Workplace drama played out on Twitter this week when Wasim Raja, an intern at Soshals, accused the startup founder of exploiting his hard work and not paying him his stipend. In his lengthy Twitter thread, Raja said that Soshals app founder Kritarth Mittal burdened him with unrealistic expectations, pressured him constantly for updates even during his time-off, assigned too many tasks and finally refused to pay his stipend.
On the other hand, Mittal has accused Raja of taking 18 days to complete a task for which he himself gave an estimate of 7 hours, skipping calls and being unreachable before finally quitting without notice.
Wasim Raja said his association with Soshals began when Kritarth Mittal reached out to him on Twitter and told him about a frontend development opportunity.
“I informed him about my ongoing notice period and being a final semester student, I could only commit to part-time work with a minimum stipend of 10k,” he wrote, claiming that Mittal hired him as a part-time intern and asked him to build a website for Soshals to assess his execution speed and code quality.
“He agreed to a 2-month part-time internship, stating that he would evaluate my performance and commitment level before considering a full-time role,” wrote Raja. “No mention of bonds or notice period was made,” he added.
3/ He agreed to a 2-month part-time internship, stating that he would evaluate my performance and commitment level before considering a full-time role. No mention of bonds or notice period was made. He emphasized their limited resources as an early-stage startup.Related stories
— Wasim Raja (@wasim7raja10) June 17, 2023
The founder also asked him to transfer his personal GitHub repository to the official Soshals GitHub account. “Over the next 18 days, I worked tirelessly on the website, accommodating numerous design changes and unrealistic deadlines. I found myself awake at 3 am, collaborating with the designer to make real-time adjustments,” he wrote.
7/ Over the next 18 days, I worked tirelessly on the website, accommodating numerous design changes and unrealistic deadlines. I found myself awake at 3 am, collaborating with the designer to make real-time adjustments.— Wasim Raja (@wasim7raja10) June 17, 2023
However, Raja claims that despite working long hours and being available late into the night to build the website, Mittal was unsatisfied with it.
A little over two weeks into the internship, Raja’s final end-semester exams began and he informed the management that he would not be available 24/7 but would try to accommodate all requests. “Nonetheless, he [Mittal] constantly pressured me for updates, complaining about the time I took for the task. The expectations placed on me were unreasonably high,” he claimed.
Lesson learned: Beware of exploitative startup founders who manipulate expectations, disregard boundaries, and fail to acknowledge the efforts of team members. #StartupExploitation #WorkplaceFairness
Please share this story so that people can understand red flags of exploitation.— Wasim Raja (@wasim7raja10) June 17, 2023
“Unfortunately, the founder refused to provide any stipend, claiming I hadn't met his deadlines, which he attributed to his own losses,” Raja wrote, cautioning his readers to be wary of exploitative founders.
Kritarth Mittal’s account
Kritarth Mittal responded to his former intern’s allegations with a lengthy Twitter thread of his own as the two exchanged barbs on a public platform. He called Raja a “bad hiring decision” and shared several screenshots to support his version of events.
Mittal said he “shared a Figma design file and asked him to make an estimate for completion, for which he committed 7 hours (max).”
It took Raja 18 days to deliver the work, he claimed. “Even the designer ended up spending days handholding him and changing designs so it is convenient for him to develop,” the founder wrote.
2/ Now I want you to put yourself in my shoes. He committed a 7 hrs (max) as delivery timeline and imagine how long it took him?HE TOOK 18 DAYS.
Even the designer ended up spending days handholding him and changing designs so it is convenient for him to develop. pic.twitter.com/9ro9pw5LUr
— Kritarth Mittal | Soshals (@kritarthmittal) June 18, 2023
He further said that Raja asked for time off within a week of joining, constantly set wrong expectations and blamed the management for his exhaustion, skipped sync up calls and “shipped nothing.”
7/ We are an early-stage bootstrapped company. For us, everything revolves around speed, time and money.He skipped sync up calls, gave no heads up, shipped nothing. Honestly, the guy was upto no good.
My mistake? I believe in people too much and I end up falling flat at times.
— Kritarth Mittal | Soshals (@kritarthmittal) June 18, 2023
“He simply stopped working. Did not deliver the feature before leaving. Spent 18 days on something he said will take 7 hrs. Never gave any heads up. Never abided by the timelines. Finally, he asked for his stipend,” wrote Mittal.
“My only fault was I wasn't stringent and I did not discuss any notice period, pay deduction for leaves or any other hard tradeoff with him,” he added.
I, for one, don't hire people as if they are a daily wage worker. And I am not willing to pay on that basis either.He did not even work for a month and went ahead to write a condescending thread.
Yesterday was rough but I held back. Catfight in comments don't resolve anything.
— Kritarth Mittal | Soshals (@kritarthmittal) June 18, 2023
“I, for one, don't hire people as if they are a daily wage worker. And I am not willing to pay on that basis either,” he continued as he asked his followers to share their opinion on how he could have handled the situation better.
While some supported Mittal’s decision of not paying Raja, others slammed him for withholding payment for 18 days of work. Almost everyone blamed bad communication and lack of paperwork for the public fallout.
This will be a learning for everyone involved.
A contract/appointment letter with all the details would have solved many things here.Also, IMO - You should pay him the stipend at the earliest as an employer. Hiring a person who is already serving notice and also in college,…
— Amanpreet Singh Gulati (@amanpreet_27) June 18, 2023
With you, Kritarth. All the way.I suggest being a bit more stringent in hiring, with clear communications all the way. I'm not asking you to stop trusting, because that would just be wrong. It works both ways, and you have to strike that balance.
But I know you'll do it.
— Manasi Shah (@TheWriterWoman_) June 18, 2023
You need to still pay him. Like you said in your first post, it was a bad hiring decision. Like it or not, you as the hiring manager and the founder need to take accountability for it.— myfleetingdream (@MyFleetingDream) June 18, 2023
1) Pay him? No way!
2) In future, if some one quotes x hrs, and uses > 2x or 3x for no valid reason, time to end it there. You dragged it for too long, esp given your limited resources. If you're building a team, ability to estimate and deliver reasonably to estimate is key.— Raja راجہ - awaaz do, hum ek hain (@Raja_Sw) June 19, 2023
Dude even if he didn't deliver, you need to pay for time he worked for you... there is no way you don't pay for 18 days of work even if you consider substandard— Rehan (@asif_rehan) June 18, 2023
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