‘Create with the heart, build with the mind’ – 55 quotes from Indian startup journeys

From passion to precision, 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 40 gems and insights from the week of February 4-10 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.

If you are building early, build it right. - Pravin Jadhav, Paytm Money

Version One is better than Version None. - David Nour, 'Co-create'

Do more than you think you can, and then do a little more. - Pratima Sinha, Nurture India Handicrafts

The goal of every team should be to find the fastest, cheapest, easiest way to test and validate a new idea and get to market-solution fit as quickly as possible. - Valerio Zanini, 'Deliver Great Products that Customers Love'

Growth can be simplified with one word - distribution. - Mona Gandhi, Airbnb

It is important that you do enough groundwork about the requirement of the kind of product you are going to make. Have a solid distribution and marketing team. - Shilpa S, Skanda Associates

Engineers who tend to relegate themselves to the delivery process are letting the tool, and not the problem, identify them. - Amod Malviya, Udaan

Simplicity is a principle we should all take on in our day to day life. - Varsha Karale, KGAF

With a neutral platform comes the total suspension of judgement - one can be their true self and proudly state relationship expectations without the fear of social blowback or stigma. - Melissa Hobley, OkCupid

The future is fragile and a purpose driven life, which conscientiously includes the needs of others and views humanity as one is critical to our survival. - Shikha Uberoi Bajpai, Indi.com

If this generation shares the load then the next generation will be different, and we will see a change. - Sonali Dhawan, P&G India

There will be a surge in next-generation companies where business models will be redefined to cater to India-specific needs. - Puneet Kumar, Nexus Venture Partners

The wastewater management market has yet to mature in India. - Vikas Brahmavar, Boson White Water

Collaboration is key to solve the solid waste problem in India. - Rahul Nainani, RaddiConnect

We will have 100-plus 'unicorns' by 2025, all solving for India and being mobile first. The consumption story in India is very strong. - Mohandas Pai, Aarin Capital

Battery swapping is a win-win for rapid electrification of two-wheeler and three-wheeler transport - especially shared mobility in India, where minimal vehicle down time is a critical factor. - Ranjita Ravi, Orxa

Aspects like display of signage, placement of traffic signals and medians, position of intersections, including adequate refuge for footpaths, need to be considered before preparing the layout for roads. - Naresh Narasimhan, Venkataramanan Associates

The key reasons for such a high number of road crash fatalities in India are bad road user behaviour, flawed road design and engineering, weak enforcement of traffic laws, and lack of rapid trauma care. - Piyush Tewari, Savelife Foundation

Eighty percent of the people who meet with an accident do not get help in the first one hour. - Ishan Jindal, Safely Home

There is no greater deed than saving the life of a person, and timely blood donation can help this cause. - Jyotindra Mithani

The F&B industry in India is still unorganised but there has been a significant evolution in terms of ingredients and pedigree talent in India. - Ramit Bharti Mittal, GIPL

Mobile users preferring regional language content are growing tremendously in India. - Mahesh Gogineni, GIFSKEY

India only talks about building capacity, but it's not only about building capacity; it is about this digital opportunity where we get maximum output from existing capacity. - N Chandrasekaran, Tata Sons

Influencer marketing is one of the fastest growing consumer acquisition channels globally and is catching on in India very quickly. - Rahul Singh, Winkl

The angel tax should be scrapped for government recognised startups. - Sachin Taparia, LocalCircles

West Bengal is poised to become the logistics hub of the east, with plans to attract investments of Rs 5,000 crore by 2020. - Mukesh Ambani

The improvement in the health of a farmer’s balance sheet is critical to keep him motivated to pursue agriculture as a business enterprise. - Hemendra Mathur, Bharat Innovation Fund

Agro-eco-tourism is the new value-added agricultural business for improving the incomes and potential economic viability of small farms and rural communities. - Ashok Kumar, Transform Rural India Foundation

As data will continue creating new opportunities for enterprises, privacy risks and regulatory compliances will be at the forefront. - Arvind Rathore, Virtusa

The problem does not lie in sharing the password, but in its storage. - Tamaghna Basu, neoEYED

If technology is your key differentiator then it needs to be in the hands of the user as fast as possible. - Hemant Khandelwal, Harness India

Voice is already here. This is the year when it will take off to new heights. - Dilip R.S., Alexa Skills

On an average, human beings take 64 decisions in a minute, and several of these are driven by gut, intuition, friends and spouses. - Sameer Dhanrajani, Fractal Analytics

Predictive intelligence helps shippers find new ways to reduce costs, improve service and drive innovation. - Mathew Elenjickal, FourKites

The volatile nature of the emerging markets has developed the need for multiple supply chains, each customised to the specific demands, and flexible enough to adapt to robust changes. - Chander Agarwal, TCIEXPRESS

If you wish to make a deeper impact, test new waters and learn while imparting knowledge, then e-learning is a viable option for you to consider. - Sarvesh Agrawal, Internshala

Tech-driven monitoring tools that can organise data from reliable sources and provide useful insights in real time can solve a huge problem in the social sector. - Joy Sharma, Impactify

Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch a little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper. - David Lynch

What is the purpose of wealth? It brings comfort and independence. But that’s not happiness. - Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

Non-discrimination and non-exclusion are principles that override everything. - Jaideep Gupta, senior advocate

In entrepreneurship, the rules of failure are the same for both men and women, but the rules of success differ. - Kanika Gupta Shori, Square Yards

You may not succeed 100 percent, and people tend to scrutinise your failures than remember your successes. But only when you fail, do you realise the actual value of success. - Anil Kumble

Your brand is the stories people share about you when you are not there. - Gabrielle Dolan, 'Stories for Work'

Each story has to also incorporate characters that deliver the brand’s message. - Tanmay Modi, Private Unlimited

Sweden is the most digitalised economy in the world with AI and blockchain slowly becoming mainstream in all government functions. - Kushal Kumar, Belfrics Group

Within Asia, the focus on regtech in clearly visible in Singapore where fintech has found great support from the government. - Prajit Nanu, InstaReM

The jewellery business is capital-intensive and fixed assets-light. Tight control on inventory management and accounts receivables are the most critical areas for management. - Sumit Shah, Renaissance Jewellery

Co-working spaces are striving to enhance their offerings by carrying out acquisitions outside of the real estate market. - Sudeep Singh, GoWork

Becoming a unicorn happens when you don't think of becoming a unicorn. - Binny Bansal

Being diagnosed with cancer is not a death sentence. There are treatments available. Have faith and be an informed patient. - Manisha Koirala, 'Healed'

One only hears about the top 50 rankers. What about the rest? - Vamsi Krishna, Vedantu

What you call boring, is some person’s aspiration. - Ranjeet Kumar, Team Pumpkin

As team members strive to get through a certain level together, gaming teaches them to motivate and help each other through different situations and fosters a feeling of togetherness. - Michal Borkowski, Brainly

If you have a business idea but do not have the money required, don’t give up hope. - Arulmozhi Saravanan

A business is only as good as its management team. - Atul Nishar, TiE Mumbai

Gully is not just a word, it’s an emotion, a feeling. - Gully Boy Naezy

You have to become a different person at work and place your work before yourself. - Garima Juneja, ViralCurry

Create with the heart; build with the mind. - Sameer A M, Bonito Designs

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).