One amongst the youngest to join India’s self-made billionaires club in 2022, Zepto CEO and cofounder Aadit famously quipped on December 4, 2024
I have nothing against work-life balance. In fact, I recommend it to all our competitors.”
The above comments came in the wake of allegations of toxic work culture at the quick commerce startup. A Reddit user had flagged how Zepto operated with its boss at the helm, who took meetings at 2 am in the morning. This alleged habit forced techies to start working late hours and comply while the HRs tried to mollycoddle with free breakfast. The anonymous user also claimed that the company preferred youngsters primarily as they could grind for 14 hours at a stretch, which seniors wouldn’t ever agree to.
Netizens compared Aadit Palicha to Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, who infamously suggested in 2023 that Indian youths hustle 70 hours a week
Addressing the fiasco in his conversation in a podcast with Y Combinator’s Garry Tan, Aadit Palicha dubbed it a “stupid idea.”
At just 22 and 21, Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra have scaled @ZeptoNow to 1.5 million daily orders, $3B in GMV, and a $5B valuation—all in under three years.
YC’s @garrytan sat down with co-founder and CEO @aadit_palicha to unpack how a WhatsApp group during the pandemic… pic.twitter.com/gcE5UelBXt
— Y Combinator (@ycombinator) April 18, 2025
Zepto is lucky to be a Y Combinator startup, and I honestly believe we wouldn’t have gotten off the ground without them. I think… https://t.co/H59b2l9MO0
— Aadit Palicha (@aadit_palicha) April 18, 2025
He further added, “For the people who work at a company like Zepto, I’d say that you know…join here if you are really looking to do the best work of your life.” “This is the place that will get that out of you,” Palicha continued.
Aadit Palicha remarked that Zepto “is a very execution-focused culture.” The entrepreneur continued, “Everyone is really deep into the game. When you are, like, in these super-execution-focused cultures and you are really accountable for real problem statements every day, you can actually, like, become the best version of yourself.”
He cautioned, though, “And it’s not for everybody. That sort of mindset and thought process. But it is like for the super ambitious, the super capable, that really want to get the best out of themselves and it’s not forever. You are not going to have to do this, like work so hard for many, many decades.”
See Also: ‘Deeply Respect Deepinder Goyal, But…’ Aadit Palicha Refutes Zomato CEO’s Claim That Zepto Lost 2500 Cr In A Quarter
See Also: Zepto’s Billionaire Boss Reacts To Toxic Work Culture Allegations; Internet Compares Him To Narayana Murthy
See Also: Indian-Origin CEO Daksh Gupta Advocates 84-Hour Work Week; Internet Aptly Labels It ‘Exploitation’
Cover: Patrick Gawande / Mashable India
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