Colonna was raised in Brooklyn. He was 11 years old when his father, a proofreader for a typesetting company, lost his longtime job as computers entered the printing business. After graduating from Edward R. Murrow High School Colonna worked to put himself through Queens College, and was just about to withdraw because he could not afford the tuition when a professor found him a scholarship that included an internship at CMP Media, publisher of Information Week. Colonna went on to graduate with a B.A. in English Literature.
