‘Vision without action is a daydream’ – 65 quotes from Indian startup journeys

From plan to launch, witness the memorable journey of Indian entrepreneurship in these quotes, 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 65 gems and insights from the week of November 26 – December 2 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 you delegate, you don’t abdicate. You will always be responsible as the leader. - Harish Mariwala, Ascent

Startups win because they do less and do it better and faster than anyone else. Focus is key. - Kavin Bharti Mittal, Hike

The best part of being an entrepreneur is the fact that you don’t want to take any casual leaves. - Deepinder Goyal, Zomato

There are way easier places to work, but nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week. - Elon Musk, Tesla

You need to create a space for feedback and as a founder, you need to be objective. - Arjun Arora, Expa

It’s not always easy to move from organic to deliberate cultural transmission. - Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh, 'Blitzscaling'

To be a breakthrough innovator, you have to have ideas that break with the past and you have to be willing to fight for them even if nobody agrees with you - you have to be willing to be disagreeable. - Melissa Schilling, ‘Quirky’

You are your brands biggest ambassador to every one of your stakeholders. - Nandini Vaidyanathan, 'Entrepedia'

We are seeing a massive behavioural shift with people demanding personalised and conversational brand experiences. - Kris Gopalakrishnan, Infosys

If you're open and honest with the customer, and you know what you're talking about, you can question their ideas and assumptions as well. - Arvind Nithrakashyap, Rubrik

A customer's path to purchase is much longer now and has changed over the years. - Neeraj Sancheti, Kreativ Street

Going inside the consumer’s mind, living with them and valuing their subtle granular needs is key. - Rajeev Sharma, Awrizon

Drones are an industry of the future. India will be taking lead in this sector and will be working with countries around the world to develop common, scalable standards. - Suresh Prabhu, Civil Aviation Minister

Drone technologies can change the whole paradigm of several industries. - Mélanie Guittet, INVOLI

Drones have become the most prominent new technological fad for surveyors. - Vipul Singh, AUS

Most people don’t want to put money in a hardware startup. Software is much easier to scale up. - Kaustubh Tapke, GoQick

A huge amount of resources have been poured into blockchain investments, but little thinking has been done about the ability for the technology to be used for functions other than financial transfers and transactions. - Zac Cheah, Pundi X

Technology is redefining the way risk management is being practiced. - Ravi Thakur, StartupXseed Ventures

Predictive analytics and recognition of patterns are the key benefits of machine learning. - Rama Krishna Kuppa, ONGO Framework

At the end of the day, countries have to decide standards, regulations and guidance when it comes to AI. - Andy Jassy, AWS

Privacy is often not an option today on the internet, but it is important for the survival of the society. - Surabhi Das, Ziroh Labs

Technology and adoption of digitisation are changing the landscape of small businesses across India. - Akshay Modi, Modi Naturals

AI-based assessment tools can even create a candidate’s psychological profile and make sure that they are the right fit to the organisation’s culture. - Ketan Kapoor, Mettl

Getting a good set of data is the biggest challenge for the implementation of Blockchain technologies. - Manikam Selvendran, Madhya Pradesh government

The answer to wicked problems lies in the innovative use of psychology, technology, and design. - Swapnil Chaturvedi, Samagra

We need technology in sports but we also have to be careful about how much we use it. - Javagal Srinath

What matters is that you put yourselves out there, explore something new, and learn what can’t be taught in a classroom. - Aryaman Kunzru, PolyClinic

Keep creating, that’s the only way you can grow. - Madhuvanthi Mohan, Sketchup

Companies that want to thrive can no longer afford to function on yesteryear’s business models. Questions have changed and so have answers. - Limesh Parekh, Enjay IT Solutions

The only risk you face is not taking a risk, so take confident risks and experiment as you grow your business. - Apurva Chamaria, 'Master Growth Hacking'

With an estimated 500 million people, the European market has a huge demand for innovative tech-based solutions. - Varun Sharma, e-Residency Programme, Estonia

To feed the 9.7 billion people in the world in 2050, agriculture efficiency must increase by 35-70 percent, and technology is the key. - Krishna Kumar, CropIn Technologies

Any capital coming into the country is a good thing. India is under-served from a capital point of view. - Rutvik Doshi, Inventus (India) Advisors

India is still in a very nascent stage in terms of fantasy sports which has huge market opportunities and it’s not a winner takes all market. - Anshul Agrawal, LeagueSX

You can raise a billion dollars only in India. - Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Paytm

Medical tourism is one of the most important pieces of the Indian healthcare domain. - Yasuhiro Seo, Spiral Ventures

India is a price-sensitive market and offering an affordable range of good quality accessories is like hitting the bullseye. - Vaibhav Kapoor, Mobigarage

The Indian payments market has huge potential, pillared by consistent economic growth and the government’s strong initiative toward digital payments. - Isao Arima, NTT DATA

The future is geared towards a data-led battle with the smartphone as the centre of the shopping world. - Devangshu Dutta, Third Eyesight

Millennials’ awareness regarding the increasing costs of healthcare and the need to have an adequate safety net to secure their financial health is increasing steadily. - Subhir Mukherjee, GIBL

The commute is broken in India and solving this will have a great impact on economic growth. The commute is a large opportunity and there’s a lot of action in this segment. - Vivekananda HR, Bounce

Today, technology can offer access to a much wider range of products and services. This is also applicable to the quality of assets made available to the masses through technology. - Satyen Kothari, Cube Wealth

Both the biryani category and food delivery have enormous potential. - Vishal Jindal, Biryani By Kilo

The food industry is thriving with innovations. - Ankit Mehrotra, Dineout

Sourcing is an operational nightmare for restaurants. - Dhruv Sawhney, HyperPure

Schools spend a considerable amount of money on building their infrastructure. But very little attention is actually given to uniforms. - Kiran Hiriyanna, Schoolay

The 21st-century learning is more complex than ever before, and the current context of growth demands various skills from a student. - Sandeep Arya, Chhota Internet

The technological improvement that has happened in the last few years has not entered the interiors. - Suren Tikoo, TIERRA Seed Research

A famine is a collective failure, and we should all work together to solve it with real-time data. - Frank Bousquet, World Bank

Initially, it does take time to switch over to organic farming, but it does have a long-lasting impact on our yields. - Lalita Mukati, Maa Durga Krishi Mahila Sangathan

We need front-runners who also represent the diverse array of body types. - Neelakshi Singh

We cannot succeed when half of us are held back. - Malala Yousafzai

Diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance. - Prabir Jha, Cipla

Inclusivity is a good opportunity. A partnership is the best way forward. - Paula Mariwala, Seedfund

Mental illness can happen to anyone. It can happen to celebrities, children, men, women, or anyone else. - Soundarya Rajnikanth

A rewarding career, a great atmosphere and learning organisation is more important than a mere salary number. - Shivanda Koteshwar, Synopsys

You need to face what you fear most. - Vinamra Pandiya, Qtrove

Don’t be scared of the elephant in the room. Instead, ride on it. - Rahul Ahuja, Rajnish Industries

Running a startup isn’t easy and comes with a fair share of highs and lows. - Shashank Shekhar, Stoned Santa

Blood, sweat, tears, and more tears are all part of the game. - Kanika Tekriwal, JetSetGo

Life is full of difficulties, you have to meet them, greet them, and defeat them. - Pooja Kaul, Organiko

Failure alone is meaningless. One must have the maturity to learn from it, and the ability to recognise the emotional muscle or resilience which failure develops in all of us. - Marcus Ranney

Envisioning the business five or ten years in the future is crucial. - RS Shanbhag, Valuepoint Systems

Let all noble thoughts come from all direction so that I can be better. - Rig Veda

Vision without action is a daydream. - Karthik Shankar, Sotally Tober

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).