‘Being a subject matter expert is not the same as being an entrepreneur’ – 35 quotes of the week from Indian startup journeys
From attitude to aptitude, 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 35 gems and insights from the week of January 25-31 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 key is to keep your failures small, and go big and raise the bar when you find relative success. - Byju Raveendran
Dream big, plan well, revisit your plans as many times as you want to keep your end goal in mind. - Shubha Prasanna, EmbedSense Solutions
Communicating effectively and clearly is important not just for a leadership role, but even in the early stages of your career. - Benjamin Liebald, Branch International
You have to invest in your product. Ultimately, it is all about great storytelling. - Vijay Sajja, Evergent
Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. - Ayn Rand
The fact is continuous skilling of youth is a critical need as over one-third of the country’s population falls in the 10 to 34 age group. - Keerthi Tummala, Sage Living
India needs a focused SEZ and labour-intensive industry policy in the 5,000 small towns to spur job creation and move excess agricultural workforce to the industry. - TV Mohandas Pai & Nisha Holla
India’s consumption economy will be the third-largest (globally) by 2030, and we are looking at a scale of $5 trillion. - Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Flipkart
Indian cities are amongst the world’s most polluted and congested cities and record the highest fatalities in road accidents. - Shilpa Kharwal and Sreekumar Kumaraswamy, WRI India
As a country of over 1.4 billion citizens, we can move towards a more sustainable future, where we recycle, reuse and help each other live a more holistic and fulfilling life. - Sonika Gahlot Nayak, HappieeSouls
The majority of the population considers waste as useless and are unaware of their garbage's life cycle after disposal from the households. - Ajay Nagpure & Anandi Mishra, WRI India
Waste management and material recycling are essential components of a circular economy. - Maria Bystedt, H&M Foundation
Waste to value ensures that all the material which can be recovered through some value based applications is brought back to the supply stream, reducing the waste moving towards the landfills. - Madhushree Narayan, Social Alpha
With 41K startups and 37 unicorns, India is the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world. - Rajan Anandan, MD Sequoia India
More than ever before, today there is the need for inducing a new entrepreneurial energy in India’s small towns and villages. - Vivek Bindra, Bada Business
While the Indian startup ecosystem has revealed has the most talented and innovative minds building companies, it is critical for us to unlock India’s domestic capital. - Padmaja Ruparel, IAN Fund
India was receiving a lot of capital from China, which had helped several startups. That has dried up. - Rishabh Bharadwaj, Khaitan & Co,
The government must find ways to boost a wave of new micro-enterprises in rural India to create more employment opportunities outside agriculture. - Vivek Bindra, Bada Business
Just painting a picture, a good picture – is a reward in itself. If someone also likes it and wants to have it – it completes the success. - Agata Nowak, Chitra Santhe
Only a person with real passion towards art, with loads of patience and commitment to never give up, can become an artist. Overnight success cannot be expected. - Ramana Akkiraju, Chitra Santhe
Beauty apps bring significant value to cosmetic companies by generating insightful data. - Chaitanya Nallan, Skinkraft Laboratories
The future of education is in hybrid learning — a mix of classroom learning and technology infrastructure. - Zishaan Hayath, Toppr
In parallel to physical exhibitions, online exhibitions are here to stay, and will do a lot to take the cause of art further. - Abhishek Deheriya, Chitra Santhe
Homestays are becoming the vacation of choice, encouraged by WFH and online school. - Ankita Sheth, Vista Rooms
A buddy is someone whom you are accountable to, and can reach out for any question to seek out the right and necessary answers, at any time. They help the users develop healthy habits. - Asheesh Grewal, MyHealthBuddy
Almost 60 percent of whiskey is water, and there is no better place in the country that matches the water quality and environment conditions that the Himalayas have to offer. - Shivam Ginglani, Black Bow Himalayan Whiskey
A lot of schemes, products and structures often fail because the vehicle chosen to take those to the beneficiaries is not effective or efficient. - Anil Kumar SG, SFIS
Reforms is the one big word that every entrepreneur, every operator in this country is expecting. - Ritesh Agarwal, OYO
The government should introduce changes to make low-value foreign transactions easier. - Yagnesh Sanghrajka, 100X.VC
To channelise the financial resources to the farmers, the operational ease in creation and release of collateral security needs to be ensured. - Prabhat Chaturvedi, NAFA
First-mile and last-mile mobility are fundamental to economic and social development. - Aparna Mangla, Shell Foundation
Without resilience and truth-seeking, there’s not much you can achieve, especially as the founder of a startup. - Kabeer Biswas, Dunzo
Dream - Believe – Achieve. - Dolly Kumar, Cosmic Nutracos
Creativity for successful entrepreneurs extends beyond the depths of their personal reservoirs of imagination; they leverage the diversity of experiences in the people around them to generate breakthrough ideas. - Ajay Batra, Wadhwani Foundation
What really matters, is making your passion your profession. - Raamdeo Agrawal, MOFSL
Being a subject matter expert (SME) is not the same as being an entrepreneur. - Rajesh Mohan Rai, business coach
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).
Edited by Anju Narayanan