2 a.m. meetings, long hours? Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha responds to viral Reddit allegations

It’s the time to make fun of corporate employees’ most valuable treasure – work-life balance! It all started when Infosys founder Narayan Murthy mentioned that he didn’t believe in it Work-life balance. Then the internet found a perfect student of Mr. Murthy, Daksh Guptathe CEO of Greptilea San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup. Gupta sparked a social media storm after defending his company Greptile’s controversial work culture.
Now, Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha has joined the growing debate about work-life balance and taken it a step further. Read on to find out more.

What happened?

Recently, Daksh Gupta caused a stir on the internet when he said, “Greptile doesn’t offer work-life balance.” Typical working days start at 9am and end at 11pm, often later, and we work Saturdays, sometimes Sundays too,” as he mentioned that he received a mix of “20 percent death threats and 80 percent job applications.” While the internet was divided over Gupta’s take on work-life balance and toxic culture, Zepto CEO Palicha posted on he on Wednesday morning. He quickly wrote another post: “FYI, not my quote – read it from an interview with Daksh Gupta.”

The Reddit post:

A while ago, a Reddit post gained attention for pointing out the “toxic work culture” at Zepto when the user wrote: “I’ve been working with Zepto for a year now. It’s the most toxic work culture. I want to put this out there now because it’s getting a lot of attention, but only we know how bad things are.”
The person in question claimed that Zepto worked long hours. They claimed that meetings in the organization start at 2 a.m. while the CEO starts work at 2 p.m. “because he can’t get up early.” The post also claimed that the company is exploiting young workers by making them work long hours and is preparing for a “massive round of layoffs.”
Although Palicha, who den

The consequences:

Palicha’s post received several comments, including some that mentioned the Reddit post in which an anonymous user claiming to be a Zepto employee called out the quick commerce startup for allegedly promoting a “toxic work culture.” .

Someone wrote: “Ah, I’m burning up midnight engaging in Reddit posts about toxic work culture? Bold strategy! So what time do you meet for the first time today – ask for your coffee machine?”, while another remarked: “8am is the new 2am.” Someone else commented: “Either manager or someone from the Top management violates work-life balance.” This Reddit confession post is not bullshit.”
However, Zepto has not officially responded to the content of Palicha’s post or the claims made in the Reddit post.

Who is Aadit Palicha?

Aadit Palicha, who is just 22 years old, founded Zepto along with Stanford dropout Kaivalya Vohra in 2021. With a net worth of ₹4,300 crore, he is the second youngest person to feature on the Hurun India Rich List this year.

In early November, Infosys founder Narayan Murthy sparked debate when he expressed disappointment with India’s transition from a “six-day week to a five-day week in 1986,” noting: “We have to in this country work hard.” There is no substitute for hard work. Even if you are the most intelligent person, you have to work hard. Therefore I will not withdraw my views. I will take it to my grave.” Looking for an example of Prime Minister Modi, he added: “Prime Minister Modi probably works 100 hours a week. When his cabinet ministers are working very hard, when his bureaucrats are all working very hard, the only way we can show our appreciation for all these wonderful things that are happening is through our work.”
A few days later, Greptile CEO Daksh Gupta came under fire when he shared anecdotes about his company’s “84 hours or more for six days of work” culture. However, after receiving a lot of backlash from netizens, Gupta further stated, “This way of working should not last forever because it is not sustainable.” It is the first year or two of a startup that is akin to reaching escape velocity. As people have said in the comments, as we mature we will hire older, more experienced people who have families and can’t work 100 hours a week, and of course we would adapt like any good organization.”