Amid Deepinder Goyal’s rehire call, ex-Zomato employee reflects on six years at firm: 'Not for everyone'

Ragini Das said the experience strengthened her communication skills and emotional resilience, while also shaping her understanding of teamwork.

Former Zomato employee Ragini Das has shared a detailed reflection on her six-year stint at the food delivery company, offering an insider account of its demanding work environment and the professional growth it fostered. Das, who worked with Zomato’s sales and marketing teams between 2013 and 2019, said the experience shaped her approach to execution, resilience and long-term decision-making, while also giving her lasting personal relationships.

Das’s remarks were posted on LinkedIn after Zomato founder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal publicly invited former employees to consider returning to the company, stating that the organisation had changed over time and that “the door is not closed” for those who once worked there.

Responding to the renewed discussion around Zomato’s internal culture, Das said the company was not suited to everyone — and that this was deliberate.

“Zomato isn’t for everyone. And that is the point,” she wrote.

Referring to the attention generated by Goyal’s outreach to alumni, she added: “My feed / inbox has been flooded with Deepinder Goyal's recent post about calling ex-Zomans back. It made me smile – and it made someone at work chuckle yesterday when I unironically used the word ‘Zoman’.”

Das, who later co-founded professional network Leap Club and is now Head of Google for Startups in India, said her years at Zomato were foundational to how she learned to work.

“Most of what I know about showing up, speed of execution and ‘playing the long game’ comes from my time at Z,” she said.

She cautioned that the company’s pace and expectations could be overwhelming for those seeking predictable routines.

“It is not ‘just a job’. It never will be. If you want to clock in and clock out, you won't survive Zomato. It is intense. It’s fast. It’s demanding,” Das wrote. She added that employees who stayed the course often experienced significant personal and professional change. “If you survive it, it changes you.”

According to Das, the organisation placed a high degree of confidence in its staff, often entrusting them with responsibility early in their careers.

“The people who grew there gave it their all. In return? The company gave it right back – in trust, responsibility, and irrational belief in your potential,” she said.

She illustrated this by sharing her own experience of being assigned a major budget at a young age. “At 26, having never worked in an international market before, I was trusted with a million-dollar budget to launch a new product,” she wrote, asking: “How many companies hand that kind of war chest to a 26-year-old?”

“They trusted you before you were ready. And because they trusted you, you always figured it out,” she added.

Das also reflected on her progression within the company, describing how the early years involved selling small advertising placements before moving on to larger commercial responsibilities.

“At 22, I was driving around Hyderabad and Bangalore trying to sell a banner ad for Rs 3,000,” she wrote. “By the time I left sales, the cheques I was picking up were for Rs 60 lakh. Between those two numbers is where the grit was built.”

During her time at Zomato, Das became the first team member of the Zomato Gold programme in India. She said the work environment was marked by sustained enthusiasm, leaving little room for disengagement.

“Monday blues, wha? In 6 years, I think I had Monday blues maybe three times,” she wrote. “When you are surrounded by the most passionate people in the room, the energy is infectious.”

She said the experience strengthened her communication skills and emotional resilience, while also shaping her understanding of teamwork. “It taught me overcommunication, it taught me resilience, showed me the real meaning of the word ‘dream team’,” she wrote, adding that several managers went on to become mentors, including one who later became her co-founder.

Beyond professional development, Das said the company played a major role in shaping her personal life. Disagreeing with the idea that close friendships cannot emerge from the workplace, she noted that many of her closest relationships today trace back to her time at Zomato.

“70% of my closest circle today are ex-Zomato. We literally grew up together,” she wrote, referring to former colleagues from the company’s Bengaluru office between 2014 and 2016. She added that members of that group have since taken different paths, including founding companies, starting families and relocating abroad.

“Everything has changed, and yet, nothing has changed,” she concluded. “And that’s Zomato!”