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 30 gems and insights from the week of September 12-18 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights. See our special compilation of quotes related to India’s coronavirus responses here.
As India further develops as a digital economy, healthy collaboration among communities, states, and local governments will play a key role in maximising the full potential of technology. – Archana Sahay, Dell Technologies
Where the US and China allowed the private sector to control data governance and Europe looked to regulation to control data governance, India is building out techno-legal infrastructure to do this in new and exciting ways. – Rahul Matthan, Trilegal
The large corporations have realised the importance of the contribution of the MSME ecosystem to India’s GDP. – Ankit Jain, Aksum Trademart
Enterprise workforce upskilling is a supercritical need, however, the sector remains highly fragmented. – Mayank Kumar, upGrad
The sheer diversity and brilliance of every sub-cuisine in the subcontinent is something that the world is still yet to experience. – Krish Ashok, ‘The Masala Lab’
Room Air Conditioners (RAC) penetration in India is among the lowest in the world at 7-8% of households. – BL Bothra, EDPL
Small cities can be a treasure trove for businesses due to the numerous advantages they provide, such as low rental costs, lower operational costs, less competitive brands, and the availability of a talent pool. – Farman Beig, Wat-a-Burger
For smaller towns to engage with brands is still aspirational, which helps in a steady flow of business if you select the right set of locations. – Rajat Agarwal, Barista
Smaller cities require a lower number of outlets and take less time to gain traction, visibility, and overall revenue generation is more positive in a shorter amount of time. – Nidhi Singh, Samosa Singh
Tier II-III cities are difficult to penetrate for brands that intend to focus solely on delivery-based business because these areas have yet to mature in terms of accepting cloud-based deliveries. – Sarvesh Chaubey, The Biryani House
Please make the interface in your mother tongue to reach out to people beyond Tier I cities, where most of the people are. – Anil Agrawal, DPIIT
Demand for organised retail is growing, more so in Tier II and III cities. However, a majority of brands struggle to expand their offline presence and tap into this massive opportunity. – Rahul Chowdhri, Stellaris Venture Partners
There is a clear need for a patient centric, care delivery platform which can power care delivery across the ecosystem. – Ashish Garg, Zyla Health
Hardly 2% of newborns are getting a newborn screening test leading to 25,000 avoidable mortalities every year. – Manoj Gopalkrishnan, Algorithmic Biologics
India does not have a common database when it comes to the paperwork —like title deeds—concerning the purchase of real estate. – Sanjay Mandava, Landeed
Buildings account for nearly a fifth of India’s CO2 emissions. About 51% of our population is projected to live in cities by 2047. – Prasad Vaidya & Janani Venkatesh, IIHS
Cameras are used, along with AI, to identify poachers and illegal wood-cutters, and monitor wild animals, especially tigers and leopards that may enter human settlements. – Rushikesh Chavan, The Habitats Trust
If a lot of youngsters start opting for the developmental sector as their career options, the face of the country will change in the next two-three years. – Himanshu Goenka, Muskurahat Foundation
We have witnessed abundant societal changes in the last decade, including normalizing women’s financial independence and late marriage. – Anuradha Gupta, Vows for Eternity
Digitisation of small fleet operators is the need of the hour for India. – Rajesh Yabaji, Blackbuck
A large chunk of fuel stations in India will be digitised where a vehicle will just have to fuel up and drive on. – Luke Sequeira, Numadic
India is well poised for smart building and smart city technologies and can become a leader. India has talent and expertise. – Vijaya Bhargav, Ostraca
India has come a long way in the last eight years in promoting entrepreneurship. – Ujwal Kalra, ‘Startup Compass’
Over $131 billion was invested in Indian startups in the last eight years. It is important to ensure that the benefits of India’s startup boom accrue to everyone. – Deepak Bagla, Invest India
The common man of India is hungry and ambitious, and the sky is the limit with the right mentorship and capital. – Namita Thapar, Emcure Pharmaceuticals
By allowing startups to self-declare compliance with various labour laws, the Indian government has made it easier for businesses to comply with labour rules. – Suma RV, KSK
The valuation of technology companies has come down since the Paytm IPO. This, followed by a drop in liquidity and attrition, has impacted secondaries of deemed-public companies. – Ranjit Jha, Rurash Financials
In the current highly-competitive landscape of startups and numerous ideas, students have the potential to build great companies. – Suresh Narasimha, Cocreate Ventures
India is being recognised globally for its innovation in tech as more startups emerge from here and fast establishing a dominating global presence. – Bhaskar Majumdar, ‘Everything Started as Nothing’
India is a hotbed of technological innovation, with so many SaaS companies clamouring for a modern analytics partner to help take their growth to the next level. – Sudheesh Nair, ThoughtSpot
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).