Gina Bianchini

Gina Bianchini
Born	1972 (age 52–53)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Stanford University (Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, 1994) Stanford Graduate School of Business (MBA, 2000)
Occupation(s)	CEO & Founder, Mighty Networks
Years active	2011–present
Known for	Founder & CEO of Mighty Networks; Founder of Ning
Spouse	John Alstrom [1]

Gina Bianchini (born 1972) is an American entrepreneur and investor. She is the Founder & CEO of Mighty Networks. ^[2]

Early life and education

Bianchini grew up in Cupertino, California, and later earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science with honors from Stanford University in 1994. She began her career in the nascent High Technology Group at Goldman Sachs. In 2000, she completed her M.B.A. at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. ^[3]

Career

Bianchini co-founded Ning with Marc Andreessen, a platform that allowed users to create their own social networks. It became one of the major platforms during the Web 2.0 era and reached over 100 million users before being acquired. She served as CEO of Ning until 2010. ^{[4] [5]}

In 2011, she launched Mightybell, which later evolved into Mighty Networks—a SaaS platform that enables creators and entrepreneurs to build community-powered businesses, offer online courses, and manage memberships. The platform has been described as an alternative to Facebook Groups, with an emphasis on engagement and monetization for creators. ^{[6] [7]}

In April 2021, Mighty Networks raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Owl Ventures to expand its tools for creators and community builders. ^[8]

Bianchini speaks on community-based entrepreneurship and has participated in conferences organized by SHRM, JPMorgan, and Stanford GSB. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Board memberships

Bianchini serves as a board director for TEGNA (NYSE: TGNA), a $3 billion broadcast and digital media company. ^[12] She was also a board director of Scripps Networks (NASDAQ: SNI), owner of channels like HGTV, Food Network, and Travel Channel, until its acquisition by Discovery Communications in 2018. In 2022, she joined the board of directors of Holley Inc. ^[13]

Book

• Bianchini, Gina (21 November 2022). Purpose: Design a Community and Change Your Life---A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Your Purpose and Making It Matter. Mighty Books. ISBN   979-8-9871914-0-8.

References

1. Patrick May (July 16, 2010). "Mercury News interview: Gina Bianchini, entrepreneur, founder of Ning". Mercury News . Retrieved February 20, 2015.
2. Gina Bianchini Is Taking On Facebook Once Again With Mighty Networks
3. Jodi Kantor (22 December 2014). "For Stanford Class of '94, a Gender Gap more Powerful than the Internet". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
4. Gina Bianchini On Building Ning and Creating Platforms for Community, Huffington Post
5. Gina Bianchini Leaves Ning To Join Andreessen Horowitz, Business Insider
6. Gina Bianchini On Reinventing Online Groups, TechCrunch
7. Mighty Networks Founder Gina Bianchini On Building a Business in Silicon Valley, TechCrunch
8. Mighty Networks Raises $50M, TechCrunch
9. SHRM Session Speaker Profile – Gina Bianchini
10. Improving Relationship Building On Social Media, JPMorgan
11. Gina Bianchini: “Do Something Every Day That Scares You”, Stanford GSB
12. "TEGNA Board Elects Gina Bianchini as New Director". www.businesswire.com. 2018-01-16. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
13. Holley Inc. Board Announcement, Performance Racing Industry