'Sometimes, it’s the pivoting that takes you closer to your purpose' - 25 quotes from Indian startup journeys

From persisting to pivoting, 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 25 gems and insights from the week of September 24-30 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

You will always struggle to get sales if you focus on a wide range of customers. Focus on the micro niche segment in the initial days. - Pardeep Goyal, StartupKarma

The new players have to work on the business first before it works for them. It’s all about the confidence in the business concept, idea, or experience. - Patel MG, Envisys Technologies

The whole world is moving to a marketplace economy. - Deepak Nathani, BakeWay

The true value of Blockchain is in its innovations that go beyond database technology, and can create consensus and trusted transactions between entities who do not know or trust each other. - Nitin Sharma, Incrypt

Nearly two-thirds of people with a known mental disorder never seek help from a health professional. Stigma, discrimination and neglect prevent care and treatment from reaching people with mental disorders. - World Health Organisation

The acceptance of AR-VR products takes time and only large-scale enterprise and consumer acceptance in this country allows such technologies to scale. - V Ganapathy, Axilor Ventures

Food can also be a difficult business; it is drive and passion that get the ball rolling. - Pankaj Makkar, Bertelsmann India Investments

India's AI ecosystem is at an interesting intersection of data, talent, and market need. - Manish Singhal, Pi Ventures

Service providers can encourage people to use Aadhaar if they want to take the fast lane, but if they don't have Aadhaar or if they don't want to use it, no problem, they can still take the slow lane. - Bala Parthasarathy, MoneyTap

We are now seeing sharp growth in the number of people researching online before purchasing appliances and electronics other than smartphones as well. - Nitin Mathur, 91mobiles

India is fast emerging as a strategic investment destination when it comes to digital content-focused businesses. This is especially true for those catering to a heterogeneous audience. - Mohit Bhatnagar, Sequoia Capital India Advisors

When satellite TV happened, it took nearly a decade for channels to realise that regional is also a big market. The same thing is playing out in OTT. - Mahendra Soni, Hoichoi

There are close to a million newspaper vendors and delivery boys; the industry handles around Rs 15,000 crore every year in India, and there is no medium to take this cash online. - Neeraj Tiwari, PaperKing

Despite the fact that there is so much information on the internet today, there are many contradictions online too. - Namita Jain, 'Low Fat, Low Guilt'

New parents go haywire buying unnecessary expensive stuff. The big expense will be education. - Monika Halan, LiveMint

The student housing segment in India offers immense potential but remains largely unorganised. - Anindya Dutta, Stanza Living

Budget travellers are consistently shortchanged by the lack of trust, quality, and consistency. - Bejul Somaia, Lightspeed India Partners Advisors

We are witnessing a historic transformation in the energy landscape as India shifts from coal towards solar and wind. - Raj Prabhu, Mercom Capital Group

Closely woven into the cotton story is the fate of over six million small and marginal farmers who plant this crop annually in the hope of a decent life. - Anita Chester, C&A Foundation

A lot of established businesses are set up in popular markets, townships, or city areas. They ignore the villages where, in fact, there is a larger problem of unemployment. - Rajesh Kumar Mohakud, SR Group

Be true to yourself and stay focused on creating art that stems from personal inspiration. - Shalini Biswas, Forum Art Gallery

Not everything about art can be taught. Art is a way of life. - A.Viswam, Pallava Artists’ Village

Painting helps the mind detox. - Shilpa Sharma, Jaypore

Hobbies magically convert themselves into work. - Rasika Dugal, 'Manto'

Sometimes, it’s the pivoting that takes you closer to your purpose. - Marcus Ranney

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).