Mick Unplugged - Gina Bianchini | Building Vibrant Communities and Empowering Creators

Episode Date: August 22, 2024

In this insightful episode, Mick Hunt interviews Gina Bianchini, the founder and CEO of Mighty Networks. Gina shares her journey from growing up in a close-knit community in Silicon Valley to becoming a leader in digital community building. She discusses the powerful impact of communities, the role of technology in connecting people, and the deeper motivations behind her work. Gina also offers practical advice for creators looking to build thriving communities, emphasizing the importance of simplicity, connection, and starting without hesitation. The conversation provides a deep dive into the principles that make Mighty Networks unique and the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship.Gina Bianchini's Background:Gina, a pioneer in the digital age, has empowered creators and businesses to build engaging and vibrant communities through Mighty Networks.She went from growing up in a tight-knit community in Cupertino, California, to becoming a leader in digital community building.Her work is deeply motivated by the deep personal motivations of her father, who is a community builder in his own right.Defining Moments:Gina shares the personal story of her father's impact on her life and how his untimely death motivated her to carry forward his legacy of community building on a larger scale.The realization that creating thriving communities isn't just about content but about connecting people in meaningful ways.Discussion Topics:The importance of community and its decisive role in connecting people with shared interests, passions, and values.Gina's "because" is her deeper purpose behind building Mighty Networks and her dedication to fostering meaningful connections through technology.The concept of network effects and how they can be leveraged to create thriving, valuable communities.Here are some common pitfalls for community hosts, such as the complexity trap and overloading with content, and how to avoid them.The challenges of entrepreneurship, the importance of working smart, and the necessity of starting even when conditions aren't perfect.Key Quotes:"The deepest and best relationships that we can build in this world come through shared interests, shared passion, shared belief systems, shared values.""Just start. No excuses. No justifications. No waiting for the next thing. Just start.""When you put people at the center and use software to introduce them to each other, you create something precious."Next Steps:Explore: Discover more about Gina Bianchini and her work by visiting Mighty Networks.Reflect: Consider how building a community could enhance your personal or professional life and take the first step towards making it happen.Engage: If you're a community host or thinking of becoming one, focus on creating connections between members and keeping your community simple and engaging.Connect & Discover:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ginabianchiniInstagram: instagram.com/gbianchiniWebsite: mightynetworks.comBook: Purpose: Design a Community & Change Your Life-A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Purpose and Making It Matter ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you ready to change your habits, sculpt your destiny, and light up your path to greatness? Welcome to the epicenter of transformation. This is Mic Unplugged. We'll help you identify your because, so you can create a routine that's not just productive, but powerful. You'll embrace the art of evolution, adapt strategies to stay ahead of the game, and take a step toward the extraordinary. So let's unleash your potential. Now, here's Mick. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And today I'm very honored because I have a personal story from a friend. We're honored to have a visionary, an accomplished author,

and someone who's a true pioneer in this digital age. As the founder and CEO of Mighty Networks, she empowers creators and businesses to create a vibrant, engaged community. Her insights and innovations have set a true standard in this industry. Please join me in welcoming the incredible, the incomparable, Stanford's finest, Gina Bianchini. Gina, how are you today, dear? I'm great. By the way, what are you doing later?

I would love to just take you with me wherever I go. What an ego boost. No, it's all true, though. It can be your ego boost when it's true. So nothing that was said was fabricated, right? Well, thank you. I appreciate it. So Gina, when I'm honored,

you know that I have several businesses of mine that I run through Mighty Networks, the absolute best community that's out there. And Mighty Networks isn't a sponsor of the show. That wasn't a paid advertisement. That is me talking from the heart. But here's what I want you to know, Gina. So, you know, on my podcast, we talk about your because,

that thing that's deeper than your why. You know, the old saying, if you ask why seven times, you get the true answer, right? So I think that's your because. And the whole reason that I joined and started a community on Mighty Networks was to talk about the power of because. And I got a spark when I read a book called Purpose. And in that book, I knew that number one, that there was a message to deliver, but then number two, that there are a

lot of people like me. And so I think that that's the power of community is like-minded individuals that are helping each other for a greater good. So I wanted to, before we get into anything, just tell you thank you because you paved the way for my businesses, my message, and most importantly, a lot of what I'm doing under the Mick Unplugged brand was pushed by everything that you told me in that book. So thank you. Thank you for saying that. You know, so much of this path is toiling away in isolation or the wilderness. And I just, I'm super grateful for you saying that. It means a lot to me. Absolutely. I know some of this is in your book, but I'd love to deep dive in here. What's Gina's because, right? Like why did community become a thing for you? And what's your because? What's that real why behind the why of why this became such a passion for you?

Yeah. As I say in the book, I grew up in a very tight-knit community. Cupertino, California, in the 70s and 80s, when you think about what Silicon Valley is today, what were the seeds of it? It was middle-class people who had interests and passions, tinkerers, engineers, people who could take things apart and put them back together, people who wanted to understand how things worked, people who wanted to meet each other on that same path, whatever that might be. In my family, my dad restored old cars from the time he was 16. He grew up in Cupertino and we moved back there and that's where I was born after he did military service and my parents had met in college. And my grandparents lived in Cupertino and it's today the home of Apple, but it's not a coincidence that Apple is from

this culture that was Silicon Valley in the 70s and 80s. And what I learned from that was number one, the deepest and best relationships that we can build in this world, come through shared interests, shared passion, shared belief systems, shared values. And that by doing things together, you can actually live a really rich and wonderful life. And so I saw the very best of community. And when I was 11, my dad was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver when he was on a National Guard trip in Jackson, Mississippi. He was 38 and there were three teenagers and my mom and, or tweens at this point, you know, he went on a trip and never came home. And it was my community and our community who rallied around us that made the biggest difference. It just happened that my interest really lay in how do

people systems work. So if you take that sort of engineering culture of Silicon Valley, for me, it was always, you know, how do we go from a world that looks like X to a world that looks like Y? How do things and culture change and evolve? How do we go from being a culture where smoking is like super cool to smoking is like not cool at all? And all of the different things that, you know, are possible and happen. So that was what I did from an education background. And then everything just kind of came together when I went into technology and I started seeing sort of the very early days of technology, specifically internet technology and digital technology being applied to create social networks.

And I knew at that moment, and it wasn't like just one day, but it was certainly a chapter. I knew at that moment that I had found the thing that made everything make sense. How do I take the community highs and the way communities really lift you up and challenge you and create and innovate? And how do they also pick you up when the most tragic or worst things can happen in our lives. And then understanding technology, it just became really obvious to me in terms of the things that I had studied and the things that were now possible that I wanted to build technology that created incredible communities where someone could show up and be instantly welcomed to feel like they were amongst the most interesting people in the world on that same path. And that we could do that

for one person, not just in one sort of uniform way that that was their entire identity. That's not how people work. We're meant to be portfolios. We're meant to be a person that is interested in different things and is meeting different people around those interests, those passions, those goals, those professional identities, those personal values. And so that's what I do and why I do what I do. And, you know, it's interesting. I am sort of hesitant to say it out loud because I don't want to diminish how important this is to me, but I think about what my father would have done in his life and a life

that was cut short. It's incredibly important to me that I take this one area that if we get it right, has a massive impact because I don't feel like I'm doing it just for myself. I'm doing it because of the kind of community builder my father was in his short life and the impact that he had on people. And if I could use the tools and technologies that are now available to us in 2024 to be able to scale that kind of community building, those kinds of moments where more and more people don't just achieve results and transformation that they want, but in the pursuit of that can make truly amazing friends, then I know I've done something right.

I know I've done something with impact. That was so touching, Gina. Like, that was touching. And I've heard, obviously I've been a huge fan of yours forever. And I think that might have been the first time that I've heard you tell that story in that way. So thank you for that. I don't normally say it because it, you know, I don't want it to sound cheesy, but it's true. Like at the same point in time, it's like, well, it's true. So maybe, maybe it's appropriate to own it. Definitely. And what you said in the way you say it to me totally captures what I feel Mighty Networks is about, right? And that is, it should be about your people. Yes. As an entrepreneur, you want to make money. Absolutely.

Not, not selling that short, but I think what makes Mighty Network completely different for a moment, one from the build out to when your members come in, it genuinely is about the people. And for, for those that haven't gone on to Mighty Networks, number one, you need to. But two, when you're building it, it's almost like Gina is reminding you or the technology is reminding you, keep people first, keep people first, keep people first. And that's really hard, especially in this world where, again, everybody's trying to make money. And I'm not saying that you shouldn't, but you really make it about the people. Thank you.

That, again, means a ton because that's what our belief was. And what's been so interesting is that the data backs us up. So it's really unfortunate that caring about making connections between people almost feels like, you know, soft when it's incredibly profitable. But it almost feels like, oh, well, you couldn't possibly want to make money doing that. And it's like, okay, well, we've paid for, you know, belonging to a club or, you know, a church for a very, very long period of time to enable community to take hold. And here's the thing that I think is so interesting. If I take a step back, I want to live in a world where every person on the planet is a member of not one, but multiple amazing communities. Kind of like what I was saying before of like, you show up and not only

is the host of that community cool, but that person has brought together all of these other people that just feel great. It's like that, like when you walk into a workshop and you're like, oh, I like these people. Or you go to a party and you're like, I'm cooler than I thought I was because I'm surrounded by people who are cool and, you know, excited to talk to me. And the thing is, for us to usher in that world as fast as possible, we need a whole army of people creating these communities.

If we're going to have a lot of people joining these communities. So my thought is, okay, so how do we help get more and more people creating these communities? Well, helping them make a lot of money seems like a really good place to start. And if we can build the software to really create that network effect, again, people's eyes glaze over when I say it. So I'm like, okay, people magic. When that people magic is what the software is able to do. And so those relationships are being built. And that person who launches the community and raises their hand and says, hey guys, I'm bringing people who are going through this transition together. And then the software can do all the heavy lifting and all the hard work of making those connections and, you

know, setting up the dynamics. So people are introduced, people are encouraged and invited to do things together. So it's not just about consuming content. It's about taking a course together. It's about working in small groups. It's about being able to dynamically organize meetups or masterminds, which again, when you think about what it means to be a host, the best hosts in the world, when you think about the people that have done things that you're like, oh my gosh, that's awesome. They have two things. Two things make a great party, data and natural language. That host who I have a feeling, I bet if I went to one of your parties, you would be phenomenal at this, of like, oh my gosh, this is why I brought you guys here. I want you two to meet. This is what you have in common. So if we do this right, we are going to be able to make more and more people who raise their hand,

especially in these early days, a lot of money and a lot of profit. I mean, we're making people today, you know, $10 million over the course of a year with 99% margins. And that's because these are communities that run themselves because when you put people at the center and you use software to introduce people to each other and surface really interesting folks, it's not about content. It's not about like legacy forums and all the, you know, chat. I love chat. Don't get me wrong. You want to make chat work really well and have extraordinary engagement.

Connect the people to each other before you get them into courses or challenges or a membership or events or live streams. It's just, it's super obvious. Like once you see it, and I think this might be where you're at. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. It's kind of awesome. Right. I mean, again, and everybody that knows me understands that when I make recommendations, it's because I personally believe in them. Right. And I'm as honest and transparent as the day is long. Right. Like my friends call me the inconvenient truth, because when you want the right answer, like just go to Mick, because he's going to tell you if he likes it or not. If he likes it, he'll tell you that for sure.

And again, everything about Mighty Networks feels right. It feels right. And I vetted, I'm not going to say hundreds, but I vetted 20s of communities out there a couple of years ago. And Mighty Networks felt like home then. And it gets better. It feels like every other day there's something new or dynamic that's happening. And that leads to my next question. Every entrepreneur has challenges, right? And you've been an entrepreneur for a long time, many businesses, a ton of great success. And I always tell people, and I think I heard you say this too, everyone wants the end result of entrepreneurship, but they don't really want that whole journey. And it's not made for everyone. I mean, there's a lot of sacrifices that you make as an entrepreneur when you run the course that

most people just can't do. What challenges have you gone through, whether it's Mighty Networks or a previous one that you had to overcome and how'd you do it? Yeah. So I'll say that the big one, which is we are building something different at Mighty Networks. We're building something different. We are building the ability for any creator, any individual, any brand to take and make their own the most valuable asset that Silicon Valley has ever built. And that is a network effect. That is this ability to come together, connect people to each other such that, and this is

the official definition of a network effect, such that the value of the network increases to every member with each new person who joins and contributes. So that basically means, and it doesn't mean that you can't have a lot of value when something is smaller, but what it means is when you bring people together who are going through a transition together, which is, by the way, the easiest way to get started and the easiest way to grow anything, that with every person who shows up and has their talents, their stories, their experiences, their ideas,

that network just got more valuable. And that's how we've built LinkedIn and Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. With Mighty Networks, you now have that ability to have your own branded version of that. And that's why a Mighty Network feels different than classic community platforms or course platforms. We are doing something different. And so when you're doing anything different, guess what? You spend a lot of time in the wilderness.

There's a lot of, like the number of ways that people have said to me, oh, oh, that's nice. Oh, okay. Well, maybe you could give me an example, which is always code for, I have no idea what you're talking about. And so I would say, I just remember this one moment where a friend of mine, this was like in the early days of Mighty when it was like, I put it on my back with my co-founders and we're like, we're just going to drive this forward. And one of my friends

was like, what do you need? And I looked at her and I was just like, I just need somebody to tell me I'm not crazy. I need somebody to just believe me today. And the power that you have when you can say to somebody, I see you, I see how hard this is, but I also see how important it is. That is something that is truly a gift that you can give any entrepreneur. And then there's just, you know, there's all the things. When you're successful, a whole new set of challenges show up. And so every day is, you know, I think about it, it's like the reality of startup life. And the reality of life, if we're going to broaden it out, is it's two steps forward, 1.75 steps back. And anybody who's telling you anything different than that, and they're, you know, on the internet being like,

oh my God, like I just, you know, the humble brag of like, oh my gosh, I just like, can't believe this is so amazing or whatever that is. They're also dealing with some other thing they're not talking about. Absolutely. That think that's important to remember. Oh, for sure. I tell people, anytime you hear someone say, if you do these three things, you'll make whatever. Run the other way because what they're not telling you are the 99 other things that didn't work. Okay, you know what?

But here's the thing. I'm going to challenge that because- Okay, let's go. Here is the thing I've actually learned is there are ways to work smarter, not harder. Correct. And so much about, especially the creator economy is about grinding it out and working really hard. Like just write more, write more, post more, make more. And I would say this, this opportunity to

create your own network effect, this ability to bring people together and introduce through software, the most interesting people who can be the most valuable to each other. That truly is a cheat code. Yes. And I believe that there are cheat codes. Okay. I agree with that. Yes.

Awesome. That's my, that would be my only edit. No, no, no, no, no. Because, you know, my mentor, Les Brown tells me all the time, right? Like experience isn't the best teacher. It's wisdom. Because you could experience failure and then you're just a failure. Right.

Right. Wisdom are those shortcuts, right? Well, and, you know, kind of along those same lines, I think about this a lot and I'm curious what your reaction is to it. When I hear people say, and this is the thing I'm very careful of, I never say, but I've just been working so hard because hard work has nothing to do with it. I was thinking about this this morning. Hard work is table stakes. That's how you even just get into the realm of possibility and success. It is absolutely critical to work smart and then hard. I'm with you a thousand percent of

the way. Yeah. You weren't saying anything different. I just, I was reflecting on that this morning. I was like, Oh, that would be a point to bring up. Yeah. You know, like in sports, you hear hard work beats talent when talent doesn't show up, but they never do the other side of that equation. What happens when talent does show up though? Oh yeah. And I think we've been watching, like we are recording this in the midst of week two of the Olympics. And I think we can all agree. We have seen some moments where it is talent and hard work. Right. Wholeheartedly. Wholeheartedly. All right. So it's not every day I get the CEO of Mighty Networks on Mick Unplugged, right? We can make that happen. We could make it, we could start to make this a regular thing if we wanted to. But yes, okay, today. Mighty Network's question.

Yes. Where do you see hosts do that are like the biggest mistakes? Like if you could, for the people that are listening, and I have several that are Mighty Network hosts, what are things that they should not be doing in their network? Because I have one big pet peeve and I want to see if you agree. Okay. After you go.

Yeah, because I want to hear yours. I'm going to give two. Number one, the complexity trap. It is the, if I don't have all of these pieces, I won't be providing enough value for people. And then, you know, if you go down those seven layers, why it's, if I don't have all this complexity, people won't want to be a part of this. And the reality is that by introducing all of the complexity or it's friend or cousin is, and when I don't know how to provide value through relationships with people and making those connections, I'm just going to throw more content at it. And in social media, we've been taught content, content, more content, more content. And in a community,

content, actually, most people see it as work. They see it as work. So what's yours? Literally what you just said. So I'm not going to mention my friend's name on camera, but he knows who I'm talking about. But you're going to tell him later. Yeah, he's listening to this and knows. Good news is I don't know who your friend is. So, well, you know, I think that's important. So the complexity, less is more. I tell people this when they're doing community, think about what people are going to want and why they really want to be in your community and give them that. You could have a whole lot of things that you want to give, but you need to give people what they want and what they're craving versus there's a thousand things that we can do. And my left-hand

navigation bar is so long and complex that if people don't know where to start or how to start, your engagement shrinks. And so my biggest pet peeve is when I go into a community in the left-hand bar for a non-admin is insane. It's like, you're never going to have engagement because you have too many, I'm going to use Mighty Network terms, too many collections and spaces. Give people what they want because you can always add. It's hard to take away. It's hard to take away. Right. Well, and sometimes you just have to like blow it up and start over again. But that's exactly right. Like just because you can build it doesn't mean you should build it. And there's this really interesting, you know, it's something that we sometimes hear like a knock on Mighty of like, oh, it's really complex. It's like, well, no, actually it's not. But if you're building something, what we found is if you add too many bumpers, too many like,

oh, you can't do that, that's frustrating as well. So what we really try to do, and it is a thorny issue, what we try to do is basically say it's progressive discovery is what it as well. So what we really try to do, and it is a thorny issue, what we try to do is basically say it's progressive discovery is what it's called. So like, let's keep things super, super simple and then let people progressively discover them. And I think that's right. The complexity is unnecessary. So you've now created all this work for yourself

and it's working against you. One piece of advice that you want the world to hear right now. Just start. No excuses, no justifications, no waiting for the next thing. Just start. Amazing. Gina, I adore you. The feeling is mutual. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you so much for taking time with us today. And thanks for being a little personal. I like that. My pleasure.

Thank you. And for the listeners and viewers, remember your because is your superpower. Go unleash it. Thanks for listening to Mick Unplugged. We hope this episode helps you take the next step toward the extraordinary and launches a revolution in your life. Don't forget to rate and review the podcast. And be sure to check us out on YouTube at Mick Unplugged. Remember, stay empowered, stay inspired, and stay unplugged.