‘Life is like ice cream, enjoy it before it melts’ – 50 quotes from Indian startup journeys
From passion to perspective, 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 May 20-26 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.
Being an entrepreneur is like heading out into uncharted territory. - Kanika Terkriwal, JetSetGo
It’s very important to set your ambition. If you set that high goal, you will always push yourself. - Gillian Tans, Booking.com
When your customers use your product, they should feel that it has changed their lives. - Ritesh Arora, BrowserStack
Creating a business out of something you love will always reach greater heights. Also, believe in yourself and keep moving forward, even if you might stumble or fall on the way. - Priyank Sukhija, First Fiddle F&B
There are no shortcuts to success. - Mohammed Osman
Reputation can make or break a company, and a robust crisis management plan can steel the reputation against upcoming attacks. - Vaibhav Datar, Simplify Your Life
Capital is still essential, but what is more important is you need to when and how to deploy it most efficiently to get the most of it. - Sanjay Shenoy
We are a nation with a tradition of reining in monopolies, no matter how well-intentioned the leaders of these companies may be. - Chris Hughes
Indonesia’s booming mobile economy has been fuelled by a major surge of venture investment, with $6 billion raised over the last four years. - Elad Natanson, Appnext
Also read: Elections 2019: what leaders from the social sector aspire from the NaMo government
Much remains to be done to unlock the expansive growth potential of the Indian market. - Nisha Desai Biswal, USIBC
India should be a country where there is value for talent and high scope for research. -Barnak Mukherjee
The government should also focus to build startup hubs across the nation to drive entrepreneurship. - Manas Mehrotra, 315 Work Avenue
In the last five years, startups got an estimated $50 billion in funding and this may rise to $70-100 billion in the next five years. - TV Mohandas Pai, Aarin Capital
The economy is facing headwinds in terms of growing oil prices, global trade wars which too need to be tackled deftly. - Lav Kumar, LIC Mutual Fund
A stable government and continued policy thrust are two specific prerequisite criteria for a sustainable growth trajectory. - Arun Singh, Dun & Bradstreet India
While a lot of policies and processes have helped startups, we need to be able to reduce these paperwork, licenses, and compliance issues as well. - Kanika Subbiah, The Wedding Wishlist
A young demographic also creates a demand for massive employment. About 100 million new jobs must be created in the manufacturing and service sectors by 2030. - Vani Kola, Kalaari Capital
Just as telecom has accelerated growth across the country, electric mobility will bring down mobility costs rapidly and take India on a different growth trajectory. - Nischal Chaudhary, BattRe
The Sindhis understand interest shared, interest earned, and interest barred. Computer-like calculations fill their minds at all times. - Maya Bathija, Paiso
The Indian taste buds want something desi to munch on, but finding a healthy option is difficult. People do not like to have a granola bar or ragi biscuits with their tea. - Sudarshan Gangrade, Lo! Foods
The mobile internet revolution has led to a rapid rise in the number of connected Indians, making music streaming the preferred way to enjoy music here. - Amarjit Singh Batra, Spotify India
Everything is going audiovisual now. It is a thing of the millennials. - Sourav Jandial, Voyzapp
On account of only a few digital media houses currently serving vernacular content to the relevant demographic, there is a lot of scope for up-and-coming entrepreneurs to grow in this space. - Bikky Khosla, IAN
You have to innovate in content. People want originals. If you don’t give them that, they will move to another service. Millennials have no brand loyalty even for streaming services. - Kumar Abhishek, TaccoMacco
Also read: Steps to successful communication: how innovators use storytelling to inspire and mobilise
If you are not touched by the things you see around you, and you don't feel the intense need to write about what moves you, writing is, perhaps, not meant for you. - Sudha Menon, Feisty at 50
Stories are irresistible because the brain is hardwired for narrative. - Carmine Gallo, Five Stars
The industry today looks for employees with 90 percent skills, but our education system still provides learners with 90 percent knowledge and 10 percent skills. - Neeti Sharma, TeamLease
Role-specific skills are important, but the candidate should fit into your company's culture. - Lokvir Kapoor, Pine Labs
Companies should look at gender balance as a bottom line issue, not just a human resource issue. - Deborah France-Massin, ILO
Motorcycling is not only about the bike, the helmet, and the gear, but also the lifestyle associated with it. - Arbaaz Sha Muzawer, Custom Elements
PR and media jobs are considered one of the toughest jobs due to the innumerable challenges employees face on a daily basis. - Sonia Dhyani Jakhwal, Lexicon PR
Customer engagement should not stop with just marketing, sales and support. Today, every business needs to invest in proactively managing customers. - Girish Mathrubootham, Freshworks
A true HR department means you must know how to make people flower. - Sadhguru, Isha Foundation
It’s important to take responsibility for what you build and to think about the rippling effects it may have in the long run. - Ann Rosenberg, SAP Next-Gen
Global transactions have increased exponentially and with them has increased the requirement for advanced technology applications to speed up and reduce the transaction costs. - Prashant Shah, Vegavid Technology
B2B, unlike B2C, isn’t a winner-take-all market, especially in logistics, which in itself is a massive market. - Alok Goyal, Stellaris Venture Partners
Banking and artificial intelligence are at a vantage position to unleash the next wave of digital disruption. - Sameer Dhanrajani, Fractal Analytics
Deep tech space hardware has multiple solutions - that is one thing investors need to observe and understand. – Srinath Ravichandran, Agnikul Cosmos
Cloud Computing has the benefit that one hastremendous flexibility of experimentation. The level of experimenting has increased because of cloud computing. - Olivier Klein, AWS
There is a big gap between academia and industry. That has to be bridged in a better and faster way. - Arun Prakash, GUVI
Also read: Artisan-supportive souvenir startup Rare Planet raises seed funding from Venture Catalysts
Organic, natural products are not identical because that is how nature intended it to be. - Vinay Kothari, GO DESi
Many cooks settle for mediocre produce and forget that some of the best recipes are with their mothers and grandmothers. - Sebastian Simon
The livelihoods of artisans can be preserved only if the government exempts the handicraft sector from GST. - Rohit Rusia, Aid and Survival of Handicraft Artisans
The weavers of Maheshwar are valued all around the world. Sadly, they don’t realise their own value. - Sally Holkar, Rehwa society
Even if you are not an artist you can bring out artistic sensibilities in all your work. - Subarna Patro, NGMA
With rising pollution levels and diminishing green space, it is vital for fully grown trees to be nurtured and protected. - Krishna Jadhav, SASA Group
Do one task every day that helps you renew your creative energies on a regular basis and help you attain the highest potential. - Sneha Choudhry, Zolo
No matter where you are, love, loss, friendship, pain and hope are the same feelings and humanity still has a lot of work to do to believe in this truth. - Jokha Al Harthi,
Honour the moment. It is all ephemeral. But the effects may last forever. - Sonia Bahl, A Year of Wednesdays
Life is like ice cream, enjoy it before it melts. - Rahul Bajaj, Out of the Blue
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).
Also read: The Top 10 Books of 2018 for Entrepreneurs