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Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YS, featuring notable quotes in our articles of this past week (see the previous edition here). This special series of compilations focusses on India’s COVID-19 struggle. Share these quotes and excerpts with your 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.

Before the pandemic, very few companies were 100 percent virtual and it was a new concept. – Amit Verma, Codvo

Before the pandemic, a limited number of organisations had work-from-home policies. However, this model has proven to be much more conducive to successful employee work-life balance than the strict office-based work environment. – Rahul Goyal, ADP

Our relationship with interior space–whether physical, psychological or digital–has taken on a whole new dimension. – Mary-Dailey Desmarais, MMFA

For the greater part of the pandemic, investors have been rewarded by the “overweight tech” play as “digital” became central to every interaction, pushing businesses and individuals to move further up the adoption curve almost overnight. – Abhishek Bhagat & Aditya Bajaj, JM Financial Limited

Insurance coverages that may be added to cab trips, bicycles, cleaning services, mosquito diseases, COVID, pets, and other services have been rising. – Adrit Raha, Symbo

The [Khatabook] survey also showcases the resilience and positive outlook of the MSME community towards business growth and willingness to adopt new methods that will help with growth momentum while handling the transitions. – Ravish Naresh, Khatabook

We expanded 6X in adding new accommodations during the whole COVID-19 period. – Deepak Anand, Housr

We also became an alternate source of income for people who lost their jobs to COVID. – Utsav Bhattacharjee, PickMyWork

We used the pandemic months to double down on design work. – Sangeet Agarwal, Mokobara

As we scaled our online sales rapidly post-COVID, there were issues like weight discrepancies which slowed down order processing and reconciliation with accounts. – Mauli Teli, Iba

We started building the [Sair travel] product. We were doing okay, when the world was struck by COVID-19 in 2020. – Shobhita Agarwal, WordHurdle

We initially faced setbacks as the tourism industry was hit hard during the pandemic, and we had just begun operations in 2020. We didn’t expect to be shut for the first six months when we started! – Devika Saigal, M2M Ferries

The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns increased viewership numbers on YouTube. – Anshuk K Aggarwal, AdYogi

The demand for online fruit and vegetable buying has grown multifold since the outbreak of the pandemic. – Varun Khuranna, Otipy

People were very fearful of ordering food from outside, but because they were caught in Zoom calls, office work, and more, the need for convenience heightened over this period. – Sunay Bhasin, MTR Foods

During the COVID-19 pandemic, ecommerce was a boon for many and enabled people to shop from the comfort and safety of their homes. – Prerna Goel, WhizCo

YS 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).