‘Focus on creating meaningful value, and valuation will follow’ – 30 quotes of the week 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 30 gems and insights from the week of December 21-27 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.

Timing, in entrepreneurship, is everything and the only thing that you do not have any control over. - Shivam Malhotra, Malsons

Entrepreneurs need to turn changes into opportunities. - Teruhide Sato, BEENEXT

It is truly inspiring to witness the grit and determination of founders who are working towards scaling innovative solutions that aim to shift paradigms and create real value. - Sudhir Sethi, Chiratae Ventures

Don’t leave space for arrogance. Staying humble and grounded allows entrepreneurs to get authentic perspectives from their stakeholders. - Ritesh Agarwal, OYO

In order to survive in a competitive world, it is important for startups and early-stage entrepreneurs to protect their Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). - Nawab Malik, State Minister, Maharashtra

The IPO market is showing a preference for emerging business ideas with a futuristic tweak. - IIFL Securities

The startup ecosystem in rural India is not as vibrant as it is in the cities. -  Raksha Shenoy, Tapas Food

Healthcare in Tier I India, especially in the secondary and tertiary provider business, has become laden with disincentives and lack of transparency. - Arpita Agarwal, Blume

With more companies getting FAME-II certification in 2020, sale of high-speed electric two-wheelers is expected to increase rapidly. - IESA report

Innovation and startups became mainstream in Silicon Valley when early employees of 1st generation startups – Intel, Apple, and Microsoft – became 2nd & 3rd generation entrepreneurs. Considering Flipkart as the 1st generation star-up, we see the same explosive growth in the Indian startup ecosystem. - Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, 9Unicorns

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Veg, Chicken, Mutton or Aloo, collectively some form of Biryani was ordered more than once every second in 2020. - Swiggy

One of the biggest Indian food brands to scale globally will be a street food brand because of its variety and democratic taste. - Diksha Pande, Samosa Party

Indians have disconnected from these ancient cultures because nobody had the answers and reasons as to why something particular was followed. - Roopashree Sharma, Arthavan Life

If you're giving hygienic feed to the animal, it stays healthy and gives healthy and tasty quality milk. - Jai Agarwal, Gyan Dairy

Besides a scientific waste management system, a thorough awareness is needed among people not to dump waste on the waysides. - Arya Rajendran, Trivandrum

Our lives will be way poorer if we have to live without the forests and other wild habitats and the wildlife around us. - Divya Mudappa, Nature Conservation Foundation

A camera can be effective in training one's eye to see beauty in the most mundane of situations. - Soumabrata Moulick

When listening to a story, all the parts of the brain that would be activated had we been the character of the story are activated. - Sonika Agarwal, Storydip

The world has only one border; it is called humanity. - Nadia Murad

The more ambitious a woman you are the easier it is to be misinterpreted in your own ecosystem. Belief in yourself and resilience in what you are doing is the key. - Garima Bharadwaj, Enlite Research

Women struggle to rise above designing to other leadership roles. - Deepmala Rath, Dezinefy

Patriarchal and orthodox societies, communities, and parents still do not allow girls to move freely. - Anita Kumar, Plan India

The biggest lesson is to love yourself and not to depend on anyone, not even your family. - Monisha Ajgaonkar, Photo Diary

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You may fail, but each failure would provide a valuable lesson. I can say with great confidence that India's space programme has been built on spectacular failures and each failure has resulted in improvements in our system. - K Sivan, ISRO

Providing autonomy fuels innovation as the employees can formulate and leverage different ways of doing things or unique strategies to attain business objectives. - Shankar Krishnamoorthy, Synergita

There is no dearth of financing for the commodities sector, but there is a lack of transparency and trust in the system. - Sunoor Kaul, Origo Commodities

Micro-enterprises have little documentary proof of their business income, which makes underwriting such businesses a big problem. - Sanjay Sharma, Aye Finance

If we ensure our partners are happy and satisfied, then we can be sure they will give the best quality service to our customers. - Sai Abhishek Rayarao, vrLocal

A growing company attracts new and big investors who would be willing to buy out the early-stage investors, along with funding the company for fueling further growth. - Nisarg Shah, BigSpoon

It’s time for investors to have a more aggressive outlook in terms of investing and enabling innovations operated by disproportionately mission-driven founders. - Rohit Goyal, Windrose Capital

Early-stage startups are prone to failure despite sound business ideas due to lack of access to funds, but more importantly, mentorship and networks. - Rajiv Bathla, The Circle.Work

Don’t get caught up in valuations as a milestone. Nobody goes to the Hall of Fame for multiple different rounds of funding. - Anu Hariharan, YC Continuity Fund

Focus on creating value, focus on creating meaningful value, and valuation will follow. - Bhavin Turakhia, Flock

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).