Several months ago, I had the pleasure of conducting an interview with Randi Zuckerberg on networking in the digital age. Two interviewees from my recent book, Your Network Is Your Net Worth, joined us at the Zuckerberg Media studio.

The irony of the interview and of my book is that I actually had to live the philosophies of networking to make the book, event and content happen. Over the last two years, I’ve leaned on my network and asked for interviews, advice, social media support and more. I learned I’m truly one of the luckiest people on the planet because my network is filled with interesting, smart, generous and innovative people. If you want to make your network your net worth, below are 20 people who generously donated their time or allowed me to share their stories in my book. I suggest that you read through the list below and follow these fantastic folks on Twitter. Thank you to Randi, and the Dot Complicated community, for being an important part of my networking journey.

1. Richard Branson @richardbranson – My hero and the partial owner of Virgin America. I will always be grateful for my job at Virgin America, which accelerated my networking and skyrocketed my career.

2. Dr. Andy Baldwin @drandybaldwin – Dr. Baldwin is a former contestant on The Bachelor. He’s also a Navy doctor, a diver and an Ironman triathlete.

3. Dick Costolo @dickc – Dick is a former comedian, a lead player in the social media industry and the CEO of Twitter.

4. Jack Hidary @jackhidary – Jack is hands-down the smartest person I know. He’s a technology and the environmental expert and he’s currently campaigning to be the Mayor of New York City.

5. Zem Joaquin @zem – Zem is the most-connected person I know, a dear friend and a leader in the ecological space.

6. Mark Horvath @hardlynormal – At one time, Mark was homeless. Today, he has addressed the barriers that were holding him back and he uses social media to help the homeless.

7. Guy Kawasaki @guykawasaki – Guy is a best-selling author of several books. He’s also a savvy social media guru.

8. Shira Lazar @shiralazar – Shira is a go-getter and the co-founder of whatstrending.com. If I’m ever reincarnated, I’d like to come back as Shira.

9. Brit Morin @brit – Brit is the founder of Brit & Co. She’s a modern day Martha Stewart who is taking the Internet by storm.

10. Stef Michaels @adventuregirl – Stef was an early adopter of Twitter. She’s a travel writer, with over a million followers, and a co-founder of Keen Digital Summit.

11. Rob Minkoff @robminkoff – Rob is a famed director of many films including The Lion King.

12. Chef Michael Mina @chefmichaelmina – Chef Mina has been passionate about restaurants and food since he was a teenager. Today, he’s an award-winning chef with eighteen restaurants.

13. Jessica Northey @jessicanorthey – Jessica is a leading social media personality in the country music scene.

14. Stefan Pinto @stefanpinto – Went from “fat to fit” and he now uses social media to spread messages of health and wellness.

15. Jeff Pulver @jeffpulver – Jeff is an Internet entrepreneur, a co-founder of Vonage and he just lost 95 pounds!

16. Peter Sims @petersims – Peter is the author of Little Bets. I also credit him with being the first to motivate me to write my book.

17. Jeff Slobotski @slobotski – Jeff is the founder of Big Omaha, a must-attend conference for anyone interested in technology or start-ups.

18. David Hornik @davidhornik – David is the most generous venture capitalist I know and the curator of The Lobby Conference.

19. Jason Zada @jasonzada – Jason is a talented film director and the creator of the viral video sensation called Take This Lollipop. We met in seats 4B and 4C on a Virgin America flight.

20. Randi Zuckerberg – @randizuckerberg. Randi is one of my favorite people and a woman to watch in the digital space. She’s the founder of Dot Complicated and the author of two upcoming, must-read books!

Posted on 8/21/2013

Written by Porter Gale

Porter Gale, author of Your Network Is Your Net Worth, is a sought-after speaker, networker, and entrepreneur with more than twenty years of experience working in marketing, advertising, and film making. From 2007 to 2011, Porter was Vice President of Marketing at Virgin America. Prior to Virgin America, she was a consultant and held the post of general manager at Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners San Francisco. She was awarded the Changing the Game Award by the Advertising Women of New York (AWNY), was on AdAge’s Digital Hotlist, iMedia‘s Top 25-Digital Marketers, and named a Digital Passionista byThe Huffington Post. She lives with her daughter in San Francisco.

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