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‘It's like a rocket launch’: Indian-origin CEO doubles down on 14-hour workdays amid backlash
Daksh Gupta, the Indian-origin CEO of Greptile, worked at Amazon as a software prior to setting up his company.
Daksh Gupta, the Indian-origin CEO who faced extreme backlash last month after revealing that his employees are expected to work more than 14 hours a day, has doubled down on his stance in a recent interview.
Gupta, co-founder and CEO of AI startup Greptile, likened the intensity of his company's work culture to a "rocket launch".
"It's a rocket launch in some ways," the 23-year-old told NBC Bay Area on Tuesday.
Gupta emphasised that success is often a combination of hard work and luck.
"And when you have two groups of smart people that are trying to solve the same problem, the one that works harder and is luckier wins. And you can't control your luck, but you can control how much time you put in," Gupta said.
He, however, acknowledged that such gruelling working styles may not be for everyone and that there are many successful companies that advocate work-life balance.
“If you care about work-life balance, I think that's great. There's plenty of places that operate that way and they're very successful,” he said in the interview.
How the controversy began:
Daksh Gupta, who completed his schooling in Delhi, stirred up the debate on work-life balance last month with a post on X (formerly Twitter) in which he said he reveals to candidates applying at his start-up that Greptile offers no work-life balance.
“…typical workdays start at 9 am and end at 11 pm, often later, and we work Saturdays, sometimes also Sundays. I emphasise the environment is high stress, and there is no tolerance for poor work,” he said in the post which blew up on X, amassing over 1.6 million views.
Gupta said he got death threats following his post on social media.
“My inbox is 20% death threats and 80% job applications,” said the entrepreuner who worked at Amazon in the US before setting up his own company.
Addressing the hate he received following his massively viral post, Gupta said he works in this manner not because he is Indian but because he is “San Franciscan”.
“To everyone who is overworked and underpaid at their software jobs, especially outside the US, I feel for you, and I’m sorry this struck a nerve,” he said.
