‘Women need more sponsorship, not just mentorship’ – 20 quotes of the week on leaders and entrepreneurs

Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week (see the previous edition here). Share these 20 gems and insights from the week of June 27 – July 3 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

See also our pick of Top Quotes of 2021 on Entrepreneurship, Investment, Digital Transformation, Storytelling, The India Opportunity, Pandemic Resilience, Failure Recovery, Design, and Art.

As an entrepreneur, we almost have seven voices in our head talking to each other at the same time. - Sinjini Sengupta, Lighthouse

Find and focus on solving genuine, real-world problems — bells and whistles can wait. - Prabhash Nirbhay, Jharkhand Angels

One can have the best idea in the world but it might never get off the ground without a good team in place. - Ankur Bansal, Blacksoil

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As an organisation scales, roles get more specialised, versus an early-stage startup where an individual holds a broad-based role, spanning across functions at times. - Saahil Goel, Shiprocket

You cannot have indefinite periods of no profitability. There has to be some road map for achieving profitability. - Harsh Mariwala, Marico

The accelerator model is a good way to test, experiment, and explore the talent bed of a new geographical location at speed, without being compelled to incur upfront huge capex costs on real estate, etc. - Amita Goyal, Zinnov

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[Year in Review] Meet these Indian women who used social media to drive change and social impact

Small businesses often seek insurance solutions that fit with their unique needs of being affordable yet superior propositions. - Manish Daswani, Visa

Eyeglasses yield an incredible return on social investment, unlocking more than $43 in income earning potential at the household level for every $1 of philanthropy. - Ella Gudwin, VisionSpring

Addressing pollution due to single-use plastic items has become an important environmental challenge confronting all countries. - Central Ministry of Environment, India

Trying something new will only increase an individual's self-confidence. - Kamlesh Bhai, Flipkart online seller

Storytelling is a great skill to have. People will listen to concepts and frameworks, but stories have an undeniable power to bring all of it to life. - Janelle Estes, UserTesting

We prefer to invest in companies that have the right mix of generalists and specialists. - Padmaja Ruparel, Indian Angel Network

With the right kind of support and determination, you can easily learn to wear all hats with great aplomb. - Sanjeeta KK, OGMO Foods

As a business grows and moves from agility to stability, companies start by hiring multitaskers and then seek out domain experts. - Jinesh Shah, Omnivore

Young men who are going to become fathers need counselling in terms of parenting skills and the challenges which the birth of a child brings. - Ritesh Gupta, Fortis CDOC Hospital

Today the definition of professionalism has grown to be inclusive of self-expression and the need for bringing your authentic self to the job. - Ashish Chopra, BeUnic

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Encourage LGBTQ role models, mentorship, and reverse mentorship initiatives. But beware of tokenism. - Lucie Fonseca, Giesecke + Devrient

Women should not be told that some jobs can only be done by men. Who says we can’t climb electrical poles and do maintenance work? - Roshni, Tata Power

Women need more sponsorship, not just mentorship. - Janelle Estes, UserTesting

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).