‘It is important to work hard, but innovation is the key to get ahead’ – 45 quotes from Indian startup journeys
From intelligence to innovation, 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 December 10-16 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.
No matter where you live, no matter how small you are, always be the leader. - Dheeraj Sinha, Leo Burnett
Empowerment is the key to success. - Ajay Gowda, Byg Brewski
It is important to work hard, but innovation is the key to get ahead. - Dilip Kapur, Hidesign
The brains of the genius develop because of habitual intellectual work—full of focus and free from distractions. - Marcus Ranney
The happiest people in the world are not the ones who achieve the most. They are the ones who spend more time than others in a state of flow. - Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, 'Ikigai'
Having a human-centered design is key. The rest follows. - Paul Basil, Villgro
Everything is tech-enabled today, but it's got to have a customer focus. - Mohit Satyanand, Teamwork Arts
The key to the success or survival of any business is customer experience. - Deepak Sharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank
We are in the early stages of how we tie our customer experience wisely, online and offline. - Venugopal Ganganna, Langoor
Your best ideas, thoughts come on the floor, in the field talking to your frontline and customers. - Ramesh Natarajan, DHL Express
The biggest impediment for a startup is to move from gut-based decision making to making decisions based on data. - Mukesh Sharma, Menterra Ventures
Stand-up comics are the new-age marketing superheroes. - Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Wakefit
A majority of the first-time investors get a sour experience of the stock market due to complexities in financial data, portfolio building and rebalancing. - Khaleelulla Baig, FinTapp
Small towns have a community feel, where entrepreneurs are able to get a little closer to the ground. - Bavani Srinu, Swapp
We have no choice but make investing in social good a success. - Ronald Cohen, SITF
Because of the screening cost, the diagnosis of breast cancer happens in the later stage where cure becomes very difficult. - Jilma Peruvangat, Kozhnosys
Agriculture in India is one of the largest sectors and yet it is also the most tech-deprived sector. The space is therefore ripe for technological disruption. - Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Ninjacart
It even states in our constitution that it is the fundamental duty of every Indian citizen to protect and improve the natural environment. - Shiva Kumar Natarajan, Spots n Stripes
There are only 200 million Indians who are proficient in English and they are already on the internet. - Rajan Anandan, Google India
By 2020-21, India will be the world’s largest construction and infrastructure market with a market size of $600 billion. It will also be the second largest employment creator after agriculture. - TGC Prasad, mSupply.com
Today in India, 90 percent of brands carry 150-200 days of inventory, which is inefficient. - Anshuman Agarwal, Increff
The events and activations industry in India is currently growing at a CAGR of 16 percent and is expected to cross the Rs 10,000 crore mark by 2020-21. However, India has a miniscule market share of the global pie. - Ankit Agarwal, WowVenue
India has a trillion-dollar opportunity in manufacturing. - Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce & Industry
Government policies need to regulate stability and govern the ecommerce policies for it to have a stable year-on-year growth trajectory. - N Shivakumar, TeamLease Services
Large companies are looking to leverage their balance sheet to lock in their supply and distribution chains. - Abishek Surendran, pi Ventures
Foodservice operators focus a lot on the new customers, forgetting that half your income is generated from the regulars. - Rohit Maingi, Bottles and Barrels
The most vulnerable aspect of smart homes is the human factor. - Pulak Satish Kumar, PureSight Systems
The nature of the cloud is such that it cannot be run at optimum levels without the free flow of data across borders. - Kazim Rizvi, The Dialogue
The Chinese ecosystem is the no. 1 in the world. It offers deep learning and collaboration potential to Indian startups. Chinese and Japanese investors are also open to investing in Indian startups. - Rajesh Sawhney, GSF Accelerator
Every company is betting on the potential of India's domestic consumption. - Mohandas Pai, Aarin Capital
It is important to have a good founding team committed to your mission, as fintech is a longterm commitment. - Mandar Agashe, Sarvatra Technologies
Start really small, with minimal investment, understand the target market, and only then put in big money. - Poojitha Prasad, Deccan Diaries
With liquidity crunch, rise in investments, and banks squeezing their lending after the recent NPA mishaps, the small and medium players are bound to erode, if not now, then in the near future. - Ajay Khanna, Omkar Textile Mills
More needs to be done to introduce products that do not cause pollution at the end of their lifespans. - Geetha G, Eco-Gifts
The world is not going to reform tomorrow. - Lili Reinhart
Some people go straight to the top while others take a circuitous route and enjoy the scenery. But they too reach the top. - Rinku Paul, 'Dare to Be'
To survive, organisations need quicker and more frequent innovation. One way to do so is to use crowdsourcing, internally and externally. - Rajeev Peshawaria, 'Open Source Leadership'
Technology has made the market more lucrative but competitive as well. To succeed, companies should use feedback and insights from users to dictate the roadmap for their products. - Limesh Parekh, Enjay IT Solutions
If you already have a working setup, switching to a chatbot system becomes a hard sell. - Yuktie Jhanghiani, Kosha
Businesses can no longer use retrospective data to take strategic decisions to stay relevant. Big Data heeds this call with real-time information. - Samir Lambay, FreightCrate
Given that data and internet is now cheap, people are willing to interact with the data. - Shweta Bhatia, Eight Road Ventures
The way a fitness enthusiast will perceive French fries is very different from the way a junk-foodie perceives it. The product is the same, but perception makes it taboo for one and value for another. - Nandini Vaidyanathan, 'Entrepedia'
Don’t make it only about the prize, or the fortune and the fame. Let it be about you, the creativity within you, and the story that only you have the power to bring into this world. - Sudha Nair, 'The Wedding Tamasha'
Art is a way to explore not just inner feelings and the environment, but the wider universe as well. - Charita Dasappa, artist
Art means knowing life better, understanding inner journeys, and responding to social concerns. - Vishnu Kumar S., artist
Fear is the biggest obstacle to learning… putting arts into school is the only way for course correction. - Sriram, Nalandaway
Movies are no longer going to be passive. There will be a shift towards AR/VR in movies, making them more immersive. - Suresh Babu, Suresh Productions
The end of the year calls for reflection. It's also a time to be grateful. - Lizzie Chapman, Zest Money
Nothing pushes you forward like the voice that comes from within. - Upasana Taku, MobiKwik
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).
