‘It is easier to succeed if you have failed’ – 55 quotes 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 55 gems and insights from the week of May 11-17 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 best businesses are not about the best product or service, but the best customer experience. - Jagat Iyer, Vidphon

Customers want to experience and connect with the brand on a higher level than just purchasing products. - Toranj Mehta, Forevermark India

The focus is on more than selling and making revenue, it is to inspire people and add beautiful experiences to people's lives. - Surbhi Gupta, Kalakar Gift Studio

One way that groups cohere is through storytelling. - Daniel Pink, 'When'

The art of storytelling is an important attribute for a successful founder. - Shekhar Kirani, Accel

Reliability is the bedrock of any successful corporate relationship, and benefits businesses at every phase of their operations. - Pranshu Kacholia, ClickPost

Active involvement in your own learning has long been recognised as more effective than a more passive, spoon-fed approach. - Dorothy Leonard et al, 'Critical Knowledge Transfer'

The top athletes say they have achieved what they have because of their mind, this is the perfect testament to mind skills training. - S Badrinath, MFORE

Poker is a mind sport. It’s more complex than chess. - Muskan Sethi

Traffic, pollution, safety concerns are all leading parents to prefer at-home solutions that are more convenient and cost-effective. - Sumedha Khoche, KinderPass

Even today, the food supply chain to a large extent is still manual and subjective. - Milan Sharma, Intello Labs

Most manufacturers have zero visibility across secondary and tertiary sales. They are totally dependent on third-party logistic service providers and distributors for product movement visibility. - Shreyans Sipani, O4S

The key to planning a wedding is patience, the ability to multitask, the ability to gauge and balance individual emotions, and having access to a large network of supportive suppliers from the industry. - Divya Chadha, A Klass Apart

With the ongoing pandemic, virtual happy hours have replaced stepping out, but that does not mean one cannot be their own bartender and make themselves a cocktail from the comfort of their homes. - Asmani Subramanian, DIAGEO

We will start seeing far more higher-end whiskies inside cocktail menus, as well as more refined Indian-produced whisky. - Brandon Toborg, DIAGEO

Communities and people are far more conscious about what they eat today. Supporting local farmers by eating local produce and ‘farm-to-table’ meals are becoming a popular choice. - Vicky Ratnani, Vickypedia

While the fancy quinoa chips and avocados pinch the pocket, the other section of fad foods is even worse because of the hidden harmful ingredients lost in marketing communication done in the front of the pack. - Ridhima Arora, Namhya Foods

Connectivity is the lubricant for the engines of community, content, commerce, currency, and capital. - Sanchit Vir Gogia, Greyhound Research

It is important to create data points and insights with the technology you build. - Nitin Gupta, Milkbasket

Data-driven decision making is the critical need to impact the quality of learning outcomes. - Abhinav Tripathi, 22bate7

Every business - big or small - needs HQ images and videos to sell their products and services online. - Sanjay Kumar, Spyne

The unstructured data lying in the form of text and images within multiple sources is like raw cotton. - Rajit Bhattacharya, Data Sutram

For a marketing campaign which has a toll-free number component involved, one of the things you need to ensure the success of the campaign is a number that is easy to remember. - Karan Syal, WEBozINDIA

There is something called the consumerisation of the enterprise. This is largely led because everything is becoming digital. - Avnish Bajaj, Matrix Partners India

As innovation is the need of the hour, the requirement of digital clocks is more, especially in hospitals and companies. - Jayesh Shah, Sonam Clocks

Thousands of SMEs cannot afford ERP systems. - Ashwani Rathore, SpiderG

Today, the SME segment lacks capital finance and credit, infrastructure, technology, and marketing strategies. - Arjun Sethi, Tribe Capital

Property owners are not completely aware of all the properties in their preferred locations that are up for sale. - Yogesh Jaiswal, Le Classique Realty

We need 10 times the number of agritech startups that we currently have. - Siddharth Dialani, BharatAgri

While pharma companies spend a huge amount to market physicians in the traditional way, they are not able to tap the vast potential of the digital medium to grow their businesses. - Harshit Jain, Doceree

People suffering from chronic illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, stroke and asthma require a lot of care and attention. - Sridhar Pillalamarri, Ubiqare Health

Our society needs more heroes who are scientists, researchers, and engineers. We need to celebrate and reward the people who cure diseases, expand our understanding of humanity and work to improve people’s lives. - Mark Zuckerberg

Close to 70 percent of the rural population does not access the internet. This will further contribute to an increase in the overall internet population over the next few years. - IAMAI-Nielsen

India is one of the biggest leather manufacturers in the world, but all the top quality leather is imported because Indian makers don’t have the pockets to spend so much. - Ambud Sharma, Escaro Royale

India is one of the top coffee-producing countries globally, with a vast variety available. It also is the fifth-largest exporter of coffee in the world. - Jai Ganesh Ramnath, Lavazza India

Coworking spaces can grow more than 10x in volume over the next five years. - Ashish Goenka, Redbrick Offices

Electricity continues to remain a problem in several villages and districts in India. People also face problems such as frequent load shedding, unstable power and high charges. - Akshay Gupta, AP Solar Works

India's wisdom and its independent voice will provide a much-needed balance in world politics. India will need to work towards specific goals in order to achieve the status of a world power. - Vamsi T Mohun, IFITRF

The work of an architect is all around us – shopping malls, apartments, and the offices they work in. - Minal Dubey, Spaciux

A green space that is of significance to a whole city is very valuable, especially in a city with a population of several million. - Ratish Nanda, Aga Khan Trust for Culture

There is a perception that green buildings are expensive, and difficult to maintain. - Vijayadurga Koppisetti, Architude

The move from ‘misuse to reuse’ of plastic can make a positive difference in all spheres of life. - Ujwal Desai, Lucro Plastecycle

Homes, and especially bed spaces, are meant to be created and cared for with the utmost love. - Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Wakefit.co

Freelancers and soloists are the future of work. - Naman Sarawagi, Refrens

Harnessing the incredible talents and potential of women will create a stronger economy and a more peaceful, healthier, sustainable world for all. - Cherie Blair

If you are starting a business with other partners, it is advisable to make a founding agreement that has details of the roles and responsibilities of each founder. - Shonottra Kumar

Bootstrapping with your own money is quite important. It also signals to the investor that you're serious about your business. - Mudasar Mohamed, Ezyhaul

Embrace change, be metric-driven, test often and use innovation to stand out from the crowd. - Trish Kunath, Technopolis

There is an art to prioritising, sequencing, and deciding how well a certain task/component of the solution needs to be done. - Thiag Loganathan, Cardinality.ai

Don't lend your ears to rejection, follow your gut feeling, and you will get the results. - Chinnmaye Praveen, GeWinn Wachstum

Running a business is an art, like any other, which one masters only with time. - Monaz Irani, Plate & Pint

Patience is the road to wisdom. - Kao Kalia Yang

Work hard. There is no shortcut to success. - Mahavir Verma, ‘Ethnic Rhythm’

Ups and downs in life are very important to keep us going, because a straight line even in an E.C.G means we are not alive. - Ratan Tata

It is easier to succeed if you have failed. - Sanjay Kumar, Elior India

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).