‘Brand is a combination of expectation and experience’ – 40 quotes from Indian startup journeys
From business model to brand value, witness the memorable journey of Indian entrepreneurship in these quotes, excerpts, and stories.
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 40 gems and insights from the week of September 7-13 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.
Resilience or toughness is not just a personality trait. It can be taught and it can be learnt - at any age. - Radhika Bapat
Change your mindset and situations will change themselves for you. - Vivek Bindra, Bada Business
You can feel it almost in your heart when you’re working on something that you’re really passionate about. Just be true to that yourself about that part. - Nami Zarringhalam, Truecaller
Winning and losing isn’t everything; sometimes, the journey is just as important as the outcome. – Alex Morgan
Financial constraints can breed creativity, resourcefulness and ingenuity. - Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba, ‘The Unfair Advantage’
Half the day you have to believe in your idea and the other half, you have to be your biggest critic. - Simran Khara, Kopraan
Taking that one actionable step can go much farther than just words. - Anoop Khanna, Dadi ki Rasoi
As one of the oldest retail formats in India, kiranas have one of the highest penetration. - Amitesh Jha, Flipkart
With the right keenness to become innovators and an enabling ecosystem where industry and government work in synergy, our innovation quotient can only go higher. - Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, C-CAMP
India is seeing increased participation of retail investors in financial markets – with two million new stock market investors added in the last quarter alone. - Ashish Agrawal, Sequoia Capital India
Exposure to global investment opportunities today can significantly broaden the Indian investor’s investment universe. - Chandresh Kumar Nigam, Axis AMC
A decade ago, the Indian startup ecosystem had less than 50 angel investors, whereas it boasts of angel investments from more than 2,000+ angel investors today. - Monica Mehta, Wadhwani Foundation
Indian founders have the confidence and ambition to make a global impact. Investors are recognizing this and are funding them. - B.J. Arun, TiE Silicon Valley
The rule of thumb is simple. Do we think the founder will build beyond 5x from here? If so, let’s try and play. - Karthik Reddy, Blume Ventures
Have a vision for the larger transformation you want to achieve. The path to the fulfilment of vision unfolds slowly and with rigorous effort. - Rahul Garg, Moglix
You sleep well because you know that your clients are loving your product and that is why you are working so much. - Bindu Chopra, Ahad
Whatever is your core reason to believe that you will turn an idea to a business, you should have it very clearly articulated. - Karan Bajaj, WhiteHat Jr
For entrepreneurs, time is the first and best cash available. - Ez Natarajan, Corestack
The true test of any product or service is that someone is willing to pay for it. - Shanthi Mathur, Primedeq India
Blouses should be freed from the trappings of misogynistic attitude. - Arunisha Sengupta, Choli Boli
Women are exploring beyond traditional women-dominant industries. There are many below-30 women entrepreneurs and their risk-taking is much higher. - Priti Sawant, JoulesToWatts
Companies need to be encouraged to re-evaluate both their recruitment systems as well as their performance evaluation metrics to reduce the inherent gender biases. - Ipshita Sen, Engendered
A life of dignity continues to be out of reach for most persons with disabilities. - Chumki Datta, Vriddhi
Art is a soothing balm that helps divert the mind to the pleasanter aspects of life, and creates a calm and happy frame that can boost immunity. - Malini Menon, Akanksha
Unlike a novel or a work of non-fiction, a collection of short stories is usually from different points in your life. - Nisha Susan
Music is like a garden that requires a lot of tending and care. - Divyansh Kacholia
Music has been found to have a major impact on mental health and wellbeing. - Vishala Khurana, The Sound Space
The term 'artisanal coffee’ implies that the producer is growing, processing, roasting, etc., coffee from a traceable source, in a manner that highlights the unique flavours and tasting notes. - Ashish D’abreo, Maverick & Farmer
We are the generation that needs to take responsibility for the world we live in today, our home. - Jayanti Bhattacharya, India Hemp & Co
Owning a farm is an emotion. - Sriram Chitlur, Hosachiguru
When you use good ingredients, food automatically becomes tasty. - Shashank Mehta, The Whole Truth
A higher level of personalisation is required instead of just following one or the other diet or exercise plans. - Sajeev Nair, Vieroots
Sustainable eating is essentially a balance of being aware of what’s good for you, yet enjoying yourself within reasonable means. - Anant Verma, Emoi Artisanal Ice Cream
Decentralisation of water solutions is one of the best methods and should be adopted on a large scale. - Poonam Sevak, Safe Water Network
The education process must follow the experiential learning cycle - experience, reflect, conceptualise, experiment. - Pavan Allena, Metamorphosis
Until the conversations around mental health, as well as the awareness around it, does not surge, things might not change. - Dr GP Gururaj, Axxon Specialty Hospital
Open communication about our wants, wishes, thought processes, and intentions are important to overcome compromise and other difficult situations. - Pradhyuman Maloo, ‘Indian Matchmaking’
Never lose hope and never give up. Helping hands are always around us. - Manoj George, ‘Positive Vibes’
Most logistics companies have plans to migrate their delivery vehicles into electric. This will trigger a new segment of vehicles designed for maximum delivery utilisation. - Ravikiran A, Numocity
The next wave of growth in the automotive segment may not come from retail sales, but from fleet sales. - Rohan Verma, MapmyIndia
By merely publishing content in popular newspapers and digital media, there may not be any direct business impact. - Sandeep Rao, One Source
Any brand associated with the IPL can become a household name, and we have seen this time and again. - Abhishek Madhavan, MPL
Brand is a combination of expectation and experience. Your communication and packaging creates the expectation. Your product delivers the experience. - Siddhant Raizada
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).
