Felix Salmon has a great catch here, a look at a Kauffman Foundation report into the success or failure of their investments into Venture Capital funds in past decades.

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There's a high level of cynicism in Africa towards rich Westerners who arrive promising to bring good things to the world's most impoverished continent, but Brandling-Bennett says the Gates Foundation is taking the attitude that failure is not an option.

NPR: Gates Foundation Backs Zambian Malaria Initiative

Mr Milburn's clash with Mr Brown over the degree of financial freedom to be conferred on foundation hospitals, coupled with Mr Blair's failure to stand up to the chancellor, led to his decision to quit the cabinet, a frustrated and disillusioned man.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot

Failure is an option, and experimentation is the foundation of learning, adapting, and succeeding.

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He still insists that the foundation's massive spending on malaria research is a classic case of a near-monopoly leading to market failure: in this case, a market in medical prowess.

ECONOMIST: Global health