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On the surface, creating a social networking site for the boomer generation may seem like an obvious idea. But to entrepreneur and media executive Robin Wolaner, 53, it was a gut instinct.

"What I have always been right about is my generation," Wolaner said.

Since founding Parenting Magazine in 1986, the former Penthouse copywriter and CNET executive has had a string of successes, not the least of which was her 2005 book, "Naked in the Boardroom: A CEO Bares Her Secrets So You Can Transform Your Career."

Now the successful, yet reluctant entrepreneur, as she once described herself, is putting her record to the test. This week her new venture, TeeBeeDee.com announced its first institutional round of $4.8 million from Shasta Ventures and Monitor Ventures.

TeeBeeDee, which is in beta, is designed to give boomers an engaging but simple to use online clubhouse. The name of the company is short for "to be determined."

Wolaner had the idea at 50, exactly 20 years to the month from when she had the idea for Parenting.

"I was more scared this time than when I started Parenting. Because I had nothing to lose when I started Parenting. I was early in my career, I wasn't making very much money anyhow, so going into debt wasn't that much of a drop off," she said with a laugh. "Now I have this great track record and I keep putting myself on the line and saying, 'Here I am,' again."

She nearly put the idea off but a brush with breast cancer that turned out to be benign changed her mind. Wolaner decided to go forward with her idea with David Markus, former editor-in-chief of Parenting. Markus is TeeBeeDee's chief product officer.  

Though the San Francisco-based Wolaner is a devoted Facebook fan, she said the site, while fun, was not "purposeful networking." Her site is different, she said, because the content is user generated and centered around users' shared life experiences. Topics range from cosmetic surgery, job flexibility, to how to teach kids to handle money responsibly.

"Networking has not yet happened in my generation and I think that is because there has not been a product that recognizes what we need in a networking product," she said.

Not looking to perform the impossible, the site targets boomers who are comfortable online. While her generation are not yet networking in cyberspace, they do match or exceed younger adults in other areas of online usage such as shopping, emailing, researching and reading the news, Wolaner said.

"I wouldn't hang the future of my company on whether somebody who is 65, who is not a heavy Internet user, will pick us up," she said.  

The site has been funded by a number of angels including Jan Brandt, the former vice chair and chief marketing officer of AOL and Jim Hornthal, founder of Preview Travel and former vice chairman of Travelocity.com.