‘Always strive to be the best version of yourself’ – 70 quotes from Indian startup journeys

From starting up to sharing around, 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 70 gems and insights from the week of October 22-28 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights. See also our compilation of quotes from India’s No.1 startup conference TechSparks 2018 here.

When one race is done, there’s another waiting around the corner, and another and another. - Kamalika Bhattacharya, QuoDeck

You need to innovate till you die or your company does. - Nandini Vaidyanathan, 'Entrepedia'

You have to be on your toes all the time; you cannot relax for a moment. - Vrinda Rathi

Always strive to be the best version of yourself. - Rachel Goenka, Chocolate Spoon

Success is built on top of surprises and shocks. – Falguni Bhatt, artist-curator

An important attribute of success is to be yourself. Never hide what makes you, you. – Indra Nooyi

Success is being able to inspire others. – Pavitha Ashwin, nature artist

To have inclusive products, the processes of the organisation should also be inclusive. - Lauren Celenza, Google Maps

The shift to a customer-centric approach from a conventional product-centric approach requires not just deploying innovative technologies, but changes to the very core of the business model. - KT Prasad, Zendesk

We, as a society, have to inculcate the value of educating our children to appreciate different national art forms. And we as designers have to revive these art forms and fabrics to entice young people. - Latha Puttana

Design enriches innovation and builds powerful brand experiences. - Kevin Gilboe, 3M

Design should become one of the leading voices of reason, and should speak for the users. - Jay Dutta, DesignUp

The market is always changing, and the best way to keep ahead is to continuously engage and co-create with your target group. - Maarten Pieters, Signify

Today’s VC’s and investors want to see a product strategy and user experience early on. - Yonatan Levy, 'The Other Ideas'

Investors are no longer looking for pitches about headroom and long-term growth at the expense of short-term discounts. They want cash flow and profitability. - Priyesh Shah, CoinBazaar

Mentoring and Networking are the critical skills that will ensure the success of startups in India. - Bindu Jacob Mathew

The cheapest, quickest progress you can make is to learn from the successes and failures of others. - Randy Komisar and Jantoon Reigersman, 'Straight Talk for Startups'

India has not gone through a full cycle of experiences, less-than-the-best advice is making its way to first-time founders. - Bhavna Kumar, Samsung NEXT

Any country keen to create a great startup ecosystem should make it friendly to smaller businesses. - Manu Rekhi, Inventus Capital

We are moving towards a more holistic ecosystem over the next three years. - Ashish Fafadia, Blume Venture Partners

India’s startup ecosystem is approaching escape velocity. - Debjani Ghosh, NASSCOM

Accelerators have proven to be of vital importance for new ventures, and their assistance has often the crucial difference between success and failure in the entrepreneurial circuit. - Ashish Bhatia, India Accelerator

Real estate agents are crucial and at the centre of all transactions internationally. However, in India, real estate agents are possibly the most ignored segment. - Mohit Sancheti, Monest

India is a multi-tier market that is constantly evolving. Hence every global brand should make an India playbook and constantly update it for continued success in this vast country. - Viral Jani, Times Bridge

There has been some misunderstanding, as cryptocurrencies are not legal tender, but it is still not illegal to transact in the same. - Swaroop Anand

The hard-working Indian middle class deserves better wealth creation options and advice and service than the standard insurance policy or mutual fund that is sold to them today. - Satyen Kothari, Cube Wealth

Earlier, there was not even one phone manufacturer in Andhra Pradesh but, today, we constitute around 25-30 percent of the total output for the country. - N Chandrababu Naidu, AP Chief Minister

Cross-border is what makes Indian startups scale. - Anil Advani, Inventus Law

If we can offer all services to Estonians around the world, why not extend it to the others? - Kaspar Korjus, e-Residency programme

Our cultures are different, yet similar. We see India offering the same kind of large opportunity as China. - Lucy Lin, GWC

France is in the middle of a cultural shift towards entrepreneurship and a new generation of people want to create startups. - Joel Grea, Dojo Group

The global VR market is around $300 billion. - Utsav Mathur, GMETRI

After football, cricket is the most popular game with 1.5 billion fans across the globe. - Pratheek Palanethra, Freebowler

Of the 200 million containers shipped every year, a third are empty. - Florian Frese, xChange

Developers are more productive thanks to the autonomous cloud. - Larry Ellison, Oracle

Cloud telephony also allows a startup to create a unified communications strategy that has now evolved beyond a simple telephone number. - Lalit Upadhyay, Polash Ventures

Contract management on the cloud reduces friction and increases the value of a contract by bringing all stakeholders on one seamless platform. - Samir Bodas, Icertis

3D printing of concrete gives a new dimension to construction. - Manu Santhanam, IIT Madras

Today’s generation needs a mix of physical and digital presence, phygital is the way to go. - Venu Madhav, Cafe Coffee Day

The major impact of technology will be on the nature of the work and less on the number of jobs. - Piyush Mehta, Genpact

Technological advances themselves will help us balance humanity with the technology we use, and redefine what it means to be human as well. - Tanmay Bakshi

Mobile is becoming the pervasive AI platform. - Baaziz Achour, Qualcomm

An AI-based corporate travel management platform makes the life of the travelling executive extremely simple and eases the pressure on the travel desk admin. - Thiagarajan Rajagopalan, Tripeur

AI can enable people to learn better and corporations can use AI to enhance their skill capabilities. - V Ganapathy, Axilor Ventures

Sometimes you need to amalgamate common sense and gut instinct with AI to arrive at the best and fastest decision. - Pradyut Hande, Smartech

In online self-learning modules, there is a chance that your doubt will be clarified promptly. - Sucharita Banerjee, TopMyTest

The internet will fundamentally change the way the needs, aspirations and demands of the consumers will be addressed. - IAMAI

In small cities, a brand’s physical presence is critical in building trust. - Ashutosh Kumar, TestBook

Pro-active recruiting means reaching out to passive candidates. This is more cost-effective. - Amritanshu Anand, Recruiterflow

One of the most successful methods to develop a user habit is by enabling the freemium model. - Apurva Chamaria and Gaurav Kakkar, 'Master Growth Hacking'

Eighty percent of work expenses are travel related. - Yashwanth Madhususan, Fyle

The truth is you don’t know what you don't know and you make a lot of decisions early because you want to keep it as lean as possible. - Pramod Jajoo, Kalaari Capital

Companies should make ALL employees aware of their rights and provide a safe environment. - Ishani Roy, Serein

Most fitness bands are not sticky enough. But a fitness band that lets you answer calls ensures that the device sticks to your body longer. - Karan Gour, Soulfit Sonic

Fintech and financial services is a massive opportunity. However, one needs to understand that it needs to be built for the long term and needs a disciplined build out. - Sanjay Swamy, Prime Venture Partners

Popular savings products offered to low-income groups tend to block the funds for a stipulated period of time, making them inaccessible during times of crisis. - Kritika Gautam and Trisha Ghoshal, Bharat Inclusion Initiative

If children are educated, there is a reduced likelihood of them taking the path of violence in the future. - Vikas Kakwani, AAS Vidyalaya

Every child is intelligent, and each child should be rewarded in some way or the other. We cannot just restrict rewards only to the bright. - Sunita Sonthalia, Skyculture

When your house is on fire, there is nothing special in throwing water on it. It is your duty, and if you don’t do it, that is surprising. - Sonam Wangchuk

Silence is an evil to every society. - Andrew Sesuraj, Loyola Autonomous College

Differently abled people don't need pity. They only deserve equal opportunities to prove themselves. - Nishtha Dudeja, Miss Deaf World

There are many people who have been living under the dark clouds of grief after losing their loved ones, and we should fulfill our moral duties towards those families. - Jitendra Singh

For any kind of farming to be self-sustaining and commercially lucrative, right knowledge should be imparted. - Udayraj Prabhu, Marico

India ranks first among countries with the most number of child brides. - Seema Rajput, CARE India

There is no playground better than India for impact investors to test waters. - Geeta Goel, Impact Investors Council

Every time you travel, you learn so much about yourself. - Ishan Gupta, Udacity

While it’s important that you stand and move as much as possible, it’s equally imperative to correct your sitting posture. - Marcus Ranney

The story has to come from within. It has to be a passion and an obsession. You don't go looking for it, it comes looking for you. - Shinie Antony, Bangalore Literature Festival

To deal with the war outside, you have to deal with the war inside. - Rajesh Bhat, Iron Lady

Become a giver before taking. - Pardeep Goyal, StartupKarma

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).