‘Firing someone is one of the toughest decisions to make’ – 30 quotes from Indian startup journeys

From renewal to rejuvenation, witness the memorable journey of Indian entrepreneurship in these excerpts and stories! 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 30 gems and insights from the week of June 26 – July 2 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights!

Discover the leader that lives in you. - Yogesh Sood, VitalSmarts India

One of the biggest challenges anyone faces is communicating the value proposition. - Nipun Goyal, Curofy

‘Cultural Fit’ is only a valid hiring criteria if you can accurately define your culture. – Chris Yeh, Wasabi Ventures Academy

Contextual Commerce is the new frontier for commerce and it is growing rapidly. - Amrish Rau, Citrus Payments

The Indian consumer is not just a homogeneous mass. Each State is different in language, food, and behaviour. - Sanjay Anandaram, Seed Fund

Diversity is India’s biggest strength, but the forces of identity can turn it into the biggest curse. – Ashutosh, Aam Aadmi Party

50 percent of corporate India is under chronic stress. – ASSOCHAM report

I made everyone diabetic, so I’ve got to help them now! – Ashok Jain, ex-Cadbury CEO

Cloud services are growing due to organisations pursuing a digital business strategy. - Sid Nag, Gartner

Cash is generally subsidised by the government but when it gets electronic there’s no subsidy. - Shinjini Kumar, Paytm Payments Bank

The mobile workforce is migrating from phone calls, printouts and custom hardware devices to smartphone apps. - Kashyap Deorah, The Golden Tap

Discovery through visual content is emerging as a preferred way to discover interesting activities and experiences. - Rahul Regulapati, Galleri5

This is the best time to launch a new fund because the entrepreneurial activity has not come down. - Manish Kheterpal, WaterBridge Ventures

Gone are the days when employees had to bribe their way into jobs. These days, employees are choosy about where they work. - Mathew J Maniyamkott, FitVersity

You have to stay invested in India to win. - Kavin Bharti Mittal, Hike

Entrepreneurs should not dilute a 50 percent stake at the idea stage. Serious funds will never take such ideas seriously. - Sarath Naru, Venture East

I see many Indian founders feeling a sense of pride while quoting how much funding they have raised. This behaviour needs to be changed. - Rakesh Mathur, FlyWheel

The most important thing is to build really amazing product. If you build amazing products, you don’t really need to market for the first million users. – Vani Kola, Kalaari Capital

You may be very kicked about the idea. But if your business idea is not solving a problem, you won’t be able to sustain and it will shut down. - Sonia Sharma, GoodWorkLabs

Work hard and remember respect comes out of knowledge. – Pooja Prabhakar, BCP Associates

Be answerable towards every penny spent, whether it’s yours or of your investor. - Shikha Pandey, BECK Friends

A profit is made when you recover the cost and also make money over that recovery. - Subhash Ghai

Usually, it is the guilt that stops most of us from doing what we want. – Supriya Goswami

All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming. – Helen Keller

A single household in India wastes close to 100 kg of paper every year. - Kapil Bajaj, Kabadiexpress

Bengaluru is beyond Botox. - Shinie Antony, author

There are more than 3,100 startups established and running, which are focusing and working tirelessly to address various pain points to make our lives simpler and efficient. - Nikita Bhatia, VenturEasy

Firing someone is one of the toughest decisions to make. - Rajiv Dhavan, ‘STFU’

All through your life, look at life as a ladder and reach for the stars. But reach back and help someone else make it to the next rung, especially other women. - Elsa Marie D’Silva, Safecity

The reality is that it is only a ‘gap’ if you feel and believe it is a gap. - Supriya Goswami, InMobi

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).