‘Dexterity is in your mind, not just in your fingers’ – 50 quotes from Indian startup journeys

From determination to dexterity, witness the memorable journey of Indian entrepreneurship in these quotes, excerpts and stories!

Launched in 2014, 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 50 gems and insights from the week of January 14-20 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights. See also our compilation of Top 50 Quotes from 2018 here.

Your time is best spent and you have the biggest chance for success if you have just a few products or one product to concentrate on. – George Mathew, Seekdefo

A self-driven, talented, and focused team can be your best asset. - Manisha Raisinghani, LogiNext

As an entrepreneur, hiring, nurturing and retaining talent is as important as building a business. - Deepak Sahni, Healthians

As the organisation matures and the leadership team matures, culture not only defines vision but ensures that the vision itself is aligned to the org culture both in articulation and execution. - Nandini Vaidyanathan, 'Entrepedia'

We all have a sphere of influence. It can be large if one is a public figure, but its power cannot be underestimated even if it is small enough to impact a few. - Vidya Shah, EdelGive Foundation

Angel investors who support innovation by making risky investments are incentivised in many countries but here in India they feel harassed. - iSPIRT, LocalCircles

The requirement of an investor having a returned income of at least Rs 50 lakh or a net worth of at least Rs 2 crore may, in many cases, be too big an ask for the friends-and-family round of angel investment and for small-budget investors. - Alok Patnia, Taxmantra

The next wave of innovation for India is being driven by the tech intensity of companies - how you combine rapid adoption of cutting edge tech with your company's own distinctive tech and business capabilities. - Anant Maheshwari, Microsoft India

The Indian education system lacks the force to utilise talent for solving real world problems. - Parag Gore, Box of Science

Indian users are educated and use various apps to avail different services. However, awareness of financial products continues to be low. - Upasana Taku, MobiKwik

Patented medicines always have a demand in the market. - Arpan Debasis, Medicento

As we enter 2019, more and more Indians are expected to consider the option of giving their homes a smart twist by embracing modern technology. - Pulak Satish Kumar, Puresight Systems

Agriculture is evolving, with one boot firmly planted in the mud and one hand holding a mobile phone. The farmer is indeed at the epicentre of a digital agriculture revolution. - Manav Garg, Eka Software Solutions

The beer market in India is at a very nascent stage but has the potential to make it big. The craft beer market is going to grow bigger. - Prabhtej Singh Bhatia, Simba Brewery

The scale of digital transformation this country presents is tremendous and the Indian SME sector is well poised to take advantage of it. - S Balasubramanian, VMware India

Today, online jewellery sales are less than one percent of the total sales; in developed markets it is more than five percent. But that is changing now. - Rebekkah Kumar, FourSeven

Thanks to telcos, everybody understands the pre-paid concept now. - Lathika Regunathan, Mimo Technologies

The long-term solution is to ensure appropriate nutrition standards in the country through nutrition-rich food as well as the right interventions through education, sanitation, poverty alleviation, health. – T Madhusudhan Rao, Tata Trusts

Parents are not discerning. They look at schools in terms of infrastructure, computers and English speaking, not in terms of learning. - Ragini Bajaj Chaudhary, Gray Matters Capital

The year 2018 was the year of the Instagrammer and the Social media traveller. Everyone with an Instagram account and a reasonable phone was an ‘influencer’. - Rishabh Manot, Questerra

In a fast growing mobile-first world, travellers expect airlines to adopt new technology and consumer experiences across pre and post-booking. - Rajnish Kumar, ixigo

We are poised to grow from auto-rickshaws to air rickshaws. - Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation

Unlike the western world, little focus is given towards a traveller’s experience at a heritage site in India. - Pankaj Manchanda, Augtraveler

Equipped with engaging content and seamless incorporation of advertisements, podcasts offer the nostalgia of radio with an enriched listening experience. - Gautam Raj Anand, Hubhopper

If the last century was about democratisation of consumption, this century is going to be about democratisation of creation. - Surya Vanka, Pune Design Festival

From healthcare to real estate, public transport or F&B, not a single industry has been left untouched by the ecommerce magic wand. – Ankit Garg, Wakefit.co

Braille books come without diagrams, and everything is dependent on the effort of the teacher. - Piyush Channana, Raised Lines foundation

Voice recognition and IoT have altered business and buyer expectations. - Vikash Kumar, Tatvasoft.com

A voice-based bot powered by artificial intelligence could help facilitate access to government services, such as utility bill payments, provident fund balance and income tax filings. - Virender Jeet, Newgen Software

When chatbots first came, there was a lot of hype. Everyone thought they were building the next Jarvis and the world would be AI-powered. But that didn’t happen. - Aakrit Vaish, Haptik

Users want to have conversations even if it’s with the internet. And a conversation that happens in regular language instead of codified commands makes for a much better experience. - Mihir Mohan, Pitstop

Despite the fact that 95 percent of the workforce and 90 percent of construction costs reside on the project site, almost all existing enterprise applications for construction cater to the office environment. - Roby Kurien, QwikSpec

With the enactment of Biometrics technology, the digital financial transaction system can be cast to become more secure, trusted, user-friendly, affordable, stable and advanced. - Rutva Safi, Mantra Softech India

Online SaaS startups can market to, acquire, onboard, and service a larger number of customers with fewer resources than offline SaaS startups. This makes online SaaS a more scalable approach. - Adam Walker, Montane Ventures

The future of technology is not merely a matter of manipulating what is known in the world of science into new kinds of products. - David Hanson

There’s content out there with an intentionally wrong motive, technically labelled as disinformation as well as misinformation, which is just wrong content. - Vasudeva Varma, IIIT-Hyderabad

Design is niche, yet it is increasingly seen as a game changer. Design education, design-led creative manufacturing, and design-led startups are the top three opportunities for designers in India. - Ashish Deshpande, ADI

Design is a network builder, driver of collaborative creativity, and voice of the company to the customer. - Kevin Gilboe, 3M

Great UX can be that distinguishing factor that ensures that an organisation’s product or service isn’t lost to competition. - Sharan Grandigae, Redd Experience Design

The key is not just selling, but also delivering on exceptional customer experience. - Suresh Sambandam, KiSSFLOW

It’s not about solving problems anymore — it’s about delivering value. - Everett McKay, 'Intuitive Design'

In life, the only guarantees are death and taxes. For everything else, there’s indemnity. - Siddarth Pai, 3one4 Capital

People love to root for the underdog. - Ishan Goel

To bootstrap and build for the long term without any external funding requires a lot of patience and sacrifice in the early years. - Vijay Ram Kumar, Automatad

It very difficult to be disciplined when you are working on your own. - Rahul Dua

Explore your passion before you dive into it fulltime. – Ruby Jhunjhunwala, artist

Whether it is Kashmir or Kanyakumari, music is beyond language. - Yawar Abdal

Coworking spaces will incorporate more elements of nature to create a beautiful work haven. They will work towards helping workers relax to enhance productivity. - Neetish Sarda, Smartworks

We have to realise that we are interdependent and we are much more dependent upon the ecological balance that has given rise to the flourishing of civilisation. - Al Gore, 'An Inconvenient Truth'

We have to move towards greater global cooperation. International trade only brings countries closer. - Sudeep Malhotra, AIESEC

Life is all the about the choices you make when opportunities arise. - Vivek Mehta, MAS Brands

Happiness comes from a sense of fulfillment and authentic expression of yourself. Listen to your inner voice, it will open up a new world for you. - Anubha Jaswal, ceramic artist

Dexterity is in your mind, not just in your fingers. - Gautam Karajgi, Anandwan

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).