‘You have to learn from other people’s mistakes’ – 35 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 35 gems and insights from the week of November 16-22 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.

"Your lifetime will not be enough to learn only from your mistakes. You have to learn from other people’s mistakes." - Jay Vijayan, Tekion Corp

"If you make a strategic mistake in business, you can undo it somehow. But if you build a wrong team, it sets you back real hard." - Harshil Mathur, Razorpay

"If you don't believe in a cause, you can't contribute in a way you should be able to." - Siya Tayal, Project I am Enough

"Passion is something that does not need to be ranked; it's followed primarily for happiness." - Avneesh Chhabra, PassionGuru

"You must have passion, a plan, and innovation in that order. See yourselves as citizens first and then as innovators." - Patanjali Dev Nayar, WHO/SEARO

"Be very aware when your dream is turning into greed. That is when you should stop." - Pratik Gandhi, 'Scam 1992'

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"Women-owned businesses in India, especially small businesses, have tremendous untapped potential that can transform economies. Yet, India has one of the highest gender gaps in the world." - Porush Singh, Mastercard

"Of the 63 million MSMEs in India, only six percent are women-led, a criminal waste of talent." - Ajay Kela, Wadhwani Foundation

"It sometimes can be harder for female founders to build strong networks because of fewer college/MBA networks, rigid social structures, biased peer perceptions." - Radhika Agarwal, Blume Ventures

"Women entrepreneurship is no longer a ‘nice to have’ phenomenon, but a crucial pedestal for India to meet its target of job creation and economic development." - Ratna Mehta, Wadhwani Foundation

"Making women entrepreneurs helps them gain financial independence and they are able to provide better quality of life to their children and family as a whole." - Neelam Makhijani, ChildFund India

"A man can cry, wear pink, throw a ball however they want to and still be male." - Malini Agarwal, MissMalini Entertainment

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"Storytelling isn’t about the gift of the gab; it is about believing in the story you tell." - Shan Kadavil, FreshToHome

"There is always science, art, and magic in storytelling, and discipline ties it all together." - Sameer Nair, Applause Entertainment

"Curious, open, and questioning minds are at the core of making discoveries and creating serendipity." - Christian Busch, ‘The Serendipity Mindset’

"Fashion has always been the pulse of pop culture and can be a powerful force with the ability to connect cultures and bring people together." - Priyanka Chopra Jonas

"Custom design on custom sizes is the best combination." - Rajesh Kannu, Tee Labs

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"In metro cities where road ambulances take considerable time to reach, air ambulances seem to be more valuable." - Piyush Narang, QuickAir Ambulance

"Efforts are on to increase the use of natural gas capacity four times during this decade, and work is also on to nearly double the oil refining capacity in the next five years." - PM Narendra Modi

"World Toilet Day celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation." - United Nations

"Animal feed sector is an underserved market and not much innovation has been seen here in the past." - Nikhil Bohra, Krimanshi

"Biopesticide is a sunrise area." - Girish Soman, Nisarga Herbs

"Cucumbers generate about 12 percent residual wastes after processing either the peels or whole slices as waste." - Jayeeta Mitra, IIT Kharagpur

"A big challenge is making dry fruits and nuts more accessible to the common man." - Dinika Bhatia, Nutty Gritties

"One of the reasons why you crave fried foods is due to the fact that your body seeks warmth. Also, your body naturally seeks out oil and fat during the cold in order to combat the dryness of winter." - Deepa Kannan, PFNR

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"Indian startups have a mammoth opportunity to service the 1.3 billion strong market." - Abhijeet Pai, 9Unicorns

"The quality of startups today is definitely better, more evolved, more mature than it used to be." - Deep Kalra, MakeMyTrip

"Unpredictable is an understatement when it comes to describing a startup’s journey. While parking surplus funds, do not lose focus on liquidity, as it is of paramount importance to startups." - Subramanya S V, Fisdom

"When it comes to building a company, business is all about a repeated mechanism of doing something that really works." - Girish Mathrubootham, Freshworks

"Knowledge brokering entails linking team members to resources normally outside their immediate context." - Shilpa Sharma, Unisys

"You might have the most efficient sales team but you will grow through a slower path if you are unable to sell yourself." - Ishit Jethwa, JobSquare

"Adults associate learning with stress, pressure, test and performance. But babies simply watch people walking, talking, looking at the world and fascinated by it, and want to do all of that themselves." - Shraddha Himatsingka, The Prodigy Baby

"There can be real transformation only when people start treating public places like their own." - Amith Amarnath, Youth for Parivarthan

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"The key to lead a financially stress-free life is in INVESTMENTS. Investments of both time, and money." - Rhushikesh Dadhe, ‘Accidentally Educated’

"Reputation is what others think about you. What's far more important is character because that is what you think about yourself." - Billie Jean King

"How we live today determines our path for our future." - Raj N Phani, Zaggle

"Most businesses take five years to find their way through different changes and multiple pivots." - Harsh Jain, Dream11

"Going global is also important to establish a sustainable business. However, you have to be very competitive." - U Shekhar, Galaxy Surfactants

YourStory Media 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).