‘You will have to listen to everybody telling you that you’re an idiot’ – 25 quotes of the week from Indian startup journeys

Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory Media, 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 February 15-21 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.

A work culture that evolves with changing circumstances does not only increase team enthusiasm, but also encourages better productivity and results in improved company performance. - Swati Bhargava, CashKaro.com

Design thinking and innovation are two sides of the same coin. - Ranjit Tinaikar, Ness Global

The fundamental challenge for every enterprise is aligning and executing on key goals across the organisation. - Neil Mehta, Greenoaks Capital

Inside the culture of an enterprise or firm, you've got to allow teams to be able to fail sometimes, but fail early and fail smart; don't go on for a long time. - Arvind Krishna, IBM

The agarbatti industry is a key vertical of India's village industry, which employs more than 10 lakh artisans. - Vinai Saxena, KVIC

It is important to package, market the story, and present the products of our entrepreneurs and artisans so we can create value out of their products. - Conrad K Sangma, Meghalaya Chief Minister

India has natural and quality perfumes, but it takes time, effort, and studying age-old recipes to develop fragrances. - Vidushi Vijayvergiya, ISAK Fragrances

Art, along with architecture, is a record of humanity, a mirror to its society, politics, and aesthetics. - Ashish Anand, DAG Ventures

The true impact of a painting is felt in person. When you can stare at a painting for hours and you fall in love with it, it's much more intense and real. - Geetanjali Kapoor, chitra santhe

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt

You never know what might strike a creative spark within you. Be open to explore and experiment. - Divya Deepika Jannu, Chitra Santhe

You never know what you create will become, or when! Your job as an artist is to just continually make art. - Don Ray McKinney, Chitra Santhe

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There are a lot of startups and SMEs even today especially in Tier II cities that resort to traditional office spaces, which are expensive and lack flexibility and scalability. - Kishore G Nair, Incoff

Electric (vehicles) fundamentally in India have either been overpriced products or under-delivering products. There has never been a true value for money fit. - Mohal Lalbhai, Matter

India is one of the largest global suppliers of international students, and yet the biggest brands helping students in their admissions come from destination countries. - Akshay Chaturvedi, Leverage Edu

People try to mingle both the things; food and nutrition is not the same thing. You might be eating good food but that doesn’t mean you get the right macro-micro nutrients that the body requires. - Aarti Gill, Oziva

Grocery is an overwhelmingly large market, and the most important thing for a startup in this space is to have a clear sight of positive unit economics. - Samir Sood, Venture Highway

It is an absurd reality that global citizens have to rebuild their financial profile when they move to a new country. - David Frankel, Founder Collective

While educational qualification is a good indicator, actual projects and other work that you have done matter. - Saiman Shetty, Nuro

You can absolutely shape your life, if you yourself are open to being changed. - Natasha Malpani Oswal, Reinvention

It’s not right to change your personality traits. There are skills that you acquire, and there are personality traits that you nurture. It’s important to hold on to who you are at your core. - Vishakha Vaidya, Atlassian

The SME segment remains underserved by the private equity industry. - Mukul Gulati, Zephyr Peacock India

Exits are a matter of timing. - Aprameya Radhakrishna, Koo App

Sustainable happiness comes from making others happy, not from valuations. - Eric Yuan, Zoom

If you have a great idea and an appetite for some risk-taking, just jump in. - Parul Saxena, Choix

You will have to listen to everybody telling you that you’re an idiot, and still go after it. - Sandeep Murthy, Lightbox Ventures

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).