‘Compassion is the birthplace for courage’ – 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 August 24-30 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.

"The ability to navigate risk builds confidence, which is an important internal skillset while navigating entrepreneurship." - Ameera Shah, Metropolis Healthcare

"The world is seeing failure very differently from how it saw it two decades ago." - Vishesh Rajaram, Speciale Invest

"Startups that are part of a good network can make their companies scale faster, instead of going through trial and error." - Karthik Hosanagar, IPN

"Indian entrepreneurs are shaping an exciting future and building businesses that address unique societal needs." - Aileen O’Toole, Prosus

"To solve a problem, you need to listen to the problems so that you can give the right solution." - Kulin Shah, Onsurity

"Scaling looks very glorious when you are raising funding, but it comes with huge pressure and expectations." - Paras Chopra, Wingify

"It is not necessarily the depth of the moat that matters. It’s the width. It becomes harder to cross." - Avnish Bajaj, Matrix Partners India

"There are a few things that all founders want. They want to know how to understand strategy and how to implement it." - Anand Daniel, Accel India

"Treat pitches as a learning ground. People tend to get demotivated after meeting the first four to five investors." - Aravind Sanka, Rapido

"Pitching is more about having a conversation or telling a story, as opposed to going through a deck." - Karan Mohla, Chiratae Ventures

"There are more than 3.5 crore micro-entrepreneurs in rural India who have huge potential for contributing to India's growth." - Rajiv Kumar, NITI Aayog

"Scaling up these crores of micro-businesses into small and lakhs of small businesses into medium entities would translate into a several-fold increase in productivity." - Vivek Bindra Bada Business

"India is poised to be a major market for electric vehicles, starting with heavy users who depend on vehicles for their businesses and livelihoods." - Anand Shah, EVage

"EV makers and customers will soon require additional capabilities like battery performance analytics and connectivity." - Nikhilesh Mishra, Grinntech

"A large part of the market share of the electrical supplies is captured by small retailers in India that are currently offline and unorganised." - Ridhi Doongursee, Industricals

"The NEP proposes a multi-level, play and activity-based learning during the foundation years." - Shubhada Dayal Basuray, Brainologi

"There is hardly any silicon wafer factory in India — which is an important part of making solar panels." - Gautam Das, Oorjan

"It is required to have light touch and unambiguous policies to facilitate private sectors participation in the space sector." - Sunil Mittal, Bharti Enterprises

"We anticipate a shift towards the branded and organised segment for PU foams due to better product quality, safety, and hygiene." - Siddharth Malani, Shree Malani Foams

"The best way to understand how a brand is perceived is what people will say about it to their friends and family." - Sai Ganesh, Dunzo

"Millennials don’t stick with brands, they stick with a cause." - Ashutosh Singh, Yayy! Naturals

"If a person can teach 10 people and they in turn teach others, it will become a chain of teachers and learners." - Namya Joshi

"Employee relocation is perhaps the biggest challenge when it comes to building a strong, diverse, and multicultural workforce." - Sachin Gupta, HackerEarth

"Assam is known for its rich, diverse, and traditional heritage and is a strong example of how local culture can be preserved while keeping the development of the state as a priority." - Chandra Mohan Patowary, Assam Minister for Industry and Commerce

"When you support traditional crafts, you help our artisans to pass on their skills to the next generation and keep our arts and crafts alive." - Saloni Sacheti, Baansuli

"Difference in perception between artist and viewer is alright, that's the beauty of an artwork." - Sanjeev Mirajkar, GAAF

"There's hardly anyone who can say that music hasn't had an impact on their life. Whatever walk of life we belong to, it meets us on our path." - Janhavi Saraf, SARVA

"If you are original, then you are not competing with anyone." - Gajendra Verma, ‘Tera Ghata’

"Listen to everyone but believe in yourself." - Rishi Sakhuja, Fruit Box and Co.

"Creativity is the most important skill in a changing world." - Firdaus Kharas, ‘Creativity: The Key to a Remarkable Life’

"Empowering women and creating equal opportunities play a crucial role in building and sustaining a gender-equal world." - C P Gurnani, Tech Mahindra

"The corporate sector can also play a key role in breaking the negative stereotypes about women’s capacity in STEM fields." - Padma Duddu, OGS

"Don’t get bitter, just get better." - Alyssa Edwards

"Just stay in the game and be in the game of ‘you versus you.’ The moment you chase that game then there is no failure because every failure is something which you will learn from." - Byju Raveendran

"What you can learn on the job is far more valuable than any other thing." - Armaan Malik

"If you don’t organise yourself, you will carry out someone else’s agenda." - Kennedy Odede, Shofco

"Climate change is one of the biggest threats that mankind is presently facing." - Mehul Kumat, Kritaash

"The bamboo crop is a great carbon mitigating tool as it generates 10 times the amount of oxygen as compared to other crops." - Neelam Chibber, Industree Foundation

"Innovative solutions for the sustainable development of community is the need of the hour." - Padmaja Ruparel, IAN Fund

"Sustainability is not a single action or mere lip service." - Arundhati Kumar, Bee

"Simple daily activities such as a brisk walk, standing up and walking around for five minutes every hour during the workday, gardening etc help us stay fit and active." - Archan Paul, FITZY+

"There is a slew of cases within the Indian dairy industry where cattle are mistreated, and additives added to their produce." - Harsh Bihani, SRC Farms

"Do your bit to rescue the homeless and harmed dogs and pat them with care." - Diljit Kaur, The Woof Roof

"Compassion is the birthplace for courage, which is an essential skill for all leaders." - Bhavna Toor, Shenomics

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).