‘Success is in the big things; happiness is in the small things’ – 55 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 55 gems and insights from the week of June 15-21 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights. See also our special compilation of quotes related to India’s coronavirus responses here.

Being an entrepreneur gives you power to do so much good in so many spheres of life. - Khushali Vadhar, Divine Aroma

Every great leader is both a storyteller and a magician. The very best leaders are well-versed in the art and science of story. - Michael Margolis, 'Story 10x'

One should not stray from the journey because of a loss. - Tathagato Rai Dastidar, SigTuple

Startups did not take protection before. Now, they are pouncing on it. Even health and life insurance have gone up. - Layak Singh, Cogxio

As a rule of thumb, start thinking and planning your exit at least nine to 12 months before your planned date. - Anshuman Bapna, Terra.do

It’s 2020, we need to talk about email. Email gets a bad rap, but it shouldn’t. Email’s a treasure. - David Heinemeier Hansson, Basecamp

There are enough reports about how organisations face the challenge of forged data and outdated information, which makes it difficult and expensive to run their operations. - Satish Mohan, Dhiway

Voice becomes a big enabler and is also a greater leveller, especially for users who are new to ecommerce. - Amit Z, Flipkart

Most manufacturers lack meaningful data about manual assembly processes because human actions are very difficult to measure. - Jim Adler, Toyota AI Ventures

With the current shift from traditional to technology-based smart solutions, electric vehicles are the future. - Harsh Vardhan Didwania, EeVe

Faster, cheaper and better transportation is the need of the hour. Globally, there is reliance on a lot of disconnected softwares and technologies in this space. - Dhruvil Sanghvi, LogiNext

CNG and electric are about the future. - Akshay Kashyap, Green Fuel Energy Solutions

E-platforms will save a lot of time and effort of farmers in reaching out to merchants physically. - Pankajj Ghode, Agri10x

5G is a platform for innovation. It enables new services for consumers, enterprises and industry, including large-scale IoT use cases. - Patrik Cerwall, Ericsson

While urban India gradually went from 2G to 3G to 4G, rural India skipped those stages. They got high-speed internet straight from nothing. - Tarun Pathak, Counterpoint Research

India still needs a lot of changes, in terms of its crypto policies. There can be a more open dialogue. - Sathvik Vishwanath, Unocoin

To ride the next wave of technology, India needs to build a large pool of product development talent. - Rathinamurthy R, Crio

Without voice AI, contact centres typically analyse only one percent or fewer calls, and they have a team of quality analysts who do that manually. - Jithendra Vepa, Observe.AI

Every customer’s journey differs from the other. - Sumeet Shrivasta, Spocto

Enterprise businesses are increasingly looking to partner with organised logistics players to facilitate direct to consumer deliveries. - Pushkar Singh, LetsTransport

Every K12 system of every country – rich or poor – is outdated in the same way. - Anshul Bhagi, Camp K12

The biggest reason for the lack of SME B2B value chain digitisation are legacy tools, processes and systems that the SMEs use and they cannot be changed/replaced suddenly. - Vishal Gupta, HyloBiz

The celebrity B2B market is opaque, fragmented, inaccessible, and largely untapped. - Vinamra Pandiya, GoNuts

If jewellery businesses have their financials in order and survive the current rough patch, they are in for some good times. - Shobha Choksey, Shobha Shringar

Motorcycles are like babies and they need proper care, just the way we take care of our children. - Jasminder Singh, JS Films

Gamification is increasingly being used for advanced learning and attain better learner engagement. - Atul Temurnikar, Global Schools Foundation

Preparation for high-stake exams cannot happen over the internet. - Aakash Chaudhary, AESL

Fitness is overall well being and includes your mental state as well. - Minu Margeret, Bliss Club

Yoga is one of the best ways to increase strength, improve mental health, and build immunity — the key requirements for all of us today. - Ankit Nagori, Curefit

The competitive pressures of the multiple rat races we are all running in are probably the biggest cause of grief and depression. - TN Hari, BigBasket

People wanted to consume tea that is healthy, nutritious, and contains a lot of anti-oxidents. - Ashok Mittal, Teamonk

India is definitely gravitating towards freshly brewed coffee. - Rahul Jain, Beanly

The quality of milk in the capital is bad, despite India being the largest producer of milk in the world. - Kanika Yadav, Whyte Farms

Early financial education and increased financial literacy are imperative, and should be a first order concern for public policy and educators alike. - Sonam Chandwani, KS Legal & Associates

Women’s economic empowerment at the grassroots is hindered by a lack of enabling environment and a lack of suitable employment opportunities available to women. - Nikita Wadhwa, CIP

Being a woman leader is hard and the effort it takes for a woman to prove herself is disproportionately higher to the effort a man makes in the same domain for the same position. - Anupama Tej, Tinystep

Proper guidance from an industry expert or a mentor will be very helpful in not only making games, but also successfully monetising them. - Surya Prakash, Backstage Pass

Several companies across industries are investing a sizeable amount of money in marketing and still rely on traditional methods to evaluate performance. - Prakhar Gupta, Adorithm

Humans are layers of complexities. To manoeuvre around that and help each other realise the best of each other is the greatest challenge you’ll ever face in a journey like this. - Amrita Giriraj, Alankaara

You can build a sustainable, good, profitable business if the basic components of your business are right. The four key metrics are acquisition, engagement, retention, and a good user persona. - Sarvesh Shashi, SARVA

In trading, you need to make quick decisions, and make peace with the decisions and their consequences. - Nithin Kamath, Zerodha

Performance marketing demands exceptional content, along with website execution that is free from commonplace flaws. - Siddhartha Vanvani, DigiDarts

The intersection of India’s innovation, governance, and entrepreneurship ecosystem shows how India is ready for a social impact revolution. - Kunal Sood, X Fellows

India has made its mark as a hotbed of innovation and disruption. - Soumyakanti Ray, P&G

The heart of every Indian is filled with deep anguish, resentment, and abhorrence against the atrocities of the Chinese and their persistent attitude of antagonism towards India. - Praveen Khandelwal, CAIT

The roughest roads often lead to the top. - Christina Aguilera

Music is unbreakable whether in India or worldwide. You can’t have a world without music. It’s not allowed. - Cyrus Broacha

Music is a universal language. - Tanuja Gomes, Furtados School of Music

Collaborating is finding that spark within a musician and a producer. - Shannon K, 'Give Me Your Hand'

The number of events and frequency of digital events are increasing because people still want to stay connected with artists and creators, and their art, outside of social media. - Shreyas Srinivasan, Paytm Insider

If you are seeing something for the first time, one of your first reactions should be fascination. - Sushant Singh Rajput

The beauty of sarees is that they are fluid and can be reused and upcycled into dresses, bags, furnishings, and accessories too. - Avipsha Thakur, Bunavat

Design is a feeling, it is a raw emotion. The design must show your skill sets of balance, proposition, and conviction. - Ramkripa Ananthan

When planning a museum, design has to be one of the major considerations as people learn with their eyes. - Deepthi Sasidharan, Eka Archiving

Drawing on pebbles is an immersive experience which is almost meditative in nature. - Sushil Bhasin, Doodlewala

Theatre is the foundation for acting. Theatre is the space for an actor where the actor is the supreme embodiment of that space. - Neeraj Kabi, ‘Paatal Lok’

Success is in the big things; happiness is in the small things. - Girish Mathrubootham, Freshworks

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).