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Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YS, 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 August 2-8  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.

Startups and entrepreneurship are really important pieces of the world’s economy, people’s stories, and people growing businesses. – Cecilia Lenk, NetCapital

Starting a business is not so difficult, the real problem comes when you scale the business to an extent. – Ashutosh Kharangate, MARC

Gaining quality customers is more important than just gaining customers. – Nitesh Chhapru, Diageo India

Revenue leaders understand that sales readiness is a mission-critical component of their strategy to consistently meet or exceed their goals. – Krishna Depura, Mindtickle

Implementing well-defined processes in your sales will make your employees more efficient, consistent, and accurate both in their roles and their interactions with customers. – Sakshi Tulsian, POSist Technologies

Case studies of SMEs are more relatable to potential and wannabe entrepreneurs than that of MNCs. – Archanna Das, ASCENT Foundation

Whether you are funded or not, have media presence or not, hard work and resilience always works. – Prerna Kalra, DaalChini

Organisations need to allow women to experiment and give them the platform to collaborate, occasionally fail, and encourage them to raise their hands. – Vaishali Kasturae, AWS India

Sports has traditionally been an incredible, unifying forum for communities to come together. – Amit Kumar, ah! Ventures

Sports provides an incomparable opportunity to connect people while also making them fitter in a more engaged way. – Gauravjeet Singh, Playo

Nothing is bigger than an Olympic medal, that too a gold. – Adille Sumariwalla, AFI

There are many faceless sportspersons who don’t become champions, but have grit, determination, and winning capability. They can be a great asset to any organisation. – Amrish Rau, Pine Labs

We live in a world of hustle-bustle, and cycling helps you get that time for yourself. It also keeps you in touch with the nature. – Pooja Vijay, Pink Pedals

Failure is the pillar of success. When one door shuts, more open. – Pranab K. Pani. Talendeate beyond Border

You might experience a lot of failures, but you will have unique insights that most won’t. – Abhishek Nayay, Appsmith

In the generation of self-made success, artists have begun to take control of their creative potential and output to drive an environment that nurtures the possibilities of heightened opportunity. – Gunjan Shrivastava, You lead India foundation

Creativity is inherently unpredictable and forever evolving — through constant experimentation and engagement, the artist keeps finding new ways to give a voice to their creative expression. – Sanjana Shah, Tao Art Gallery

There is a need to introduce school students to ceramics, photography, weaving and many more diverse art forms. This will yield an inherent attitude towards art appreciation amongst people from a nascent stage. – Khanjan Dalal

If you want to see the culture of India in a tangible way, it is through its temples, shrines, and churches. They are a great way to access our music, our aesthetics, and our food. – Shoba Narayan, ‘Food and Faith’

Carbon initiatives would be great as a way to support both, restoration — in terms of planting, but also allowing the natural recovery of already damaged meadows — and preventing the deterioration of the meadows that we already have. – Nuria Marba, MIAS

With almost half a year remaining, we will already have used up our quota of the Earth’s biological resources for 2021. – Susan Aitken, Glasgow City Council

As aeroponics promises to solve multiple problems through its innovative approach to farming and it is time the technology got its due attention. – Richard Lobo, Tata Chemicals

The Indian industry must continue to work towards driving the adoption of EVs as a part of the nation’s overall efforts to transition to sustainable and environment-friendly mobility. – Amitabh Kant, Niti Aayog

Worldwide, there is a huge amount of liquidity searching for yields. The recent events in China have turned the focus on India as the country has a similar profile, reach with valuations playing its role. – V Balakrishnan, Exfinity Venture Partners

Money will continue to circulate in the Indian startup ecosystem as founders/CXOs plough back money. All of this is only good news for the startup founder going forward. – Sajith Pai, Blume Ventures

International stock exchange listings will also help raise the profile of Indian startups, helping them compete on a global stage with startups from other countries. – Letter by startup founders

MSME upskilling is a major white space and has the potential to dramatically improve the productivity and profitability of millions of MSMEs in India. – Vaibhav Domkundwar, Better Capital

Outpatient care in India today is worse off than where it was a few decades ago — with both trust and transparency in the system flailing. – Saurabh Kochhar, Meddo

You have different drinks that are there in different pockets and parts of India, but nothing that everybody from Kashmir to Kanyakumari can relate to. – Varna Bhat, Blisswater Industries

New-age whisky drinkers comprise young men and women, who are starting to enjoy whisky and are genuinely interested in the history behind their drinks. – Hemanth Rao, Single Malt Amateur Club

Because of the broken supply chain and no proper cold storage for farmers, a lot of the food is wasted and goes straight into the landfills. This food surplus is the third largest contributor of greenhouse gases when it rots and releases methane. – Mitali Poovayya, Insectifii

Learn to take every moment of doubt and scepticism by others as an invitation to listen to your own gut feeling. – Shweta Srinivasan, TheMindClan.com

A startup is a tough and lonely journey, and it gets even more difficult for women. – Deepti Dutt, AWS

Nothing is impossible if you are up for the challenge. – Sushmita Mandal, Tata Steel

Your vibe attracts your tribe. – Yatin Shah, IIFL

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).