Know when to let go, trust yourself.

"I was born and brought up in a small town, Ujjain, MP. Growing up, I always had big dreams to move out of town, & have my venture.

I graduated in CSE from DAVV, Indore, and started a student startup body in college. We did local projects and made revenue and clients, but certain practical reasons stopped us from expanding in the city.

After graduation, I worked as a software engineer in Pune. Despite having a job, I remained fixated on starting my own business. I pursued my MBA and secured a spot at XLRI, Jamshedpur. During my MBA, I joined the entrepreneurship club and worked in the PR team of a local brand.

Despite my aim to have my venture, I decided to get a job as I had education loans to repay; so I joined Reliance Industries and then shifted to Asian Paints. And by 2019, I was debt free and had a stable income.

In July 2022, I founded Diffr, an Ed-tech startup that grew to a team of 100+ mentors from diverse backgrounds. We trained our mentors using the RESG mentorship framework (Rapport, Exploration, Storytelling, Guidance). We aimed to assist students in making career choices, selecting appropriate courses and colleges, and developing essential soft skills.

Eventually, we recruited 20+ interns from top business schools, educated parents on the New Education Policy, held workshops with Maruti Suzuki & Birla White, created Career Boot Camp, and were recognized by Startup India Initiative.

Over time, our startup encountered multiple challenges. Originally B2B-focused, we switched to a B2C model to ease the workload of liaising with several schools. Our team then turned our attention to social media platforms to reach students.

We faced financial issues while pursuing our B2C plan due to high customer acquisition costs in a competitive Ed-tech market. Fundraising had strict conditions, causing us to pivot from our original goal.

After talks with my Co-founder and partners, we posted on LinkedIn to end our venture Diffr, with the hope to pursue entrepreneurship again in the future.

I joined Tata 1mg as a Senior Manager in my corporate journey. Being a passionate writer since childhood, I've had articles published in several magazines. Starting as a blogger, I focused on topics like mental health and HR tips, & transitioned to Content Creator on LinkedIn engaging with thousands of followers.

I have been a Guest Speaker at popular business schools like IIMs, IMS, and XLRI. I focus on providing guidance, and tips on Career Trends, MBA &?HR. My?journey from a small-town middle-class guy to a young Entrepreneur, overcoming financial problems and settling on my terms, has been quite a splendid one.

Mayank Sharma's message,

Don't cling to toxic positivity. Pursue your startup goals with hard work & dedication, but recognize when it's time to pause & accept change. Know when to let go, trust yourself, stick to your goal & create new opportunities for success.