‘Posters don’t define culture; what you do defines culture’ – 45 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 45 gems and insights from the week of September 30 – October 6 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.

The good thing with entrepreneurship is that sense of creating something from scratch and that joy of working hard to take it to newer heights. - Shalini Gupta

Problems will come and go, but the journey of creating something of your own and helping your spouse in co-creating it is an immensely gratifying one. - Priyanka Gupta

Age is just a number. It’s never too late to follow your passion. - Kewal Kapoor, CHAI Kreative

In our society, where steady income is a benchmark of success, living with uncertainty demands a strong belief in oneself. - Yogita Bhalla

If we stopped worrying about other people’s expectations of us, our lives would be so much more meaningful. - Raga Olga D’silva, ‘Untold Lies’

Keeping your commitments and delivering on time is one single most important difference-maker. - Romil Dhakar, Casa Arte

We have to jump into the competition and prove ourselves every moment. - Taapsee Pannu

To take control of anything, you need an action plan, lest you flit and float through life, and become a bystander to your story. - Apurva Purohit, ‘Lady, You’re the Boss’

Passion is one of the key ingredients to make a good trainer. - Shruthi Jain

Blockchain will ensure that the ecosystem knows how the assets are working. - Sanjay Kuberkar, Schrocken

Intelligent and automated systems will empower businesses to be more efficient in the coming decade. - Ravi Mehta, Steadview Capital

IoT analytics can unearth new revenue avenues, better customer service, cost reduction and also improved competitive advantage. - Dhaval Sarvaiya, Intelivita

This is a truly exciting time for the legal technology sector - we are at the cusp of the legal sector's very own industrial revolution. - Sarvarth Misra, ContractPodAi

Get your basic mathematics and logic right. Then you can apply any engineering language for any given problem statement with experience and practice. - STS Prasad, Freshworks

The longer the screen time, the higher the possibility to monetise via advertisements. - Mahendra Sharma, Matrubharti Technologies

The spending for cybersecurity in India is less than 10 percent of the overall enterprise spending, a number that is way below the international standards. - Sanjay Sahebrao Katkar, Quick Heal Technologies

By all indications, this is going to be the biggest festive season that India has witnessed. - Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Flipkart Group

E-commerce has boosted real estate as they are picking up the grade A space with rentals. - Shantanu Mazumder, Knight Frank India

Empowering tens of millions of small businesses to more effectively procure and sell goods is not only a massive business opportunity but will help transform the economy. - Brad Gerstner, Altimeter Capital

We expect to see positive momentum around IPOs in the first half of 2020. - Sandip Khetan, EY India

Indian banking and financial services will be driven to balance credit risk while increasing penetration. - Arun Raghavan, Arali Ventures

Quality and scale will determine success in financial services in the future. - Parth Gandhi, AION Capital

The dining scene in India has changed massively. We have evolved from heavily upholstered interiors and Mughlai cuisines to a minimalistic décor and light flavourful cuisines. - Priyanka Gupta, Hops n’ Grains

Veganism as a way of life is deeply rooted in the Indian ethos. - Kangana Ranaut

India’s education market is huge. The engineering and skillset problems are bigger than what most people think and know. - Austen Allred, Lambda School

If the authorities have not been doing enough, as responsible citizens, we have to shoulder the responsibility and start the repair of these potholes. - Gurbaksh Singh, traffic constable

WhatsApp is the most penetrated social network in small-town India with maximum amount of time spent by a user on this platform. - Divij Goyal, CityMall

Metro startups are mostly concerned about valuation. Non-metro startups, on the other hand, are more about profit. - Saji Gopinath, Kerala Startup Mission

Given that the average person sleeps for a third of their life, the sleep solutions segment has seen little disruption or innovation in India. - Deepak Shahdadpuri, DSG Consumer Partners

Equal opportunity at the workplace is still a big challenge in the country. - Aruna Newton, Infosys

Women’s purchasing power is on an upward trajectory as women continue to advance in society. - Nobuhiro Katsumata, Wacoal India

Cliched as it sounds, throwing money doesn’t guarantee loyalty. - Utkarsh Biradar, Flatheads

If our costs are low, then we can pass that benefit to the customer and they can save money. - Amit Kumar Agarwal, NoBroker.com

It's important to believe in your model in spite of giants and large investors coming in and pumping money. - Hari Menon, Bigbasket

Finance is the most seductive mistress and several startups have been seduced by it. It is like a drug and its addiction destroys the patient. - Sridhar Vembu, Zoho

No diet exists that will work for all weight problems. The underlying reasons vary, as also the approach should. - Deepa Kannan, PFNR

Solo travel can be liberating, empowering, and a powerful life experience. - Shivya Nath, The Shooting Star

Whether we like it or not, Bollywood influences a lot of people in our country. Hence, they need to represent something that we want our society to be like. - Radhika Apte

The arts bridge cultures; they're good for the economy, and they're good for fostering empathy and decency. - Julie Andrews

Art is not just about exploration or creativity but is meant to serve a purpose. - Vyshali Acharya

For impact to be sustainable, it must be embedded in the business. - Geeta Goel, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation India

Life is not about making money. It is about making a difference to someone, somewhere. - Saurabh Narang, Create4Cause

Either people should recycle plastic in the mountains or take back the plastic waste generated by them. - Deepti Sharma

From deliberate to instinctive, our actions should control our needs and wants, and sustainably work for the good of the environment. - Gomathi Suresh, Gallery Manora

At the end of the day, people who execute well will be the ones to survive. There will be periods of hyper competition. - Mridul Arora, SAIF Partners

Recruit for culture. The culture of the company is what you have to protect through thick and thin. - Ragy Thomas, Sprinklr

If the senior leadership understands how culture can drive business, the results are magical. - TN Hari and MS Subramanian, Bigbasket

Posters don’t define culture; what you do defines culture. - Deepinder Goyal, Zomato

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).

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