Aaah!! Major Updates!
We're building a new media platform, plus update on the Antler India Residency.
To start with, I’ve clearly not kept up with sending out this newsletter every week. I missed last week, and sent it 3 days late the week before. Extremely sorry for that! The reason for the tardiness makes it totally worth it though! I have 2 major updates to share.
#1 - We’re building a media platform around geopolitics!
This is what the US meetings were about. Met a lot of people from different think tanks, and I’m helping build a media platform focused on geopolitics, information warfare and the global dynamics of power. It’s launching in January and I'm super excited for it.
In building the media platform, I’ve become a huge user of Fiverr! We’ve outsourced things from designing the logo to now a voice over, and will be experimenting with video editors and scriptwriters on the platform. The logo design experience has been pretty amazing. Hired two separate designers, one at $5 and another at $15 (with taxes, it came to INR 633 and INR 1550 respectively) and got back designs from both within 48 hours. If you ever have a need for freelancers, I highly recommend the platform. Also, use my referral link to get 10% off your first order if you do end up using Fiverr!
The launch video will be coming out early January, so you can judge if the amounts charged by Fiverr freelancers is worth it.
Another component: Instead of hiring too many people full time, the platform will actually be taking submissions from anyone interested in writing on geopolitical issues, and it has a decent budget! The concept: Pitch an idea → it gets approved → write us a full script or article → get paid.
To retain better writers, we’re also making a tiered payment structure where we’ll bump up the amount you get for each story or article as you write more of them. We’ll be releasing the terms and process for submitting episode ideas soon, so stay tuned!
#2 - I got into Antler!
I’ve just accepted a place at the Antler India Residency! For those of you who’ve missed the prior emails covering the topic, I had applied to two startup residency programs - Antler and Entrepreneur First (EF). The programs help you match with a co-founder, mentor you through the startup building process, and potentially invest in your startup. EF batches start in March so they haven’t got back yet, but Antler starts 9 January so I had to make a decision by today itself. Super excited for this!
PS: It also means I’m moving to Bangalore next month, so if you’re there definitely get in touch! (Especially if you have housing advice to offer! :p )
To learn more about the residency programs, you can refer to the update I sent in November.
Also, since it is a startup residency program, I’m going in with a super open mind on my own startup idea morphing into something completely different. As I discuss it with more people, especially potential co-founders, it is bound to transform. Let’s see how it all goes!
A note on the end of 2022:
It started out as a super slow year. I had to do the Schwarzman Scholars Program remotely, a program that I was super excited about doing in person - in China! I instead did it entirely over Zoom. As the year closes though, I’m coming to realize that a lot of the projects that I’m now working on and that are slowly taking shape might never have started if I had indeed attended Schwarzman in person. I’d likely be on a completely different trajectory in that case. So whatever my initial feelings for 2022 were, I suppose it has been a good year in its own unique sort of way…
2023 will for sure be way better though! Super excited for the new year and all that comes with it.
If you’re under 25 and interested in policy, apply to LAMP!
The LAMP Fellowship applications are open till December 29. If you’ve ever wanted to explore the world of policy and politics, it’s an absolutely brilliant opportunity.
We also did a video answering all questions on eligibility, the application process and more… if you have any questions about the fellowship, this video should answer it. If it doesn’t, shoot me an email and I’ll try to provide answers.
That’s it for this week. Things are speeding up now with Antler, the geopolitical media platform and more! Delighted to have y’all along on this journey. See you next week!