Investment in non-for-profit startup specialist Fisburners bring entrepreneurs into News Corp Australia, Mark Drasutis says.
“We’re actually creating ‘intrapreneurs’ – people with entrepreneurial thinking but within a corporate enterprise,” the head of innovation says.
Charged with overseeing the Fisburners investment, Drasutis says the initiative is changing the culture of News, “bringing in more of an entrepreneurial spirit, thinking about things in a customer-focused way”.
In a The Newspaper Works video, he talks enthusiastically about the partnership with Fishburners, which apparently receives more than 1000 proposals a week.
News is opening its doors to new entrepreneurs through the partnership, offering Fishburners staff training, mentor and mentee opportunities, as well as giving them access to data and applications.
“News will run collaborative days much like the start-up weekends run by Fishburners, allowing their entrepreneurs to build opportunities on top of our business.”
The partnership has also brought a realisation that a competitor might not just be a big corporation, “it could be two guys in Fishburners who have a great idea”.
See the TNW video: