I personally invest in Large Cap and Flexi Cap mutual funds for the long term. A friend helped me see this clearly when I had no idea where to start. You will meet him in a bit. I have been in crypto since 2021. I am still learning every day. But I know enough to help you get started and that is all that matters right now.

I will also be straight with you. I have made bad calls. One of them was a long-term guaranteed return scheme. Sounds safe. It was not. I exited this year and took a hit of over a lakh. With crypto too, I have sold a few coins that were not working, took the loss, and averaged into the better ones. That is part of the journey. Bad decisions happen. What matters is that you learn, adjust, and keep going.

Most of my friends had nothing. No SIP, no insurance, no basics. Not because they could not afford it, but because nobody ever explained it simply. The ones who started are in a much better place today.

I just do not want you to look back five years from now and wish you had started sooner.

I got to meet Prathamesh through my friend Ishwar, and I am genuinely glad and thankful for that introduction. He reached out during the Kolhapur floods in 2019, wanting to help and make a difference for the people around him. That is just who he is.

One day he sat us down and explained what he called the "Million Dollar Tip." How countries work. What GDP is. How the Nifty 50 index is basically a mirror of India's growth. And why simply investing in a Nifty 50 mutual fund every month, without overthinking it, is one of the smartest things any ordinary person in India can do.

He did not teach us stock picking or trading strategies, though he himself does all of that. He kept it simple. He said: invest consistently, stay patient, and let India's growth do the work for you.

That one conversation clicked something inside me. I started attending paid webinars. Kept learning. About a year later I attended another one just to test myself, and I already knew 90% of what they were teaching. That moment told me the basics of investing are not hard. You just need someone to explain them clearly, once.

He has spent years studying 8 to 12 hours a day. Finance, markets, economies, businesses. Not for an exam. Not for a degree. Just because he genuinely wanted to understand. When he explains something, it lands differently because it comes from that place.

Sudeep Sir does not do individual stocks. He invests in his own business, and that says a lot about how he thinks. He keeps it simple. No overcomplication. No chasing trends. Just a clear head about where money goes and why.

Whenever I feel stuck or confused, be it something at work, managing the team, a business decision, or even something personal, he is the person who brings me back to earth. Not by saying I am wrong, but by asking the right questions.

Working under him is not easy, but I have learned a lot. Not because he teaches me everything, but because he lets me try, make mistakes, and figure things out myself. He gives you the space to learn. And that is what the best leaders do.

He once told me,

And I could not agree more. Because money is not just for hoarding. It is for living. He has figured out what most people spend their whole lives trying to. How to earn, save, invest, and still enjoy every bit of the journey.

Okay. So that was about me and the people who shaped how I think. There are a few others too who have made an impact along the way, but that is a conversation for another day.