‘Life is like ice cream, enjoy it before it melts’ – 50 quotes from Indian startup journeys

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

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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,

Celestial Bodies

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