Working Webware: All about Ning
On Episode 2 of Working Webware, ZDNet Editor in Chief Dan Farber and I talk with Ning's CEO, Gina Bianchini. We delve into the company's platform strategy and how Bianchini plans to compete against other enablers of social networking. Then we kick the CEO out of the room and talk about the company's prospects.
Ning is a very strong social network platform, and the platform business, in this market, is the place to be. We have enough companies trying to rope people into engineered communities. Ning doesn't do that; it lets its users build their own neighborhoods in the ways they want.
Bianchini is a savvy CEO and a tough interview. She engages at a level of remove more typical of one running a much larger company. That will serve her well when, and if, Ning gets to that scale that she's aiming for.
See also: Working Webware Episode 1: Can Zoho steal Microsoft's customers?
Rafe Needleman writes about start-ups, new technologies, and Web 2.0 products, as editor of CNET's Webware. E-mail Rafe.
