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The Gina Bianchini Interview:

When Bad Things Happened, She Found a Mission, a New Business, and Deeper Connections

 

Gina Bianchini may be a household name in Silicon Valley with a long list of awards and and an impressive track record, but she’s not your typical software entrepreneur. Her ultimate goal isn’t financial gain or fame, it’s to build communities that enrich our lives.

 

Currently she’s the founder and CEO of Mighty Networks, a software platform for creating custom communities for people with deep interests. Before Mighty Networks, Gina and Marc Andreessen co-founded Ning, a platform for private social networks that grew to 90 million members worldwide and a $750M valuation. She also co-founded LeanIn.Org with Sheryl Sandberg.

 

Gina serves on the board of directors of Scripps Networks which owns HGTV, The Food Network, and The Travel Channel.

 

In this enlightening interview, you’ll find out who Gina lost early in life and how it developed her reliance on, and passion for, deep connection with others. Plus, having faced gender discrimination and other setbacks in her career, she offers practical ways we can move forward, share our experiences, and use them to become more creative business leaders.

“The question isn’t, ‘What terrible thing happened to me?’ Rather, it’s ‘How am I going to get to the other side?’ You have to choose to define yourself by the things you want to define yourself by, and not let anything or anyone else do it for you.”

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Notable Revelations in the Interview

 

“Having a squad — my mom, my brother, and sister — was really important to my healing and development. I also had a strong core group of friends, and my dad’s former colleagues kept an eye out for us, and that was extremely meaningful to me.”

 

“Resilience is learned. I now handle things coming down the pipe really well. The ability to come into a tough situation and deal makes me really good at my job.”

 

“I grew up in a time and place where Silicon Valley was really about the tinkerers in the garages. My friends’ parents all had rooms out in the back where they were always building stuff and that culture of making and tinkering has always been second nature to me.”

 

“Gender discrimination issues have existed for many years. The Lean In movement started the conversation, but there are a lot more conversations to have. All we’re seeing today is the courage of more and more women finally willing to speak up. We need to give it a name, give it a story, and share experiences that are incredibly difficult to share.”

 

“One of the things that is most important about what’s happening right now is the change with retribution, the very rightful fear of speaking up about discrimination or harassment . Because the consequences for speaking up are changing, we’re getting a much clearer picture of what’s going on. This is tough and it’s creating awkward conversations with people we know and love, but it’s critical if we are going to unlock entirely new sources of innovation.”

 

“To overcome gender discrimination, first you have to give yourself the space to be able to say this terrible thing happened to me. Then the question is: how are you going to get to the other side? It’s not going to happen overnight. You have to choose to define yourself by the things you want to define yourself by, and not let anything or anyone else do it for you.”

“In my own life, I’ve seen how connections with others — in good times and in bad times — have made my life rich and interesting and something I’m grateful for. When we launched Ning in 2007, I instantly knew that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my career and life. When I saw the value that’s created when you can connect with people that have a shared interest, identity, purpose or project, I realized two things: first, you have more fun, and second, you can make better and more well-informed decisions. We all make the best decisions not based on reading something dry and boring, but based on the stories of experiences of people like us. It’s through stories and sharing that we learn, we get inspired, and we have courage.”

 

“I want to know more than anybody else on the planet what are going to be the best experiences to build communities that might start online and move into the real world, or start in the real world and move online, so that we’re enriched, more creative, inspired and supported, and as things happen to each and every one of us, we know we’re not alone.”

 

“Today, there are so many different entrepreneurs and startups. If an idea pops into your head, ten other people have had it too. We’re at this great moment when it’s never been easier to be an entrepreneur which means that to be successful it’s never been harder.”

 

“It is too challenging a path if you’re starting something because you think becoming an entrepreneur is cool, versus thinking there’s an underlying mission, meaning, purpose or novelty to what you’re doing. But, if you try other things and you find you just can’t stay away from this idea, then go do it.”

“We all make the best decisions not based on reading something dry and boring, but based on the stories of experiences of people like us. It’s through stories and sharing that we learn, we get inspired, and we have courage.”

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“The question isn’t, ‘What terrible thing happened to me?’ Rather, it’s ‘How am I going to get to the other side?’ You have to choose to define yourself by the things you want to define yourself by, and not let anything or anyone else do it for you.”

“We all make the best decisions not based on reading something dry and boring, but based on the stories of experiences of people like us. It’s through stories and sharing that we learn, we get inspired, and we have courage.”

The Gina Bianchini Interview:

When Bad Things Happened, She Found a Mission, a New Business, and Deeper Connections

 

Gina Bianchini may be a household name in Silicon Valley with a long list of awards and and an impressive track record, but she’s not your typical software entrepreneur. Her ultimate goal isn’t financial gain or fame, it’s to build communities that enrich our lives.

 

Currently she’s the founder and CEO of Mighty Networks, a software platform for creating custom communities for people with deep interests. Before Mighty Networks, Gina and Marc Andreessen co-founded Ning, a platform for private social networks that grew to 90 million members worldwide and a $750M valuation. She also co-founded LeanIn.Org with Sheryl Sandberg.

 

Gina serves on the board of directors of Scripps Networks which owns HGTV, The Food Network, and The Travel Channel.

 

In this enlightening interview, you’ll find out who Gina lost early in life and how it developed her reliance on, and passion for, deep connection with others. Plus, having faced gender discrimination and other setbacks in her career, she offers practical ways we can move forward, share our experiences, and use them to become more creative business leaders.

“The question isn’t, ‘What terrible thing happened to me?’ Rather, it’s ‘How am I going to get to the other side?’ You have to choose to define yourself by the things you want to define yourself by, and not let anything or anyone else do it for you.”

Notable Revelations in the Interview

 

“Having a squad — my mom, my brother, and sister — was really important to my healing and development. I also had a strong core group of friends, and my dad’s former colleagues kept an eye out for us, and that was extremely meaningful to me.”

 

“Resilience is learned. I now handle things coming down the pipe really well. The ability to come into a tough situation and deal makes me really good at my job.”

 

“I grew up in a time and place where Silicon Valley was really about the tinkerers in the garages. My friends’ parents all had rooms out in the back where they were always building stuff and that culture of making and tinkering has always been second nature to me.”

 

“Gender discrimination issues have existed for many years. The Lean In movement started the conversation, but there are a lot more conversations to have. All we’re seeing today is the courage of more and more women finally willing to speak up. We need to give it a name, give it a story, and share experiences that are incredibly difficult to share.”

 

“One of the things that is most important about what’s happening right now is the change with retribution, the very rightful fear of speaking up about discrimination or harassment . Because the consequences for speaking up are changing, we’re getting a much clearer picture of what’s going on. This is tough and it’s creating awkward conversations with people we know and love, but it’s critical if we are going to unlock entirely new sources of innovation.”

 

“To overcome gender discrimination, first you have to give yourself the space to be able to say this terrible thing happened to me. Then the question is: how are you going to get to the other side? It’s not going to happen overnight. You have to choose to define yourself by the things you want to define yourself by, and not let anything or anyone else do it for you.”

 

“In my own life, I’ve seen how connections with others — in good times and in bad times — have made my life rich and interesting and something I’m grateful for. When we launched Ning in 2007, I instantly knew that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my career and life. When I saw the value that’s created when you can connect with people that have a shared interest, identity, purpose or project, I realized two things: first, you have more fun, and second, you can make better and more well-informed decisions. We all make the best decisions not based on reading something dry and boring, but based on the stories of experiences of people like us. It’s through stories and sharing that we learn, we get inspired, and we have courage.”

 

“I want to know more than anybody else on the planet what are going to be the best experiences to build communities that might start online and move into the real world, or start in the real world and move online, so that we’re enriched, more creative, inspired and supported, and as things happen to each and every one of us, we know we’re not alone.”

 

“Today, there are so many different entrepreneurs and startups. If an idea pops into your head, ten other people have had it too. We’re at this great moment when it’s never been easier to be an entrepreneur which means that to be successful it’s never been harder.”

 

“It is too challenging a path if you’re starting something because you think becoming an entrepreneur is cool, versus thinking there’s an underlying mission, meaning, purpose or novelty to what you’re doing. But, if you try other things and you find you just can’t stay away from this idea, then go do it.”

“We all make the best decisions not based on reading something dry and boring, but based on the stories of experiences of people like us. It’s through stories and sharing that we learn, we get inspired, and we have courage.”

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from the best in business