‘We pay people a lot’: Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal on work-life balance, ‘toxic’ boss allegations

Deepinder Goyal has said he expects his senior team members to be obsessive about the work they are doing, rather than thinking of it as a job. During his recent appearance on Raj Shamani’s podcast, the founder of Zomato and Blinkit’s parent company, Eternal, said that startups are not built on a “9-to-5 mindset”. Deepinder Goyal talks about work-life balance and more on Raj Shamani’s podcast. “You have to be obsessive about building something. That’s the kind of obsession I want from my senior team,” said Goyal. “I don’t want them to think of this as a job. If the senior team thinks of this as a job, I’m out. They have to think about this as their own ba.” Putting in overtime where necessaryAsked what would be a warning sign that an employee is thinking of his role like a “job” instead of like an owner, Deepinder Goyal presented a simple example. He said that if one spots a bug at 6pm on a Friday, they should not wait till Monday to fix it. Instead, an employee who takes ownership of his work would put in two hours on a Friday night to ensure that the flaw is fixed. “I would not go home on Friday 6pm. I would stay back and do the job,” said Goyal on the podcast. Startups not built on ‘9-to-5’ mindsetAsked how that would work if an employee has a personal life or personal commitments, Goyal said the two things can go hand-in-hand. An employee does not have to do everything himself, he clarified. If there is something urgent, he can look for a person who is available that day to fix the issue. “And our team is good that way. We have each other’s backs. We don’t track anyone’s holidays. People can take as many leaves as they want. But that commitment to urgency has to be there. “Startups don’t get built on a 9-to-5 attitude. They can be built on 9-to-5 hour clocks. But they can’t be built on a 9-to-5 attitude. They are different things,” Goyal added. The CEO of Zomato clarified that companies can also be built on a Monday-to-Friday system. “Monday-to-Friday works when it comes to hours. But a Monday-to-Friday mindset does not work for building a company,” he explained. “It could be just twice a year that something needs to be solved on Friday night. It doesn’t happen every day. But when that hits, what do you say? OK, I’m ready to lose 10,000 customers over the weekend, and I wouldn’t put in two hours. What choice are you going to make?” asked Goyal. On allegations of being a toxic bossPodcast host Raj Shamani then said that such an attitude can be considered toxic some. He also pointed out that Goyal has been called a toxic boss who expects obsession and discipline from his team. Goyal dismissed these allegations. “I don’t think people say that about me,” he said. “I don’t think that’s the way people who work with me think about it,” said the CEO of Zomato, dismissing Reddit comments as old ones dating back to before 2013. He then reiterated his previous comments about putting in overtime when necessary. “If there is a bug that would delay customer orders 15 minutes, I would put a night out and solve it. The whole company should put a night out,” said Goyal. “We pay people a lot”Shamani questioned this attitude. He pointed out that it would be acceptable for a founder to work through the night, but an ordinary employee could not be expected to display the same level of commitment since he does not have a stake in the company. Deepinder Goyal countered this saying that Zomato employees are very well paid. “We pay people a lot. We give them a lot of equity,” said Goyal. “If they show this kind of attitude, they grow faster as well. If they don’t, they stay where they are. “I don’t judge people. It’s your choice… if you can manage your family, work-life balance, your peace, and also obsess. “Obsession can happen with peace. And those kinds of people who can manage and balance everything and still drive the right kind of outcomes still happen. They’re able to push for solving things overnight when they need to,” said Goyal.