mYngle is a globally established, unique platform offering online language education with personalized course plans. It is focused on innovating the traditional world of education by delivering a truly customer oriented solution. mYngle, under the leadership of Marina Tognetti- founder, has been offering Effective learning process incorporating industry topics & building employees’ skills since inception.
When mYngle was started, it was a pioneer in live online language education, amongst the first to provide one-to-one teaching of all languages over the internet. The platform offers customized language training programs through video conferencing in 45 different languages anytime, anywhere. Here, lessons are one-on-one, with highly qualified native coaches and related to the job-position of the learner. The virtual classrooms enable learners to take classes 24/7.
mYngle is the perfect solution for busy professionals who need language training to be successful in their international business, and for Companies that want great learning results and a transparent and controllable learning process to make their investment a success.
More About the Leading Lady
Marina Tognetti is a tech entrepreneur, founder of mYngle.com. She like challenges, in everything she does. She also believes that entrepreneurship, especially in tech, allows us to look far ahead, innovate, change traditional business models, and disrupt industries.
“Be the change you wish to see in the world. This probably best summarizes my vision of leadership as well as of my outlook in life. That is also why I choose entrepreneurship, even if later in my career, as it allows me to really make a difference,” asserted Marina.
The passion for entrepreneurship came later on in Marina’s career. She built first a successful career by large multinationals, Procter & Gamble, Philips, Sara Lee, The Boston Consulting Group, and eBay; living and working in different countries, and got an MBA from INSEAD.
It was when working as a consultant on a project on internet strategy that she first saw the potential of the internet to disrupt entire industries and change forever the way people buy/sell/interact. She had to be part of that! That was the driver to start an innovative company as mYngle.
Hurdles On The Way
Marina said, “The main challenges were not at the beginning, but were when we had to ‘pivot’ from the initial business model to a completely different one. We had launched mYngle as a marketplace, something I knew very well from my previous eBay experience. We thought we got it all: funding, lots of Awards and PR, a very motivated team. But something in the business model was not functioning as we expected. We listened to our customers and they gave us the new direction, and they gave us the new direction, from an open marketplace to a quality global online school, from B2C to B2B. That is the mYngle that you see now.”
Marina’s biggest lesson here was that “Change is an essential part of being an entrepreneur.” That was the key to the success of mYngle. Success as an entrepreneur in fact is not a straight line. The truth is that in most cases, what you start out to do will not be what you’re doing when you are ultimately successful. You’ll discover that things you expected to work well don’t work at all. You’ll stumble into things that you didn’t expect to work that will. You’ll have to be able to adapt. It is how you deal with uncertainty and change that sets you apart.
“Entrepreneurship is jumping from a cliff and learning how to fly at the same time.”
Achievements and Rewards
Building a business from scratch is always challenging, building a tech start-up disrupting an industry as traditional as that of education, is exponentially more challenging. There are all sorts of resistances of an immature market you have to bypass: from the stereotypes consumers have in their minds to the (conservative) opinions of people. Now, online language education is setting the standards in terms of quality and flexibility. And mYngle has been part of that.
For these reasons, mYngle has also won numerous awards as recognition for its contributions to online education. Immediately at the start (2008): Accenture Innovation Award, European Ventures Summit Award, Benelux Venture Summit Award, and more later on. Besides, Marina Tognetti received numerous awards as founder and CEO of Myngle, such as 50 most inspiring women tech leaders in Europe, 50 most inspiring women in the Dutch technology sector, Iconic Women Creating a Better World for All, and many others.
Leadership and Innovation
This is an era of fast and drastic changes- technology, the volatility of the market, talent development. This affects the role of a modern leader, which must be able not only to adapt but also to anticipate and ride the positive trends.
The characteristics of a good leader nowadays are therefore similar to that of an innovative entrepreneur. A leader must have a strong Vision, to set the direction and anticipate and navigate challenges. This also means being able to ‘Think out of the box’, adapt and change to keep the business successful. A leader must not be afraid of taking (calculated) risks in order to anticipate trends and steer the company also in turbulent waters. Last, but not least, must be able to build an organization that is also agile. That requires developing people that think and not only do ‘’jobs’’, employees that are entrepreneurs, fostering a culture of experimentation.
The future ahead, professionally and personally
“It is in my nature to want to constantly improve, and it is in the nature of an entrepreneur to always seek new opportunities or areas of development. The future for mYngle will surely hold new challenges, as we keep on innovating and being ahead of the market,” Marina proudly shared.
“I also have a strong idealistic part. I believe each of us can make a difference. So, for me personally, it will also be time to let the idealistic voice inside speak. I walked this path and learned a lot. That brought me in a privileged position, where I can implement new ideas that can make a difference. I can now use my skills to make the world just a little bit better,” she further added.
