‘Data is the oxygen of the digital economy’ – 30 quotes from Indian startup journeys

From data to decisions, witness the memorable journey of Indian entrepreneurship in these excerpts and stories! StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week (see the previous post here). Share these 30 gems and insights from the week of September 25 - October 1 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

The challenge for India is to do innovative, compact and sustainable urbanisation. – Amitabh Kant, NITI Aayog

It’s 2017, and it’s crazy that we are still dealing with power cuts, sometimes for several hours a day! - Roli Gupta, Oorjan Cleantech

Data is the basis of all individualization. That is where the money is. - Abhijit Bhaduri, ‘The Digital Tsunami’

Data is the oxygen of the digital economy and one cannot deny Indians of this vital, life-sustaining resource. - Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries

One of the key aspects of a cognitive business is enhancing your overall digital intelligence and working in partnership with human experts to do your work better. – Seema Kumar, IBM

From competition to collaboration to convergence, the trajectory of the relationship between humans and AI appears predestined and foreseeable. Ever the twain shall meet. - Santanu Paul, TalentSprint

Selling products is the heart of any business, while a good POS system is its soul. - Akash Nangia, Techjockey

Don’t make sales your only benchmark in terms of looking at your progress. Be patient and continue writing to satisfy yourself. - Ashwin Sanghi, ‘The Rozabal Line’

Presentations made to sell an idea to customers need to be created like a Durga statue. Not all at once but slowly and systematically. – Devdutt Pattanaik

India has the capabilities in manufacturing, it needs the right investment and support. - MS Rao, IIT Madras

If the bureaucracy and regulations don’t stand in the way, e-commerce will unleash the entrepreneurial potential of India and lift millions out of poverty, just as it has in China. - Porter Erisman, ‘Six Billion Shoppers’

We don’t have enough children’s books in Indian languages. The power of quality literature has not been realised. - Swaha Sahoo, Tata Trusts

It is extremely important that young people are part of a mobile app startup, to understand and empathise with the user. - Amey Mashelkar, Reliance GenNext Hub

In developed economies, the market size for long tail is very small. But India is truly a long tail economy. - Radhika Aggarwal, ShopClues

India’s time has come to make a world showcase for technology. - Sunil Bharti Mittal, Bharti Enterprises

In 2016, tourism’s contribution to Indian GDP was 9.6 percent, and 9.3 percent to total employment. - Ram Nath Kovind

In India, more people use telecom services than toothpaste. - Y Ravi, TikTik

Local businesses need to ensure that their location data is accurate everywhere. - Ashwin Ramesh, Synup

Ignoring farmer’s welfare and focussing only on crop productivity has been the bane of agriculture. - Devinder Sharma, Ground Reality

Policies on climate change, conservation, food security and agriculture need to be integrated to recognise and preserve the importance of uncultivated food. - Susanta Dalai

We have to give every startup an ear because innovation is such a broad spectrum. - Sanket Atal, Oracle Corporation

As long as we don’t back away from a problem with the fear of losing, and fight back with the knowledge of what went wrong, we will definitely win. - Ashok Kannan, Happy Hens

Both corporates and the startups are equally clueless on how to derive value from each other. - Gokul Bose, Zone Startups

Intrapreneurs thrive on supportive autonomy. They grow with the entrepreneurs, the entrepreneurs help them grow, and together, they both grow. - Vikram Upadhyaya, GHV Accelerator

We need healthcare providers to speak the same language. - Vinod Shankar, VitaCloud

If there are paying customers, any startup must figure out its market dynamics. Only then will the company scale and thrive. - V. Ganapathy, Axilor Ventures

Education, when used effectively along with intelligence, has the power to ignite the world and certainly make it a better place to live. - Christopher Arvind, Round Table India

Social-first and community businesses find the greatest success and prosper. It’s a world where humanness is highly valued. – PwC report

You cannot define a person based on their disabilities. – Rajalakshmi, dentist & Miss Wheelchair India

Be disciplined and work towards your goals. Hard work always pays. - Alisha Abdullah, Alisha Abdullah Academy for Women

There is never a right time, you have to create the right time. - Sheelika Ravishankar, Team Indus

YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).