Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha is making waves with his recent podcast with Y Combinator, where he shared insights into his company’s journey and the evolving quick commerce landscape in India. However, one topic that stood out was Palicha’s controversial 2024 post on work-life balance. In December 2024, he shared a post about the work-life balance debate.
“I have nothing against work-life balance. In fact, I recommend it to all our competitors,” Palicha wrote. The post quickly sparked backlash, with many accusing him of promoting a toxic work culture. Looking back, Palicha admitted that he regrets writing it.
During the conversation, Garry Tan, the podcast host, brought up the post, asking him about his thoughts on it. “You once tweeted, ‘nothing against work-life balance. In fact, I recommend it to all our competitors’,” Tan said.
Palicha immediately called it a “stupid idea”. The Zepto CEO then elaborated on the company’s work culture. “Join Zepto if you’re really looking to do the best work of your life. This is the place that is going to get that out of you because it is a very execution-focused culture,” he explained.
He, however, acknowledged that the high-intensity environment might not be for everyone. “You’re accountable for real problem statements every day. You can actually become like the best version of yourself. And I think it’s not for everybody, right? That sort of mindset and thought process. But it is for the super ambitious and the super capable that really want to get the best out of themselves,” Palicha said.
Palicha also opened up about Zepto’s near-collapse during the 2022-2023 funding crisis. Giving details about it, he shared how the Silicon Valley Bank crisis and hiring missteps nearly collapsed the company.