‘Your ambition should be so high, that it should scare you’ – 60 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 November 18-24 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights. See also our compilation of 50 Quotes from Techsparks 2019 here.

Find something you love and do it better than everyone else. - Namita Ambani, The Heal Institute

Creativity without individuality is a mismatch. - Debabrota Das, Pearl Academy

There is no better personal development tool than running your own business. - Ali Brown

Insights are all around us, we just need to be curious and observant. - Arindam Mukherjee, Flipkart

We must dare to believe that we can bring about the growth that is sustainable. It is not a pipe dream. - Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Education, Singapore

There is no age limit on innovation. What’s important is not how old you are but how curious you are. - Giles Lury, ‘Iconic Innovations’

By 2025 we will have 1,00,000 startups and 100 unicorns employing 3.25 million people. Bengaluru is going to lead the way. - T V Mohandas Pai, Aarin Capital

Gaming tournaments and e-sports initiatives have helped the gaming culture grow at a rapid pace. This is the right time to create games and be a gamer. - Anish Aravind, Tencent Games India

The young demographic in India gives an edge to adopt and build new financial technologies. - Changpeng Zhao, Binance

Innovation hubs serve as valuable two-way conduits for global innovators to collaborate with Indians and vice-versa, opening up access to new markets and strategies. - Taslimarif Saiyed, C-CAMP

Most air-quality sensors today measure ambient air quality which is not reflective of the street-level pollution people are subjected to on a daily basis. - Anand Shah, Ola Mobility Institute

There are around 232 million tobacco-users in India, of which 30 percent are into the habit of chewing tobacco. - Abhimanyu Rishi, Bhookha Haathi

Only through strengthening the education system can we bring the marginalised to the mainstream of society and to the formal workforce. - Smitha BS, Careworks Foundation

Inefficiency in the supply chain continues to ail the ability of healthcare providers to deliver quality care at an affordable price. - Charles-Antoine Janssen, HealthQuad

The budget-hotel market in India has matured in the past couple of years. - Tarun Davda, Matrix India

The overall F&B ecosystem in India is seeing an evolution, consumers are a lot more discerning and restaurants want to match up to that. - Sahil Jatana, Svami

Storytelling is intrinsic to India, and almost nostalgic because most of us have grown on stories that our grandparents and parents told us. - Amarjit Singh Batra, Spotify India

Even today, with different players in the space, there are over 70 lakh trucks that are owned by individual truckers. - Pushkar Singh, LetsTransport

In security, which is a $20 billion industry and where eight million security guards are employed in India, there is no technology to enhance their lives. - Vijay Arisetty, MyGate

Not having access to finance is one of the big things that bring a family from middle class to poverty or close. - Sayali Karanjkar, PaySense

We have to move from diagnostics and individual screening to screening large population sets, and only AI can help you do that. - Venugopal Ganapathy, Axilor Ventures

With increasing aspirations of Indian’s, music education is definitely on the rise. - Padmaja Ruparel, IAN Fund

There is an urgent need to invest more in R&D for technologies that can benefit the poorest of the poor. - S. Gopalakrishnan, Infosys

Students across the country need affordable hyper-personalised training programmes. - Rohit Jain, Ufaber

A nation's strength ultimately consists in what it can do on its own, and not in what it can borrow from others. - Indira Gandhi

MSMEs are one of the key drivers of India’s economic growth; they contribute significantly to the country’s growth through developing manufacturing and local employment. - Rajiv Vastupal, FICCI Gujarat State Council

Ten years ago could we have imagined the huge transformation that Whatsapp or Uber has brought about? - Aditi Puri Batra, Intuit QuickBooks India

2019 was a watershed year for cybersecurity. Hackers have gained momentum in finding new avenues to attack industries and nations. - Kumar Ritesh, CYFIRMA

Fintechs are putting new payment experiences into the hands of consumers and businesses every day. - TR Ramachandran, Visa

There is a lot of innovation in email and chat because those are fancy. But internet telephony is an under-penetrated market and requires much more complex computing. - Ankit Dudhwewala, CallHippo

Take the time to learn the best tools of your industry, and it will make your business 10x more efficient/easy. - Farah Khan, Kantha

AR/VR, machine learning, and Alexa, they all seem like toys, but they will become mainstream soon. - Anand Jain, CleverTap

Manufacturing is the backbone of any economy, and if you are successful, it can give exceptional returns. - Adarsh Jalan, NeoFoods

If we consciously work towards creating kinder content and a more meaningful narrative, we will be able to re-engineer our future. - Mallika Bajaj, Little Yellow Beetle

Treat design like a first-class citizen. - John Kolko, Modernist Studio

Active moats are where product itself will be reinforcing them. Therefore, they automatically become stronger. - Ajay Sethi, Accel Partners

In order to tackle the challenges of the 21st century, we need innovators who think outside the box. - Ramona Pop, Berlin Senator

Education should not be limited to the curriculum. The attitude towards learning has to change from answering questions to understanding concepts and the application around them. - Vivek Vashisht, Imbue Education

When society sees someone disabled, it doesn’t really know how to react. - Shameer Rishad, The Javed Abidi Foundation

As we stand on the shoulders of giants, we must remember to be confident in ourselves, even when others tell us no. - ElsaMarie D’Silva, Safecity

Excellence does not discriminate, and neither will success. - Samyuktha Vijayan, Swiggy

The entrepreneur bug is latent in every woman. It’s only a matter of time before the innate skills show up. - Amrutha Valli, PurpleApple Infosystems

Women represent an untapped opportunity for companies to increase innovation and insight within product teams. - Elizabeth Ames, Women in Product

If you feel glamorous, you definitely look glamorous. - Scarlett Johansson

From a cultural perspective, education and financial independence have helped in stirring the relevant theme of individualism and empowerment among women. - Priti Joshi, Bumble

The new consumer today is also more aware and wants products that are in tune with international trends. They are also more eco-aware. - Karan Chowdhary, Fit&Glow

To know if the market is right, you need to put out the product first. - Vikrama Dhiman, Gojek

Due diligence is not an option - it is mandatory if you plan to run a long-term business. - Deepak Bhawnani, Alea Consulting

When a company is in its early stages, the investors back a company not on market size or numbers but primarily on what they see of the team and the founders. - Mridul Arora, SAIF Partners

It is common for companies to obsess about product and product-market fit, making pricing more of an afterthought, but it is important to include pricing in the product-market fit validation. - Madhavan Ramanujam, Simon-Kucher & Partners

Investors today want to see a sustainable business model from the startups, especially the B2C firms. You cannot keep on guzzling cash and making losses. - V Balakrishnan, Exfinity Ventures

If there is one thing that farming teaches us, it is ‘patience’ and cannot be compared to an investment in the stock market or gold. - Srinath Setty, Hosachiguru

Arm yourself with knowledge. It will be your greatest strength one day. - Sushmita Sen

Your body is your temple, please respect it and nurture it with love and care it needs. - Priyanka Nair, Sanity Daily

When people support you, you grow 10 times more. - Tanya Bakshi, Youniverse

Setbacks are a part of the entrepreneurship journey and resilience in dealing with them sets apart successful entrepreneurs from others. - Roopa Kudva, Omidyar Network

What ultimately matters is your ability to bounce back and stay focused on achieving your goal. - Ghazal Alagh, Mamaearth

What we do does not always define us, what defines us is how well we rise after falling. - Chinu Kala, Rubans

Most skills can be groomed in provided there is a strong desire and passion to learn and grow. Then, there is no stopping. - Lara Dutta

Your ambition should be so high, that it should scare you. - Tanuja Gomes, Furtados School of Music

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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