India: A Pay-to-Breathe Situation for the Most Vulnerable

Indian air pollution is exposing the population to deadly risks. However, it is the most vulnerable who are suffering the most. In Mumbai, a recent cold spell led to an increase in coughs and bronchitis, with patients who had never had any allergic symptoms suffering the most.

Wealthy Indians have found a solution by investing in air purifiers, leading to a growing market that is expected to reach $597m by 2027. Nevertheless, air purifiers are not an option for the majority of the population who cannot afford them.

Professor of sociology at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Suryakant Waghmore, says, “we are normalizing a world that hardly values nature and natural rights” and that air purifiers are “purifying air for the privileged while the public is left to decay and degrade”. The most vulnerable are exposed to fumes and particulates on a daily basis, and despite the Indian government launching a National Clean Air Programme, the number of cities that fail to meet the country’s air pollution standards has increased.

From $5 gigs to $500,000 in earnings: the story of rapper Mike Burton on Fiverr.

Meet Mike Burton, the 38-year-old who's earned almost $500,000 selling customized verses to artists, businesses, and even lovebirds on Fiverr. With his writing talent, Burton has found success doing what he loves most - creating music.

From a simple $5 gig, he has turned his passion into a full-time job, earning as much as $9,000 per month on the platform. Burton's creative process involves a lot of breaks and listening to the silence between sounds to come up with the best beats. Making music for himself, under the stage name Keybeaux, fuels his inspiration for others.

Startup Raises $43M Despite Making Zero Money - Who Said You Need a Profit to Be Valued?

Tome, a generative AI startup, has recently raised $43 million in a Series B round, despite having made no revenue yet. With over a million users and a plan to charge customers $10 per month for a monthly subscription, the question is when and how much will they start making money? Although Tome's potential to make a lot of money and grow quickly has been highlighted, the hardest question remains unanswered: how long will Tome make money?

Startups are hard, and just because a company has millions of users and is making money today, it does not mean it will continue to make the same amount of money in the future. Several disruptive companies such as MySpace and Netscape did not survive in the long run. However, with fresh funding, Tome is looking to make investments in product, engineering, and design, and will be making their models more accurate and consistent for consumers. Who knows? Maybe one day, Tome's investors or founders could own a sports team, but for now, let's wait and see how this startup fares in the fickle world of AI.

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