‘Regrets are like a reverse gear in life’ – 40 quotes from Indian startup journeys

From persistence to perseverance, 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 40 gems and insights from the week of September 17-23 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

Most companies fail not because of the idea, but because they give up too early. So stay there and make it work. - Samrat Reddy, Drunken Monkey

Success is being on the right path, and not just reaching a destination. - Sunil Lohar, IIIT-Hyderabad

Destiny is nothing but a plethora of possibilities, and the best possibilities exist for everyone. - Harrish Sairaman

To grow your business really fast, don’t just obsess over the answers. Concentrate on asking the right questions. - Vinay Kanchan

Real businesses thrive on profits, not funding. - Pardeep Goyal, StartupKarma

Nowadays, anybody can invest and start a business. But the real task is how to sustain the business and keep it growing. Without patience and endurance, nothing can be achieved. - Paramjeet Kaur, Aura

Every startup must have paying customers soon; that’s the only way they can scale up. - V Ganapathy, Axilor Ventures

You can't just tell people to use your product, you have to follow your consumers. It’s all about building a super product coupled with brilliant services, fast response and constant changes. - Annabelle Yu Long, Bertelsmann Asia Investments

Customers should always be encouraged to visit, like, comment, and share your products, services, offers, and much more. - Rajdip Gupta, Route Mobile

Building a community helps to drive visibility and thereby get more customers. - Priyanjit Ghosh, Nearfit

Co-creation is both the means and the end, in a continuous cycle. It is a full philosophy of business. - Venkat Ramaswamy and Francis Gouillart, 'The Power of Co-Creation'

If the engagement is good, more people will subscribe. - Sejal Kumar, YouTube influencer

Networking events do not have to seem like a task but often do. - Piyuesh Modi, PagePotato Digital Marketing Agency

Technology acts as a catalyst and boon. - Dr T. Palaniappan, Medway Hospitals

If one has a business idea, s/he should not be constrained by technical know-how. - Sachin Duggal, Engineer.ai

The home – perhaps the most important environment experience – is just starting to enjoy the benefits of intelligent connectivity. - Pete Lau, OnePlus

Every company is looking to drive a digital transformation of their back-end systems. - Carl Eschenbach, Sequoia

The unorganised food delivery market globally is worth $80 billion. - Bhavik Rathod, Uber Eats

In three to four years, the Indian organic market will grow by 25-40 percent. - Rishabh Chokhani, Naturevibe Botanicals

Kiranas are the heart of India and we need to help them use technology to improve their margins. - Prem Kumar, SnapBizz

The future is in making the kiranas organise themselves with data. They serve more Indians than any modern retailers. - Lalit Bhise, Mobisy Technologies

In India, real retail wages have been flat for almost a decade. Technological change will improve productivity and create new types of work. - Verun Rastogii, Mufubu

Indian women deal with money differently. - Monika Halan, Mint Money

There is a need for individuals to not only contribute more, but also ensure that it is strategic enough to move the needle on key social development indicators. - Arpan Sheth, Bain & Company

We usually look at large and visible losses of a natural disaster, but the small losses also should be looked into. - Saji Gopinath, Kerala Startup Mission

Sustainability practices of a company affect the bottom line – or should we say, the triple bottom line. - Ankush Patel, Treeni Sustainability Solutions

There are no strong policies or guidelines by the government to promote renewable, eco-friendly methods for cremation. - Ajay Kumar Jaiswal, Urja Gasifiers

Unlike mobile phones and home appliances, one does not find solar products in a physical store. - Amol Anand, Loom Solar

The bank-versus-bank comparison is no longer relevant. Customers today are comparing us with Uber, Swiggy, and Zomato. - Ramakrishnan Seshan, HSBC

With the mobile-based application learning, students are more confident about using technology and that is helping them learn better as well. - GS Tomar, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya

It is important to remember that mental health is actually not just connected to the brain. It's also connected to the body. - Anna Chandy, The Live Love Laugh Foundation

Technology has not only improved the efficiency of healthcare staff but it has also bridged the gap between hospitals and patients. - Abhishek Agarwal, The Judge Group

Fashion is ‘self-expression’. Your personal style says a lot about you. - Tanya Ghavri, stylist

Art lets you tell your own story in your own unique language. - Jitha Karthikeyan, The Art gallery

Live the contemporary life and connect your work to current realities and trends. - Sapna Dube, Laboratory of Creativity

If you face a certain challenge, or find a certain blockage in your path, you need to find an alternate route to reach your goal. - Ekta Jaju, ONganic Foods

Devising stereotypes, in essence, is the way our brains are programmed to group patterns, but when it lends itself to typecasting people and their perceived attributes, it begins to look grim. - Apurva Purohit, Jagran Group

We must never be afraid of reinventing the wheel when we need to find fresh vigour towards maintaining work-life balance. - Viji Hari, Kelp HR

Sports teaches a person how to deal with failures, how to work in a team and how to come out of adverse situations. - Ankit Nagori, CureFit

In this quest for work-life harmony, allow yourself to fail and know that it takes time to align yourself with the theory of work-life harmony. - Marcus Ranney

Regrets are like a reverse gear in life! - Veena Ashiya, Monrow Shoes

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).