Gina Bianchini recently stepped down as CEO of Ning. Right before she left her post, however, she sat down with me to share her experience as a first-time entrepreneur. Gina founded Ning, along with Marc Andreessen, and then ran it as CEO for the past several years. Last week, she resigned as CEO.
Her first piece of advice is this: “One major piece of advice would be finding the art in embracing feedback, but not letting it own you, and not letting it run you… there are a lot of naysayers. It’s importantto listen, but fundamentally listen to what’s driving the vision you have.”
Another piece of advice she shared was to make sure to not pursue the building of a startup for money, fame or power. “The thing that matters is the intrinsic motivation for seeing the world a different way,” she said.
Finally, Gina’s last piece of advice is being able to say, “I don’t know,” and to seek feedback. “What’s incredibly important is seeking out and embracing feedback,” she said. “When I started seeking feedback, it made everything a lot more fun, and I also think I got better faster.”
Her first and last pieces of advice appear to contradict one another – don’t let feedback own you, yet seek it and embrace it. Then again, the journey of an entrepreneur seems to be full of contradictions – it’s a balance of feeling like a failure and a huge success all in the same day.
