Manish taught me to keep doing what I do right: Jasminder S Gulati, CEO, NowFloats

There are a lot of people in the industry who advice and provide guidance. Manish Sharma, cofounder of Printo, has been a guide. Manish is an old friend, and I remember when I was trying to raise money (series-B) a few years ago, I told him about how it was getting difficult and no one seemed to be responding. He made a comment that while raising capital, one's body language should be like: "I am definitely going to do this and if you want to be a participant, I am happy to bring you along." That really helped me. While I always had the confidence in what we were doing at NowFloats, it was really interesting to change that perspective and go to the next meeting.

The fact is that whether or not they invest in the company, I am going to continue with what I am doing.That attitude attracts the right people. This was a practical ad vice from a serial entrepreneur that stuck with me and I used it. Thanks to that, we did raise our series-B.

Apart from Manish, I look up to Karthik Reddy from Blume Ventures. He's an investor in the company and a mentor whose mantra is founder-first. We meet multiple times and he helps me think through things. All entrepreneurs need to vent emotionally and he's happy to play that role (of a listener) for me. I like that relationship I have with him. He understands the pressure of an entrepreneur and is able to dilute it, which in turn helps the entrepreneur turn up to the office and not pass on that pressure to the rest of the company.