Harsh Goenka’s sharp take on Vinod Khosla’s chief of staff listing: ‘Available 24/7, sleep is a luxury’

Sun Microsystems co-founder and Khosla Ventures head Vinod Khosla posted that he is looking for a tech-savvy "thought partner" as his next chief of staff.

Vinod Khosla’s recent chief of staff job opening, demanding 24/7 availability, long in-office hours in Menlo Park, and a multi-year commitment, drew a swift, satirical response from Harsh Goenka. In an X post, the RPG Group Chairman criticised the listing’s intense demands.

Harsh Goenka criticised Vinod Khosla’s chief of staff listing in a tweet. (File Photo)

What are the requirements for the position?

Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and head of Khosla Ventures, posted last week that he is looking for his next chief of staff. The 71-year-old tweeted, “I'm hiring my next Chief of Staff. You won’t know every field I work in. What matters is how quickly you learn, the questions you ask, and whether you can think from first principles. You’ll help evaluate opportunities and work with founders building consequential companies. Technical background preferred. Three-year commitment. Menlo Park, in person.” He also shared a link to the job posting.

The job requires the candidate to be a “thought partner to Vinod” while working with him directly. The responsibilities would include meeting with founders, assessing inbound opportunities, investigating technologies, writing investment recommendations and meeting briefs, tracking business performance, engaging with founders, and helping Khosla portfolio companies.

What, however, prompted a workplace debate was the requirements listed for the candidates. Among other things, the chief of staff is expected to “Work in person in Menlo Park every day, generally from 8 am to 8 pm,” as well as “Maintain around-the-clock availability, including nights and weekends when needed.”

The debate over the job posting quickly began among social media users and industry leaders, with some supporting it and others disagreeing.

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian called it a role that can change one’s life. Matteo Franceschetti, co-Founder and CEO of the sleep fitness company Eight Sleep, said he would have applied for the role if he wasn’t already running his own company.

However, not all were in agreement, with many highlighting the job posting as an example of toxic work culture. Among them is Harsh Goenka.

What did Harsh Goenka tweet?

“Job description for the modern Indian corporate warrior- assistant to Vinod Khosla: - Available 24/7, 72 hours of work a week, Sleep is a luxury, Personal life is a distraction,” he wrote as a part of the tweet.

He also referenced the 70-hour-workweek controversy surrounding Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy. In 2023, Murthy, on a podcast, argued that India's labour productivity is among the lowest in the world. He urged Indian youth to willingly commit to 70 hours a week.

Vinod Khosla hits back at critics:

Though the Silicon Valley venture capitalist is yet to respond to the Indian industrialist, Khosla - who has never shied away from hitting back at his critics - has responded to some tweets disagreeing with his job posting.

In one such post, he responded, “Jokes aside honest truth is this job has no specific hours requirement but is intense. I work 80 hours/week and this person needs to keep up. Doing, learning & more.... and very fun.”