Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory, featuring notable quotable quotes in our recent articles. Share these gems and insights from the TechSparks 2021 speakers with your colleagues and networks, and check the original articles for more insights.

In this special collection of quotes from YourStory’s TechSparks 2021 coverage, we present insights on purpose, culture and alignment by successful entrepreneurs and business leaders. See our earlier quotes compilations from conference editions in 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014.

Check out our profiles of the Tech50 startups of 2021, and Tech30 startups over the years: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011.

Whenever you give back love into the world, you get love back. You never know how you get it back, but you do. And this helps your business. - Deepinder Goyal, Zomato

The industry often tries to fit linear narratives on company building. But the reality is that it’s often like a big sinusoidal curve with so many ups and many downs. - Amrit Acharya, Zetwerk

Success takes time to earn and it’s more concrete, and that’s going to dictate how relevant you are in the long haul. - Abhiraj Rajadhyaksha

Each time you create a new mental model, you are creating a seed for innovation, and the impact generated from it is immense. - Rajesh Uppalapati, Intuit

As a big organisation you are a large ship and it is really hard to move the direction. You have to align and confirm it with everyone and you have to take a very long deep conviction bet that this is where we want to be. - Ankush Sachdeva, ShareChat

Marketing is going to drive a lot of challenges around unit economics. - Gautam Kshatriya, Upscalio

Everyone is in market-grab mode right now, but somewhere the equilibrium will set in a couple of years. - Swagat Sarangi, Smytten

We need to look at wages, not from a minimum wage standpoint, but from a living wage standpoint. - Amit Sharma, Volvo

We’re not going to have perfect information for all the decisions. So, if you can make decisions with 80 per cent of the information, that’s going to make you so much better. - Ramkumar M Venkatesan, Cashfree Payments

A lot depends on your mind. It is the doer of everything that happens to you. - Kanika Tekriwal, JetSetGo

Hiring in good times is easy but trimming is very hard. - Deep Kalra, MakeMyTrip

There are pros and cons to every job, and if you know how to balance it, you’ll ace it. - Ruhee Dosani

Today’s workforce is looking for autonomy; employees are looking for purpose in whatever they do. - Swapnika Nag,Tata CLiQ

Surrounding yourself with the right people, maybe a smaller group that is there for you throughout versus a huge number of people where the relationships are fairly superficial, is far more meaningful. - Sukanya Iyer, Klub

Anybody entering content creation with money as the key motivation could be more likely to feel disappointed because monetising will take time and patience. - Niharika NM

If the content is good, it will work out eventually, whether it is a 45-minute documentary or a 15-second reel. - Nikunj Lotia (Be YouNick)

Autonomy and mastery can be achieved when an organisation is willing to provide you with the resources you need to become better at something you are passionate about. - Vikas Purohit, Tata CLiQ

The shift that needs to happen even more is, one, we've got to [increase women representation] much faster, and we have to just try a little bit harder to take that to reality. - Aditya Ghosh, Oyo

Though we have our share of challenges, women will be participating more in the corporate workforce and entrepreneurship. - Hena Mehta, Basis

The timing is perfect; the ecosystem is perfect. What you just need is to come, take some bold bets, and come change the world with us. - Nirmit Parikh, Apna

There is a remarkable change though there will be challenges. Ten years from now all the numbers we are talking now will look small. - Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Urban Company

We've fallen back on our values and always refrained from doing anything unethical. This approach makes us proud. - Karan Mehta, Ashok Oil & Food Products

Ethics are the most important thing of all. Transparency is at the heart of everything. - Steve Wozniak

I don’t like to collect the Olympic medal and go home and sleep..I want to do what any world-class athlete would do, which is go and train every day, and run in all the races, and keep winning. - Girish Mathrubootham, Freshworks

Creating a global brand is more quality-led than by discounts. - Ananth Narayanan, Mensa Brands

There will always be someone who will want to criticise you. But I don't think that should bring you down. - Taneesha Mirwani

The real world … doesn't work according to you. You have to adjust and manage. - Aryaki Joon

Innovation is no longer a choice but it is a default setting for an ambitious economy. - Katrin Kivi, Estonia’s Ambassador to India

People should have an appetite for failure as well. No idea is unique. It’s only about who gets there first and executes better. - Shailendra Katyal, Lenovo

Courage by itself is not enough, you need an equal dose of clarity. - Puneet Chandok, AISPL

Hard work compounds over quarters of execution. - Farid Ahsan, ShareChat

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).