‘Problem finding comes before problem solving’ – 40 quotes of the week from Indian startup journeys

Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from , feaYourStory Mediaturing notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week (see the previous post here). Share these 40 gems and insights from the week of February 22-28 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.

To get into your customer’s shoes, you have to take your own shoes off first. - Deepa Bachu, Pensaar

Customer empathy is as important as salt for your business. - Nitin Sethi, Indigo Dreams

Beyond a certain point in life, while a certain threshold in aptitude is important, the right attitude is everything. - Ishendra Agarwal, GIVA Jewellery

Don’t bother whether it has been done before or not – as long as you put your mind to it, you are going to succeed, despite the challenges in your path. - Sania Mirza

The best publicity is word of mouth, and if the product is good, the review travels on its own. - Suhail Dhaul, Dmodot

Millennials are more experimental with new brands. People want a space to create meaningful social connections. - Samrat Reddy, Drunken Monkey

Learning is a way of life and never leaves us. - Dinesh Bbhasin, ‘bread n butter’

Education can be a driving force for social change and can help young children realise their true potential. - Manish Bhatnagar, SKF India

Businesses need to go beyond the interest of their companies to the communities they serve. - Ratan Tata

Many people shy away from charitable work now, saying that their youth is the time to make money. - Mital Khetani, Shree Karuna Foundation Trust

For many, even today, sustainability is considered to be an elite-only game. - Kaustubh Padakannaya, Pyse

Innovation for the betterment of mankind is the key driver of this century. - Sidharth Bagadia, JITO Angel Network

We have to understand our collective responsibility towards water conservation. - Prime Minister Narendra Modi

In the future, we have to grow more food with less water, soil, and manpower. So all these are possible only through innovations and technology and govt policy interventions - Sarada Annasamudram, Corteva Agriscience

Imagine if one billion people have a mindset of production that does not care, we could leave behind a mess. - Sandeep Murthy, Lightbox Ventures

There is a strong business case for MSMEs to install rooftop solar, and achieve significant savings to achieve the cost-competitiveness. - Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

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The biggest weight loss mistake that you can make is to not focus on your hormones. - Deepa Kannan, PFNR

Having a clear-cut orphan drug policy will help the companies get some sort of quiet licensing or the required rules that make it easier for them to bring it to market.

 - Dr. Meenakshi Bhat, Centre for Human Genetics

The pain of running relieves the pain of living. – Jacqueline Simon Gunn

Almost every patient with rare diseases in rural places has to travel 200-300 km for basic treatment. - Dipanjana Datta, ORDI

Productivity cannot come at the cost of discomfort. - Ravi Khushwani, Green Soul Ergonomics

As more people migrate to cities due to urbanisation and nuclearisation, the affordable housing segment will remain strong. - Manoj Viswanathan, HomeFirst

In the field of toys, India has tradition and technology, India has concepts and competence. We can take the world back towards eco-friendly toys. - Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Toy industry globally is a $90 billion-market and Indian market size is about $ 1.7 billion. - Aravind Melligeri, Aequs Private Limited

The earnings of e-rickshaw drivers is capped as they use lead acid batteries that need 10 hours of charging time and have a limited battery life of six months. - Pulkit Khurana, Battery Smart

India's healthcare sector is currently starved of an adequately skilled workforce and an adequate number of allied healthcare professionals. - Anita Rajan, Tata STRIVE

The coffee segment is roughly worth around Rs 250 crore, where instant coffee offers the largest pie of the market. - Puneet Das, TCP

Almost 99 percent of the fish market in India is unorganised. - Dippankar S Halder, Jalongi

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India is very rich culturally and this truly speaks through art. - Poornima Dayal, Art Meet

Art in any form is best appreciated when it becomes the culture of a nation. - Anita Hasurkar, Chitra Santhe

A common man cannot visit sophisticated art galleries in big hotels or exhibition centres. - Srinivas Padakandla, Acharya Nagarjuna University

Every painting becomes a micro-story, evoking different emotions. - Anusha Adabala, Chitra Santhe

Art creates positive energy, uplifts the space where it is displayed, and often becomes the highlight of your house. - Avik Bandyopadhyay, MayinArt

The more time we spend in pursuits that give us meaning, the more joyful we are, and that joy translates to all aspects of life. - Devika Vinodh, Chitra Santhe

It takes years to make a film, and only a second to give out a spoiler. - Parineeti Chopra, ‘The Girl on the Train’

The big mindset reset brought on by the pandemic has changed the perception about investing in early-stage startups. - Nemesisa Ujjain, The Circle.Work

Local culture has to be supportive in the form of risk tolerance, appreciation of failure as a stepping stone for success, support for innovation, creativity, drive and hunger for achievements, respect for risk-taking, and wealth creation - MH Bala Subrahmanya, ‘Entrepreneurial Ecosystems for Tech Start-ups in India’

It’s overkill to talk about profit pools when you don’t even know about product-market fit. - Rajinder Balaraman, Matrix Partners India

Problem finding comes before problem solving. - Itu Chaudhuri and Lisa Rath, ICD

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).