‘Health is the most important asset we have’ – 75 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 75 gems and insights from the week of March 9-15 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights. See also our compilation of Top Entrepreneurship Quotes of 2019 here.

It is easy as an entrepreneur to fall in love with what you create, but in business, creating a good product has no value if no one wants to pay for it. - Sneha Choudhry, Zolostays

An entrepreneur should be doing something new that people don’t understand. This is because most entrepreneurs are thinking about the future. - Yuzo Kano, bitFlyer Holdings

In today’s world, efficiency can curtail speed. You cannot adapt and change quickly when you are focused on efficiency. Speed is the key to capture different markets. - Chris Yeh, ‘Blitzscaling’

Any startup trying to do something super bold and something very new comes off as not very understandable because they are very new. - Vidit Aatrey, Meesho

The bar has to be reset from valuations to revenues and profitability. - Sanjay Nath, Blume Ventures

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. - Albert Einstein

If you talk big and the results don't add up, it will hurt you in the long run. - Mary Kom

The most important stakeholders in any startup ecosystem are Government, Academia, Industry, and Investors. - Poyni Bhatt, SINE

Build a good team. Always have a team of people you trust instead of having a team with skilled people. Because skills can be hired, but trust cannot be. - Hari Menon, Bigbasket

Sales outsourcing can help your brand get recognised with affordable rates. - Rachit Mathur, Avenue Growth

Just as you do something amazing and you think everything is going well, you are at the risk of becoming the next dinosaur. - Dilip Kapur, Hidesign

Every economic opinion is associated with a set of assumptions. - Gautam Adani

Wherever there are large manufacturing companies, ancillary industries and small suppliers always spring up. - Naman Shah, NowPurchase

We will see technologies so much in our lives that we fail to see it. - Manoj Sharma, Cleartrip.com

Security is not one person’s job; organisations have to ensure that everyone contributes to it. - Premal Gandhi, AWS

One of the biggest challenges facing the news business is how to appeal to the younger audience. - Chetan D'Souza, KidzByte

Today, most children are glued to gadgets, which makes them difficult to focus. - Stuti Mehrotra, Linden Montessori

The global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education. - Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO

Testing the quality of water and soil is significant in today’s times because it helps identify contaminants. - Samuel Rajkumar, FEM

Failure is a constant learning opportunity. - Vani Kola, Kalaari Capital

Your willingness to fail is what will let you succeed. - Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures

Studying failures can help check your overflowing positive emotions. Missing product-market fit and wrong timing are critical reasons why most startups fail. - Rajesh Sawhney Somani, Prime Ventures

Everyone experiences tough times; it is a measure of your determination and dedication how you deal with them and how you can come through them. - Lakshmi Mittal

You never wait for perfect positioning, because in business you don't have the time; especially if you're small, you can't do it. - Sunil Bharti Mittal

It is sometimes an uphill battle, but a satisfying one, nonetheless. - Saily Lad, Volksara

Right from starting to scaling up, be cognisant of the fact that there are differences that exist in other countries or markets. - Jayati Singh, Tally Solutions

We are seeing London emerging as the natural home for fintech entrepreneurs because of the diverse experiences they can pack into one day. - Hemin Bharucha, London and Partners

In the US, there are studies that say people spend 10 percent of their trip figuring out parking. - Amit Lakhotia, Park+

All forms of online socialising, including multiplayer gaming and dating, may witness an increase in activity. - Snehil Khanor, TrulyMadly

The spiritual market in India is estimated to have a valuation worth $30 billion annually. Additionally, the total addressable market is $2 billion, which comprises puja samagri items. - Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Venture Catalysts

There is no hype in the dairy and superfoods industry, rather it is underpenetrated, with huge potential on the upside. - Amit Sharma, NutriMoo

With the advent of electric vehicles (EVs) in the Indian market, there is a case to be made for addressing city-level vehicular emissions from passenger and freight vehicles. - Prateek Diwan, WRI

Only five million people in India currently hold cryptocurrencies — less than 0.5 percent of the population. - Sumit Gupta, CoinDCX

Fintechs in India continue to push the ‘innovation’ envelope across consumer and commercial payments – powering new use cases to fuel the digitisation of consumption in India. - Arvind Ronta, Visa

Out of 500 million smartphone users in India, only 20 percent, i.e about 100 million transact online. Which means that the rest are using their smartphones to simply watch videos, message, or call. - Kushagra Sinha, Jiny

For developing countries, opening up domestic markets provide significant benefit in terms of improving competitiveness of local industries. - Mukul Gulati, Zephyr Management

Everyone is expanding their distribution because India's consumption metrics are on the rise in every town beyond the top 56 cities. - Lalit Bhise, Mobisy Technologies

Mobile vans comprising mini ATMs and bill payment kiosks can be a low-cost yet secure way to bring the benefits of digital banking to the remotest corners of India. - Rohit Kumar XIPHIAS XPAY LIFE

Cloud Kitchens are an under-penetrated space, especially in Tier II cities. - Kapil Mathrani, BigSpoon Foods

The F&B industry has changed in many aspects since food aggregators started making an impact. More recently, with delivery only formats, this impact has been felt at a larger scale. - Ishita Yashvi, CBK

Cricket in India has grown multi-fold in the last four to five years. The reach has increased with the explosive growth of viewing on mobiles and the reduction of the cost of data. - Akhil Suhag, FanFight

Retail businesses will have to actively introduce millennial customers to their products in ways that utilise technology, in order to nurture profound engagement and a more personalised, connected experience. - Ravinder Singh, 1-India Family Mart

To deliver a great product a country needs great connectivity and a great payment process. In India, we now see both. - Dalton Cantrell, Y Combinator

India is estimated to have 100 million power banks, but the utilisation is just one percent. - Nawal Lodha, Plugo

There is a huge opportunity for startups that will help improve the climate resilience of Indian farmers. - Mark Kahn, Omnivore

Ayurveda is personalised medicine. So, you need to see an Ayurvedic physician to figure out what will work for you. - Sujata Kelkar Shetty, ‘99 Not out’

Ice cream is a Rs 8,000 crore market in India with a per capital consumption of 400ml annually. - Manisha Mishra, Gelatissimo

People are no longer shy talking about lingerie, which has been a taboo for a very long time. - Siddharth Grover, Groversons

The life of an urban professional is extremely hectic and the stress of finding and managing a home simply adds to the burden. - Pankaj Singh, MultiLiving

Parents play an important role in shaping their children’s financial behaviour and there’s no better way than providing them with financial prudence at a young age. - Neeraj Arora, Venture Highway

Despite the global economic climate, India’s startup and VC ecosystems continue to thrive as investors take a long-term view based on the country’s growth potential. - Arpan Sheth, Bain & Company

Any organisation has to go through at least one depression to see how it survives, and a normal economic cycle takes seven years. - Shiv Nadar, HCL Technologies

Intersectionality is combining all the various aspects of our identities together and recognising individuals as a whole. - Shilpa Sinha Harsh, Hinduja Global Solutions

Gender stereotyping is not a women’s issue, it’s everyone’s issue. Men want to be part of the change and we should extend the hand of a partner. - Nishtha Satyam, UN Women

Many Indian women are ruling out career opportunities to stay closer to home, whether it's due to safety concerns or a lack of travel options. - Lucinda Barlow, Uber

We need more women as leaders because their devotion, passion, and commitment is an inspiration to our society. - Irfan Khan, eBikeGo

Let’s once and for all bury the notion that you need to behave like a man to have a successful career. - Caroline Farberger

Meaningful scale can be achieved in different ways, but it takes time. - Geeta Goel, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation India

It is every business house’s moral duty to do its bit for mother nature. - Kaabia Grewal, Outhouse

Creative thinking is a process. And after a certain point, it almost becomes involuntary. - Nikunj Lotia, ‘Be You Nick’

Be open to feedback and improvise as you go. Success will eventually follow. - Deepa Anantakrishnan, 'Spandan'

It is okay to get out of your comfort zone, experiment with life. - Seema Chaudhary, Harbinger Systems

Create for yourself. Love yourself and have passion for art – you can find an artist in you. - Sunita Pavan, 'Oorja'

You have to bring out your creativity and combine it with the developments in the world to create magic. - Nandita Abraham, Pearl Academy

Commercial success follows when your deeds are good. - Rajini Rekha, Reves Gallery

Leave space for serendipity. It may be your highest ROI investment. - Kirthiga Reddy, SoftBank

Without being forced or coerced, jazz has become more and more inclusive. It’s the only way the music can survive. - Radha Thomas, ‘Bangalore Blues’

For product-based startups in life sciences, the gestation period for the product to see the light of day is long. - Manjiri Bakre, OncoStem

It is easier to build a sustainable telemedicine business in a non-metro city. - Shreyans Mehta, MedCords

Ensuring medical device compliance is critical for manufacturers. A Herculean challenge is to comply with various regulations in the sector. - Puneet Gupta, Clensta International

Patient records play a vital role in defining the further course of treatment at hospitals. - Deepak Gupta, PurpleDocs

Today's consumers face three key challenges in their healthcare journey: access, quality, and affordability. - Alexander Kuruvilla, Practo

We are going to have to get used to some changes in the way we live our lives. - Scott Morrison, Prime Minister, Australia

While ensuring that there is minimal disruption to business, we also recognise that the health and safety of employees is of paramount concern. - Keshav Murugesh, Nasscom

Health is the most important asset we have. Understanding how it works and keeping ourselves healthy with a strong immune system is the best defence possible for most diseases. - Anu Acharya, Mapmygenome

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).