Company description
Ning is the world’s largest platform to create powerful, custom social websites. Top organizers, marketers, influencers, and activists use Ning to create a social destination where content intersects with conversations to inspire action. Every social website comes with out-of-the-box social integration, community features, point-and-click design tools, and turnkey monetization solutions that are easy to use.
In October 2010, Ning announced the launch of Ning Everywhere. It offers unparalleled flexibility for Ning Creators and third party developers to create mobile apps, monetize and integrate with popular cloud services in a matter of clicks, and develop custom apps using Ning’s API.
Ning spans categories including politics, entertainment, consumer brands, small business, non-profits, education and more, connecting over 74 million people around the globe with the topics they are passionate about. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Ning was co-founded in October 2004 by Chairman Marc Andreessen and is privately held.
Team
Jason Rosenthal
Chief Executive Officer
Jason Rosenthal is Chief Executive Officer at Ning. Jason was promoted to CEO in March 2010, from his position as Chief Operating Officer at Ning, where he was responsible for business development, marketing, advocacy and developer evangelism.
Previously, Jason was Vice President of Hewlett Packard Software's Business Service Automation product line, the fastest growing business within HP, through its $1.65 billion acquisition of Opsware, which he joined as the first employee in 1999.
As SVP and General Manager of Opsware’s Server Automation Products, Jason led all aspects of product development, marketing and engineering for the company’s flagship product line that generated $150 million in annual revenue.
Prior to Opsware and Loudcloud (Opsware’s predecessor company), Jason served as Director of Product Management for America Online's E-commerce Platform Division through AOL’s $4.2 billion acquisition of Netscape. Jason holds a B.A. in history from Pomona College where he also serves on the Board of Trustees and received his M.B.A. from Stanford Business School.
Diego Doval
Chief Technology Officer
Diego Doval is Chief Technology Officer at Ning, responsible for the product and technology initiatives for the Ning Platform. Diego is one of the world’s leading experts on large scale, distributed self-organizing technology architecture. Diego has been at Ning since its inception, architecting it from the ground up and leading the evolution of the Ning Platform, first as Chief Architect and VP of Engineering, then as CTO until September 2009, when he took on the role of Chief Product Officer and built Ning's product organization. In September 2010 Diego returned exclusively to his CTO role to focus on technology and new projects within Ning.
Prior to Ning, he cofounded Clevercactus Ltd., a peer-to-peer collaboration and sharing software, while completing his Ph.D on large scale, distributed self-organizing networks in two years. Diego holds a B.S. in computer science from Drexel University and earned a Ph.D. in computer science from Trinity College Dublin.
Jonathan Shambroom
Chief Product Officer
Jonathan Shambroom is Chief Product Officer at Ning, where his team is responsible for all products and services, from product vision to user experience.
Jonathan spent the last 17 years leading product teams at five startups that built their brand and success on product excellence. His expertise spans video sharing, social networking, invitations, calendaring, and video games. Before joining Ning, Jonathan served as SVP of Products and Marketing before taking over as General Manager of Crackle.com, which was acquired by Sony Pictures in 2006. Prior companies include Jumpstart Technologies, Evite.com (acquired by CitiSearch/Ticketmaster), When.com (acquired by AOL), and PF.Magic (acquired by Mindscape).
Jonathan has been an active angel investor and advisor to several Bay Area startup companies. Jonathan has a B.A. in English from Connecticut College.
Matt Halprin
Executive Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development
Matt Halprin is Executive Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development at Ning, where he leads a team responsible for setting Ning's strategy and forging deals with other companies that support Ning's and Network Creators' growth.
Prior to joining Ning, Matt was a Partner at Omidyar Network where he led the firm's investments to organizations with peer-to-peer technology platforms. Matt was also VP of Global Trust and Safety at eBay, where he led the department chartered with maximizing trust on all eBay's sites globally. Prior to eBay, Matt was a Partner at The Boston Consulting Group, where he advised technology clients on strategy and corporate development.
Matt sits on the boards of Wikimedia Foundation and Management Leadership for Tomorrow. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and an M.B.A. with High Distinction from Harvard Business School.
Sridatta Viswanath
Vice President of Engineering
Sridatta Viswanath is Vice President of Engineering at Ning, where he manages the application development, platform engineering, and operations teams responsible for innovating and scaling the Ning Platform.
Prior to Ning, Sridatta held engineering leadership roles at Sun Microsystems. In his last role at Sun, he managed the development team responsible for the GlassFish v2 Application Server product. Sri holds an M.S. in Computer Science from Clemson University and a management degree from Stanford Business School.
Anne Driscoll
Vice President of Business Operations
Anne Driscoll is the Vice President of Business Operations at Ning, where she is responsible for Marketing, Communications, Creative Services and Human Resources.
Prior to joining Ning, Anne led communications and brand initiatives at Google, creating programs to support culture, establish it as a great place to work and drive the global talent strategy. Anne led several cross-Google brand projects including the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, Google Code Jam and Innovate or Die. In addition, Anne worked closely with Google's international offices developing go to market strategies and support the hiring of talent worldwide.
Prior to Google, Anne was the Director of Product Management at GNX, a global B2B platform delivering sourcing and collaboration solutions for retailers, and a Senior Consultant at Andersen Consulting specializing in retail and supply chain clients. Anne has an Honors Bachelor of Commerce from Queen's University in Canada.
John McDonald
Vice President of Advocacy
John McDonald is Vice President of Advocacy at Ning, where he leads Network Creator advocacy and strategic relationships for Ning’s one million plus Network Creators and 43 million registered users on the Ning Platform.
Prior to Ning, John was the Senior Director of Seller Experience at eBay, where he drove buyer trust and seller efficiency for the company. John also served as Senior Director of U.S. Trust and Safety and, prior to that, as Director of Category Management at eBay where he was responsible for category growth and a phenomenal buyer experience. He holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Ryan McDonough
Vice President of Finance
Ryan McDonough is Vice President of Finance at Ning, where he is responsible for financial planning to help Ning achieve its business objectives and scale for the future.
Previously, Ryan was a Partner with Constantin Partners, a venture fund based in the San Francisco Bay Area. At Constantin he invested in and worked closely with early stage technology companies. Prior to Constantin, Ryan was with McKinsey & Company, where he served a range of clients in the high-tech, financial and telecom spaces.
Ryan is on the Board of The V Foundation Wine Celebration, an annual charity wine auction that has raised over $35 million for cancer research. Ryan did his undergraduate work at Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.
Cristian Cussen
Director of Business Development
Cristian Cussen is Director of Business Development at Ning, where he is responsible for strategic revenue deals and product partnerships worldwide.
Prior to Ning, Cristian was Director of Content & Marketing for MySpace, where in addition to forming a branded entertainment division, he ran video content strategy and grew monthly unique video viewers from 20 million to more than 55 million.
Cristian previously served as Director of Development at Scott Rudin Productions, overseeing the company’s literary department and working on dozens of movies including “The Hours” and “Team America.” Cristian has also worked internationally on two James Bond movies, and at the World Bank in Mexico City. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University.
Jon Stueve
General Counsel
Jon Stueve is the General Counsel at Ning, where he is responsible for Ning’s legal strategy and protection, intellectual property matters, and contractual obligations.
Prior to Ning, Jon was Corporate Counsel at Opsware, where he oversaw corporate legal matters and helped guide the company through its sale to Hewlett Packard in 2007. Jon was previously an Associate at Fenwick & West LLP. He received a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Florida and earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.
Jason Rand
