“We’re looking for enduring businesses that we want to hold stock in for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years.” — Kevin Hartz, Mercury Blog (SPAC discussion), ~2021 ¹⁵

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found. Kevin Hartz is active on Twitter/X (@kevinhartz) publicly endorsing portfolio founders, but no independent quotes from founders about their experience working with Hartz or A* Capital were located in public sources at the time of research.

Sources