‘India is one of the most attractive retail markets in the world’ – 45 quotes from Indian startup journeys

From innovation to investment, 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 45 gems and insights from the week of May 7-13 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

The entrepreneur must go after solving big challenges of our time with a very high-quality understanding of their space. - Sachin Bansal

The real art is seeing what no one sees, and anticipating how it will be five years hence. - Navin Honagudi, Kae Capital

Nobody buys a farm based on whether or not it’s going to rain next year or not. You buy it because you think it’s a good investment over 10-20 years. - Warren Buffet

Like in China, India also needs two ecommerce players. A Walmart deal will ensure there are two players (second player being Amazon). - Pankaj Makkar, Bertelsmann India Investments

One of the bigger concerns today, is the availability of domestic growth capital in India. In China, 75 percent of venture capital is raised domestically compared to 25 percent a decade ago. - Vani Kola, Kalaari Capital

Venture debt has its clear advantages – no dilution in shareholding, no pledge of shareholding, and a great source for funding. But with venture debt comes collateral. - Archana Rajaram, Rajaram Legal

India is one of the most attractive retail markets in the world, given its size and growth rate. - Doug McMillon, Walmart

Tier II cities and markets are under-served now. So any startup setting up operations will have lesser competition. - Vikram Gupta, IvyCap Ventures

Deep within all of us there’s a spark stored just like in the tip of a matchstick. It needs a rough surface to ignite. - Vijaya Lakshmi, Coal India Ltd.

Art sensitises you. It enables you to dialogue in a form beyond language, even if you are not an expert in art. - Anu Menda, RMZ Foundation

Being an artist is not easy, it was never easy. - Ravikumar Kashi

Hard doesn't equate to bad. Yes, hard is challenging but it is also worth it. - Lina Ashar, Kangaroo Kids Education

It’s time men and families own their women’s success, celebrate it and do their bit to further it. - Manisha Girotra, Moelis & Co.

The secret of a successful guilt-free working environment of course comes with getting the balance right between work and parenting commitments. - Pamela Puja Kirpalani, Inner High Living

Having a government policy of mandatory paternity leave or even a family leave policy is important because it can trigger a mindset change in society. - Shravani Prakash, elleNomics

The twenty-first century is all about technology that is constantly evolving, often at break neck speed. - Pratibha Sheth, Shilputsi Consultants

If the entire ecosystem begins to reimagine technology and products, we can redefine the technology culture in India. - Deepak Garg, RIVIGO

The time when everyone believed that Indian customers won’t pay for good business software is long gone. Indian businesses are now adopting software on par with other global companies. - Girish Mathrubootham, Freshworks

Once a business goes digital, a lot of data is generated and analysed. This is when you need to ensure that your IT infrastructure is robust. - Sudhir Nayar, Cisco

There is a talent crunch for data understanding and bringing value. - Pat Sullivan, Accenture

Collaboration among medical professionals, healthcare techs, startups, and the smart consumer will help to develop better healthcare apps and wearables. - Sonal Shah, RichFeel

Data is where the opportunity lies for Amazon and Walmart to take young Indian brands global. - Vikas Lachhwani, MCaffeine

With AI, the entire infrastructure is self-monitored. - Mark Hurd, Oracle

AI assistance will be crucial in helping companies retain employees and in helping individuals grow and meet their career aspirations. - James Thomas, Kronos

Artificial Intelligence is going to disrupt the way business is done and India, in particular, is uniquely poised in utilising AI to innovate for social and inclusive good. - Amitabh Kant, NITI Ayog

Intelligent agents are an emerging area that’s already impacting how consumers interact with enterprises. - Fiaz Mohamed, Intel

Digital payments are crucial for any digital player to be a successful business in any country. - Rahul Chari, PhonePe

We see a world where analytics platform serves up insights to you before you can even articulate a question. - Ajeet Singh, ThoughtSpot

The chatbots of tomorrow will be more aware of who you are and adapt accordingly. CEOs of major corporations are positive about all the possibilities that chatbots can explore. - Amit Dua, ValueAppz

The transportation sector contributes the most greenhouse gas pollution. - Chris Ballard, Minister, Ontario

Digital gifting is an increasingly powerful engagement tool, for retailers to attract consumers. - Deepak Jain, Swych

The only way you can stay ahead of the disruption is that you build out fantastic customer relationships. - Mikkel Svane, Zendesk

Experience creates the emotion you need to connect with your users. - Yega Kumarappan, Paperflite

When people learn to do things in one place, they want to do it in another place too. Because, it becomes a habit. - Adam Berns, Amazon

More hands are always an advantage. A bit heavy on the pocket but you cannot think small and be conservative when you are a startup. - Fatima Agarkar, KA EduAssociates

For adoption of technology, the state government needs to create a working group comprising CEOs and the CTOs of all agri startups, organisations and farmer groups. - Edvin Varghese, Mandi Trades

If someone has a doubt, YouTube is the best tutor. - Anudeep Durishetty, IAS topper

The needs of Indian students cannot be met solely through classrooms. - Vinod Murali, Alteria Capital

Education is not a vaccine that can be injected. It is a long-term effort. - Geetha Murali, Room to Read

Our education system does not offer working and research-based programmes. We need to produce creative minds from our universities and colleges. India needs job creators, not job seekers. - Sunil Sharma, EasyShiksha

Nationwide, early cancer detection and access to quality care is a dire need. - Venkataramanan, Tata Trusts

There is tremendous potential to bring the speed and innovation normally associated with enterprise software to the world of healthcare IT. - Sumir Chadha, Westbridge Capital

One of the biggest challenges for improving the quality of democracy revolves around how to build more effective accountability mechanisms. - Amit Bansal, NextElection

Failure keeps you grounded. It forces you to find a bigger thing to fail at. Failure makes you grow. - Fazil VN, Sketchmonk.com

Fear has its positive aspects, and it gives you the time to pause, think and plan your strategy. - Mani Dhanasekar, Hosting Raja

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).