‘The best person to compare yourself to is your own past self’ – 25 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 25 gems and insights from the week of October 19-25 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 CFO is the co-pilot-cum-navigator for the startup founder. The CFO must co-create a shared vision for the startup’s future." - Raghava Rao, Amazon India

"Lack of awareness in founders and lack of funds via debt funds are prime reasons why debt funding is still not that popular." - Ishpreet Gandhi, Stride Ventures

"Generally, the exit on angel investing is a five to eight year time cycle. But sometimes exits happen early." - Shanti Mohan, LetsVenture

"Entrepreneurship is an invaluable mindset and skill, something that you can call upon again and again." - Smarinita Shetty, India Development Review

"Exploration and execution form a true partnership to manage the present and explore the future." - Alex Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur, 'The Invincible Company'

"Keeping your business afloat and innovation cannot be looked at separately. It has to go hand in hand." - Nirupa Shankar, Brigade Group

"Education is every child’s right and if we can provide that, we will be able to prevent child labour." - Sushil Kumar Meena, Nirbhed Foundation

ALSO READ

[The Turning Point] What led this couple to launch alkaline water brand Evocus H20

"For India to emerge as a leading superpower and an economic hub, its biggest brands must switch to competing and winning in the global lane." - Vineet Shetty, Plop Stories

"According to 2018 World Bank data, India is currently one of the worst performing nations in terms of female labour force participation rates." - Iti Rawat, WEFT

"It is estimated that India loses more than $106 billion of its GDP (> 5% of total) per year due to inadequate sanitation." - Arundhati Das and Tanya Philip, Intellecap

"The climate crisis affects all of us equally, and we must learn some hard lessons." - Urmi Chanda, Eco Lens

"The market for mock tests for state-level government recruitment examinations is still in its nascent stage." - Rohit Manglik, EduGorilla

"As most people are travelling the world now, the food of most countries has become an integral part of our lives." - Ginee Shah, The Evolved Palate

"While Indian food has evolved, a lot of old cooking styles and grains have been lost in the process." - Sunil Chauhan, FabCafe

ALSO READ

Pivot and Persist: How this apparel startup branched into PPE kits and now supplies to over 250 hospitals

"Students from rural, low-income backgrounds were more than seven times less likely to get into the IITs as compared to the ones who were well-off." - Akshay Saxena, Avanti Fellows

"National highways are important, but rural roads matter more. Better rural transport infrastructure means that we can access farms in large parts of India much easier." - Karthik Jayaraman, WayCool Foods

"India will be the fastest growing entertainment and media market globally in terms of pure consumer revenue." - PwC India report

"Global competitiveness would come only with a well-planned and properly executed components ecosystem, a multi-tiered industry that would feed into the value chain." - Ravi Saxena, Wonderchef

"The solar industry is quite complex, and there are a lot of segments that go into the development, maintenance and management of a solar plant." - Saideep Talari, SenseHawk

"Markets are complex and so are human emotions." - Amit Dhakad, Market Pulse

"India is an open-minded and educated market and always hungry for new and innovative products."- Federico Natalini, Fedevi Ventures

ALSO READ

[The Turning Point] How a conversation with a farmer led these IIT graduates to start Vernacular.ai

"If one can’t talk about anything that doesn’t toe the line of the majority, where is the space for creative freedom?" - Perumal Murugan, ‘Estuary’

"Empowerment is an internal phenomenon, not an external construct as the world plays it out to be. We can incidentally inspire one another sometimes. But to empower a peer is to condescend." - Aanchal Arora, 1702 Digital

"Stand up for who you are. Before you do that, know who you are." - Sushmita Sen

"The best person to compare yourself to is your own past self." - Naman Lahoty, Stellaris Venture Partners

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).