‘Failures help you grow’ – 35 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 35 gems and insights from the week of June 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.

You need to pay attention to the most surprising thing that the customer says during the conversation. - Shreyas Doshi, Stripe

Customer-driven innovation demands an understanding of the customer segments and their needs, their lifestyle, and not only the need gaps that are articulated but also learning the unarticulated needs of customers. - Panneerselvam Madanagopal, T-Hub

Mindful pricing is key to ensure a long-term relationship with the customer, so they become repeat buyers. - Mamta Gupta, Zariin

The biggest mistake in growth stage that brand management teams make is thinking that what has worked so far will continue working. - Kartik Hosanagar and Mohanjit Jolly

Fresh is the future, so fresh sells. - Musthafa PC, iD Fresh Food

Higher education has to be personalised, customised, and industry driven. - Vishnu TU, Machenn Innovations

Most top contract manufacturers are not very receptive to the unique needs of early-stage startups. - Sreeram Srinivasan, Syrma Technology

The melting pot of cultures [in Canada] makes for a great background for entrepreneurs to test new ideas and excel. - Esha Chopra, TBDC

Climate breakdown is drastically changing the very scenery in the Antarctic. - Laura Meller, Greenpeace Nordic

Our ecological practices traditionally were designed to preserve and to mitigate the overuse and depletion of resources. - Stephanie BadSoldier Snow

Native crop seeds are the best option for climate-resilient farming. - Devendra Jani, Bee The Lead

Teaching astronomy contributes to an understanding of science and the origin of the world around us and a sense of wonder and exploration. - Sravan Varma Datla, Navars Edutech

The global GDP could increase by $28 trillion in 2025 if men and women participated in their economies equally. - Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir, Reykjavík Global Forum

Philanthropy has moved away from the domain of multilateral and bilateral institutions just focused on development and it's really moved into the domain of the personal. - Vidya Shah, EdelGive Foundation

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Yoga will continue playing its preventive as well as positive role in healthcare of masses. - PM Modi

Your body type is unique. What you might be going through mentally may need something unique. It really depends on practising yoga the right way. - Deepa Kannan, PFNR

Music is not just a feel-good element. It is a powerful tool, capable of creating large-scale transformation. - Bindu Subramaniam, SAPA

Art makes you a better person. It opens up your mind, and makes you more empathetic towards society. - Shalu Juneja, Uno Lona Academy

Adoption of insurance products by Indian consumers is in its infancy. India’s emerging middle class was forced to interact with online-only financial services companies during the pandemic. - Harsha Kumar, Lightspeed India Partners

With more electric mobility startups getting launched and scaled, the infrastructure and discovery need (specially charging the vehicles) will be critical in the overall success of this sector. - Vinay Bansal, Inflection Point Ventures

The laundry business is largely unorganised today. - Disha Jain, Lavado

MSMEs are the backbone of our economy, contributing to nearly 30 percent of the country's GDP and half of its exports. Around six crore MSME units across the country employ over 11 crore persons. - Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister

In India, there are 65 million small businesses across the country, and not more than 8-9 percent of them have any form of organised finance. - Mahesh Dayani, SBFC Finance

Dermatological problems are really big in India. - Arun Raghavan, eSkinDoctor

The Indian hair care market is currently valued at $ 3.3 billion and is estimated to reach $ 5 billion by 2025. - Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Venture Catalysts

Tier 2 and 3 towns with extremely good educational institutes will break the barriers in the Indian startup ecosystem. - Suresh Narasimha, PVL

Today, Indian families and HNIs are directly engaging with VC firms, a great sign of wealth creation within India in times to come. - Anand Lunia, India Quotient

A big number of individual investors are very bold. Indian family offices, generally very conservative, are also interested in startup investments. - Rahul Gupta, Radar Capital

One requires a lot of patience in India while investing, and there is no shortcut to success. - Abhishek Agarwal, Rockstud Capital

Governments can bring the right mentors, investors, and advisors to land restoration entrepreneurs and encourage peer-learning. - Kavita Sharma and Ashna Rustagi, WRI India

A leader is key to cascading a coaching culture and mindset, i.e, an ecosystem where leaders at all levels believe in enabling and coaching others. - Ruchira Chaudhary, ‘Coaching: The Secret Code to Uncommon Leadership’

The 4-Cs framework is a best practice from successful accelerators around the world: coaching, community, customers, and capital. - Ajay Batra, Wadhwani Foundation

This is a great time to be a job creator because we are essentially in a technological curve, which is rapidly changing and therefore creating many new opportunities. - Manish Kumar, NSDC

For scientists, R&D and labs are their comfort zones, business isn’t. Unfortunately, that means that their knowledge either just stays limited to scientific publications, or gets forgotten, eventually. - Shrilakshmi Desiraju, Triphase

Do something that scares you a little. Resilience and confidence are muscles that you can build over time. - Eva Wong, Borrowell

Don’t give up on your dreams, and don’t be afraid of failures. Failures help you grow, and as long as you are growing, you are definitely succeeding. - Sakshi Bakshi, Nucros Science

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).