Astrotalk CEO Puneet Gupta shares humorous story after driver overhears ₹100-Crore call
Astrotalk CEO Puneet Gupta wrote that the driver likely concluded he was a “bada banda” - an important man - after overhearing the conversation, and decided to treat him accordingly.
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Astrotalk founder and CEO Puneet Gupta has shared a light-hearted anecdote about how perceptions can shift with money talk, revealing that his driver’s behaviour changed dramatically after overhearing a phone conversation about a high-value deal.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Gupta said he had recently hired a driver for the first time. The first couple of days went smoothly, but on the third day, the driver unexpectedly rushed to open the car door for him — a gesture that took the CEO by surprise.
Gupta, whose astrology platform Astrotalk is currently valued at ₹2,560 crore according to Tracxn, asked the driver why he was doing so. He told him that opening the car door wasn’t necessary and that he could manage it himself. The driver insisted, however, that it was part of his duty.
Hired a driver for the first time. First 2 days were good.
— Puneet Gupta (@iPuneetGupta) November 2, 2025
3rd day he suddenly came to open the door for me.
I was like, "bhai ye kya kar rhe ho?"
"ye main kar lunga, aapne 2 min waste kar diye car start karne mein"
he said, "sir ye toh kaam hai humara"
i told him ki please…
The sudden display of deference puzzled Gupta until he recalled that a day earlier, he had been discussing a deal worth ₹100–500 crore over the phone while the driver was present. It was then that he realised what had prompted the change in attitude.
Gupta wrote that the driver likely concluded he was a “bada banda” — an important man — after overhearing the conversation, and decided to treat him accordingly.
Puneet Gupta, who describes himself as coming from a lower-middle-class background, has often spoken about how wealth has not altered his personal habits. In an earlier Quora post, he mentioned that he still drives the same Hyundai Grand i10 he bought in 2015.
Before launching Astrotalk in October 2017, Gupta ran an IT services company called CodeYeti, which he founded in April 2015 and operated for two and a half years before pivoting the business towards astrology-based digital services.
