We pay people a lot: Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal defends work ethic amid toxic boss claims

Zomato founder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal has said he expects senior team members to be obsessive about their work rather than treat it like a routine job, stating that startups are not built on a nine-to-five mindset. Goyal made the remarks during a recent appearance on Raj Shamani’s podcast.

Speaking on the podcast, Goyal said he looks for a strong sense of ownership among senior leaders and expects them to approach the business as something they are building themselves, rather than viewing it as a conventional role. He added that if the senior team begins to see their responsibilities merely as a job, he would no longer want to continue in that setup.

Asked to explain what would indicate that an employee is thinking like a worker rather than an owner, Goyal cited the example of discovering a bug late on a Friday evening. He said that in such a situation, an employee with ownership would stay back and spend the extra time required to resolve the issue instead of waiting until Monday.

Goyal stated that he personally would not leave work at 6pm on a Friday if a problem needed immediate fixing and would instead put in the additional hours to complete the task.

Addressing concerns about how this approach aligns with personal life and commitments, Goyal said the two can coexist. He clarified that employees do not need to handle everything themselves and can seek out someone who is available if an urgent issue arises. He added that teams at Zomato support one another and that the company does not track holidays, allowing employees to take as much leave as they want, provided there is a sense of urgency when required.

Goyal reiterated that while startups can function on structured working hours, they cannot be built with a rigid nine-to-five attitude. He added that a Monday-to-Friday system can work in terms of hours, but a Monday-to-Friday mindset does not work when it comes to building a company.

He further said that situations requiring extra effort outside regular hours do not occur daily and may arise only a few times a year. However, when they do, leaders must decide whether they are willing to risk losing customers by not acting quickly, or spend a couple of extra hours resolving the issue.

During the conversation, Shamani pointed out that such expectations are often viewed as toxic and noted that Goyal has previously been described as a toxic boss who demands obsession and discipline from his team. Goyal dismissed these allegations, stating that he does not believe people who work with him see him that way and adding that comments on platforms such as Reddit date back to before 2013.

Goyal reiterated that if a technical issue could delay customer orders significantly, he would stay up all night to fix it and would expect the company to do the same.

Shamani questioned whether such expectations are reasonable for regular employees who do not have the same stake in the company as a founder. In response, Goyal said Zomato employees are 'paid a lot', and receive substantial equity. He added that those who demonstrate this level of commitment tend to grow faster within the organisation, while those who do not remain where they are.

Goyal concluded by saying that he does not judge individual choices and that it is up to employees to decide whether they can manage their family life, work-life balance, personal peace and still remain obsessive about their work.