Failure is the taboo, unacknowledged elephant in every organisation -- especially in larger companies. When organisations don’t allow their employees to fail, they are paying lip service to innovation. It really is that simple. Innovation is essentially risk taking and success cannot be guaranteed. Innovation cannot happen without failure. Look at Thomas Edison, he failed 1 093 times before developing his version of the light bulb. Would your company have let someone fail so often? Probably not. The education system in most ...

Ventureburn has learned that South African publishing giant Caxton is in talks with digital sales house Habari, possibly surrounding an acquisition. While Caxton is probably best known for the range of magazines and community newspapers it publishes, it is also one of the country's largest commercial printers and has been in serious acquisition mode of late. Last year, it acquired a majority stake in South African business and financial news site Moneyweb, previously having held a 34% stake in the ...

CompareHero recently launched in Malaysia with the hope of becoming go-to financial comparison site. While the need for financial aid services seems to be growing rapidly in Southeast Asia, company competition is likely to heat up as well. CompareHero's website focuses on making financial decision-making easier for users to make better informed choices on credit cards, loans, insurance policies as well as mobile and internet plans. The service requires users to register for free which in turn creates personal profiles that ...

Education is all the rage in Africa right now, so it makes sense that a big tech company like Intel would get into the space. Today the company announced has Intel Explore and Learn Marketplace, a new education solution that provides access to a vast repository of free and low-cost digital text books and interactive learning resources. This move is quite important for South Africa, as the country has been plagued with lack of access to text books for students. Intel's ...

We all know that Hollywood tends to dramatize things. It isn't any different when it comes to portraying the plight of the entrepreneur. Though many of these characters listed below are based on the stories of real people, what better place to find inspiration than in the movies? Catch me if you can: Christopher Walken with “There were two mice” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51lFmdChOA0 Though not an entrepreneur, Walken’s character definitely stirred a little something in little Frank Abagnale Jr. Frank might have gone about ...

Startup Blitz on Burn Media TV showcases the best tech startups coming out of Cape Town and the Western Cape. It's quick, fun and informative with startups pitching in 30 seconds or less followed by a short Q&A with Burn Media Managing Editor Michelle Atagana. Learn about local tech startups right here, in just a few minutes. This latest edition features Chanda Pwapwa, the co-founder of Prep-Hub, an "academic question and answer website" that allows users to post questions to the ...

The peer-to-peer (P2P) lending space in South Africa is heating up. A Johannesburg-based startup called Yiba, an acronym for "You’re Invited Banks Aren’t", is about to join the fray. South Africa's unsecured credit pie is estimated to be worth north of R25-billion. Yiba co-founder Alastair Curtis believes it's high time that traditional lenders part ways with their large profits. The old-fashioned way of saving and lending involves banks. Yiba, like its closest local competitor, RainFin, is betting that lending and borrowing ...

Indian-based online restaurant guide Zomato is not slowing down in its expansion plans. After launching in South Africa earlier this year it has now extended its reach to Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey, hot off the back of a new round of funding to the value of US$37-million. The new round of funds sees global VC firm Sequoia Capital come on board as a new investor, joining existing investor Info Edge which previously injected US$16.5-million into the dining guide service. The new ...

Citymob recently re-launched or, in company words, underwent a "natural evolution with a bit of revolution" and now goes by the name Superbalist. The site went live 4 November with a cleaner feel (hence the logo) and a greater focus on its permanent offerings as well as international brand distribution. "We've cleaned things up. Decluttered, upgraded to a more sophisticated look and made it a little simpler. We've changed our whole set-up to tailor it more to the individual with ...

Linio, a Mexico City-based ecommerce startup that is currently one of the leading and fastest growing in Latin America, has announced new investment from Latin Idea -- a prominent Mexico-based private equity fund. This round saw Latin Idea join existing investors (namely: JP Morgan Asset Management, Investment AB Kinnevik, the Tengelmann Group, Summit Partners, and Rocket Internet) in injecting a total of US$50-million in fresh capital for Linio. CEO of Linio, Andreas Mjelde, had this to say on the new investment: "We are ...