‘Purpose reinforces the essence of a brand’ – 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 December 16-22 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.

If you think you have a great idea or a problem in the world you can solve, then entrepreneurship is the right place for you. It should always start with a “why.” - Sandeep Lodha, Weddingz

With the right mentality, determination, and perseverance, rather than a temporary fix, the challenges can be overcome. - TC Joseph, Dolphin Rubber Industries

Repeat solutions do not get any value. Uniqueness is important. - Ashwin Khasgiwala, Reliance Retail

Challenges don’t know whether you are a man or a woman; they just test your intelligence, fortitude, and perseverance. - Sadiya Naseem, Glam Studios

Five of the most common cognitive biases that impact an entrepreneurial trajectory are as follows: overconfidence bias, fundamental attribution error, confirmation bias, sunk-cost fallacy, and the bandwagon effect. - Pavan Soni, Inflexion Point

Impactful leaders are always in ‘hiring mode’, be at the airport or conferences, or in any professional setting. - Vikram Bhatt, Enrich Salons & Academy

It is important to understand the broader implications of how everything you do impacts the user's experience. After all, it’s the user’s problem getting solved and not yours. - Akash Gehani, Instamojo

Working professionals have to significantly upskill or re-skill every 3-5 years to advance in their careers. - Vivek Kumar, Springboard India

Hustle is overrated when it comes to technology. Don’t try taking the shortest path; think at least two years ahead and anchor yourself to something that you can build continuously. - Rahul Chari, PhonePe

The hardest part of digital transformation isn’t technology—it’s managing the business through change. - Safra Catz, Oracle

We rely on data to tell us what has happened, and stories to tell us what it means. - Nancy Duarte, 'Data Story'

As a nation, we have advanced communication technologies. However, there also arises a need for last-mile connectivity to reach the masses when the mobile networks and internet services are interrupted during emergencies. - Jayakrishnan AL, HW Design Labs

The eyewear industry is traditionally unorganised and is dominated by unbranded products on one hand or high-priced foreign brands on the other. - Pratik Shah, Specsmakers

The way one handles apparel is very different from say that of jewellery. - Ayyappan Rajagopal, Myntra

India was already smart, centuries ago. We lost our way somewhere in between and now, we have an opportunity to correct ourselves, step by step. - Capt. Sunil Kurian, Mahindra World Cities

The farming sector is the biggest employer in our country, and when we empower our farmers, the whole nation is empowered. - Shashank Bhatt, Agriplast

Trust is essential for an investor to invest in any unit and Kerala startups have seen plenty of investments. - Anand Chari, BSE SME

The government has been supportive of the startups, but things have been really slow in terms of processing the startup policy. - Sunita Jaiswal, Servicall

Even our startups are creating jobs, tech startups have created over 60,000 direct jobs... just this year. - Debjani Ghosh, Nasscom

The female wellness sector seems to be particularly open to disruption because of the relative lack of innovation over the past couple of decades. - Shashwat Diesh, Azah

In India alone, there are 31 lakh registered NGOs. But, there is no centralised and verified data to contact them. - Anusha Ravi, DoAram

The underserved and disempowered segment of the Indian population can easily slide below poverty with minor health or income setback. - Rohan Kumar, Toffee Insurance

India is the third-largest SMB market in the world, with over 60 million SMBs. - Vaibhav Agrawal, Lightspeed Venture Partners

India is ground zero for both innovation and business growth for everyone globally. India is playing out like no other market in the world really. - Sameer Nigam, PhonePe

Current insulin pens are not cost-effective and people don't know about their portability. - Ankit Kedia, Caremont

In the last few years, India has witnessed a rise in the cost of education, thus blurring the boundaries between domestic and foreign higher education. - Manik Kubba, Scholarship Facilitation Services

India is one of the most exciting fintech markets in the world. - Philip Aldis, Goldman Sachs

The fact that 92 percent of the Indian meat and seafood industry is still unorganised indicates the huge, underserved community that exists. - Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, Licious

India has achieved under 15 percent of its ambitious rooftop solar target of 40 GW by 2022, and there is a dire need to accelerate capacity installation. - Vivek Subramanian, Fourth Partner Energy

It is very easy to say that an idea might not work, and it is the worst thing a venture capitalist could do. Because entrepreneurs are there to prove that the existing ideas are wrong in the first place. - Shripati Acharya, Prime Venture Partners

The conversation isn’t just about funding anymore; early-stage entrepreneurs want advice on going global. - Courtney Powell, 500 Startups

If you have scalable profitable product-market fit, go fast. Go aggressive. And profitable doesn’t mean company-level profitability. You can have unit-level profitability. - Avnish Bajaj, Matrix India

When you are building a futuristic, next-gen brand, the quality of investors is of utmost importance. - Abhay Bhat, Cub McPaws

There is so much explosion of news around startup funding that it becomes harder to focus on the right thing. Success is not about fundraising alone. - Michael Seibel, Y Combinator

It is important for founders to realise that initially, the term sheet is not legally binding. - Siddarth Pai, 3one4 Capital

Art is something that resists definition and leaves behind for the viewer an aesthetic and philosophical surplus. - Nancy Adajania, SAF

It is the artist’s responsibility to make things that are interpretative and have something to take away for participants. - Sudarshan Shetty, SAF

Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars? - Nora Roberts

Technology is like words, institutions are like grammar, and culture is like the thesaurus. - Anil Gupta, 'Grassroots Innovation'

Each and every animal on this planet deserves to be living in decent conditions, as much as you and me. - Zabi Khan, Place to Bark

Prevention takes time but it will be the ultimate cure. Otherwise, you're just masking disease and symptoms that could have been avoided. - Juliet Decaestecker, 'Healthy Dog, Happy You'

Personal safety cannot be solved by providing a need-based solution, it’s a habit which needs to be build using technology, and engagement is the way forward. - Dhiraj Naubhar, DROR

Disability should not be considered a hindrance to achieving one’s goals. - Brian Lara

When we see a live example of what recycling can do to used plastic, it automatically changes your perception of looking at it as waste. - Anjana Ghosh, Bisleri International

Purpose reinforces the essence of a brand. - Jean-Marie Dru, 'Thank You For Disrupting'

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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