‘Have a global outlook, but connect locally’ – 30 quotes from Indian startup journeys

From the local to the global, 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 December 24-30 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.

The best product and localisation have always won, not capital. - Markus Villig, Taxify

Always work for the satisfaction of the customer and conduct new experiments in design and production. - Vimal Prajapat, Blue Art Potteries

The startup community over the world has acted as change agents for technology advancement and efficient business processes. - Hemal Uchat, PwC India

Successful entrepreneurs operate from the mindset of “I don’t know, I need to learn”, which is a sign of intelligence. - Rajiv Talreja, 'Lead or Bleed'

It is okay for things to go wrong, all you need to do is take a deep breath, step back, observe, realign yourself and your time, and start all over again. - Geeta Ramakrishnan, 'The Game of Change'

Although no one likes to fail, truly successful leaders know how to turn a bad experience from a regret into a resource. - John Danner and Mark Coopersmith, 'The Other “F” Word'

Failure is just a negative term for unexpected results. - Dave Birss, ‘How to Get to Great Ideas’

The most difficult thing is to know when to pivot or stop the journey. - Meena Ganesh, Portea Medical

Stories of bravery are shrouded with pain and loss. Such stories wouldn't need to be told in the first place if humans were not divided by borders, caste, class, or religion. - Sameer Uddin

2019 will finally be the year that majority of the executive and boardroom conversations around AI will move from reducing headcount and cost efficiency to concrete business value. - Sameer Dhanrajani, Fractal Analytics

Expansion of the market by startups to address the next 500 million Indian customers will be tested in 2019. The trends are good, but what remains to be seen is whether revenues catch up. - Naganand Doraswamy, IdeaSpring Capital

Indian weddings have come to rely on a lot on online interactions, from booking venues to choosing wedding planners or managing guest lists. - Priyan DC, Star Squared PR

The number of Indians transacting online has gone up significantly due to technology and the rapid pace of growth in digital payments. - Amit Bansal, EZmall

We need to take technology to the villages for India to become a superpower. - K Suriya Prabha, YouCode Intelligence Solutions

India is a very beautiful market, and if you play on the right emotions, they will shower you with love for the rest of your life. - Gaurav Gite, Cafe Marrakesh

Online is just another channel in the whole scheme of things. Every retail company is trying to find their feet to incorporate this new channel into their overall channel strategy. - TN Hari, BigBasket

As of today, India is importing 70 percent of its edible oil requirement, thus indigenous oil manufacturing is the best way to save a huge amount of foreign currency. - Manoj Murarka, Manishankar Oils

The demand for bags has increased since the segment has moved from a ‘steady and spacious’ bags positioning to a ‘fashionable’ positioning. - Tushar Jain, High Spirit

Karnataka continues to attract a lot of attention from life sciences startups. It’s important that academia, industry, and the government work together closely to keep the ecosystem energised. - Gaurav Gupta, Principal Secretary, Department of IT, BT and S&T

The nature of the role of a CFO has evolved over the years, with more involvement in the pricing of commodities and analysing the right price point for each product. - Ashok Kumar Gupta, Unibic

User/Customer Experience (CX) is the most important element in the journey of digital transformation that every organisation should be striving to improve. - Nilesh Gupta, 3i Infotech

Team communication is difficult because it is a behavioural change for an entire team versus one person. - Cal Henderson, Slack

Toys should be a developmental aid for children. The developmental needs of children vary according to their age, gender, IQ, and the environment they are brought up in. - John Baby, Funskool India

When you empower a mother with knowledge, skills and resources, there is no limit to what she can achieve with her child. - Nitin Bindlish, Mom’s Belief

Nature is something we need to relish but also protect and conserve. - Navin Raj, NatWin

Take the photo as if you were not there. Don’t leave your imprint on nature, and don’t meddle with wildlife. - Jerry Martin, wildlife photographer

Art is not just about expression and money, but connection and compassion. - Sheethal Chandran, Kerala mural artist

If you don’t get out there and define yourself, you’ll be quickly and inaccurately defined by others. - Michelle Obama

Entrepreneurship is difficult and you must put in long hours of work more than other people do. But don’t sacrifice family, social life, and fun. - Jasdeep Singh Nayyar, Nayyar Industries

Have a global outlook, but connect locally. - Prathaap B, PotholeRaja

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).