Deepinder Goyal's update on chief of staff role: '18 have joined Zomato, being handsomely compensated'

Deepinder Goyal's statement comes in response to the controversy surrounding his initial job posting in November 2024

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal has provided an update on the company’s chief of staff vacancy, revealing that 18 individuals have already joined Zomato in high-impact roles, while an additional 12 have received job offers across Zomato and its group companies, including Blinkit.

In a post on X, Goyal clarified that all those who have joined are being “handsomely compensated” for their contributions and emphasised that none of them were required to pay Zomato anything.

His statement comes in response to the controversy surrounding his initial job posting in November 2024, in which he stated that he was seeking a chief of staff who would not receive a salary for a year and would instead have to donate Rs 20 lakh to Zomato. Following widespread criticism, Goyal later backtracked on this requirement.

Providing insights into the hiring process, Goyal disclosed that Zomato had received over 18,000 applications for the role, out of which he personally interviewed more than 150 candidates. While the initial job posting suggested that only one candidate would be selected, he confirmed that 30 individuals had been offered roles, of whom 18 had already joined the company.

Hiring update on the Chief of Staff We started with 18,000+ applications and have had the privilege of meeting over 150 incredibly talented individuals. From this, 30 exceptional people received offers, and 18 have already joined Zomato (and other group companies like Blinkit) https://t.co/8a6XhgeOGk
Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) February 5, 2025

Among these new hires, four are working directly under Goyal, including two in chief of staff positions. He described the hiring process as a long-term investment in the company’s future. “With 18,000+ applications, we’re still carefully sifting through this amazing talent pool. This isn’t just a one-time hiring sprint—it’s a long-term investment in the people who will build the future with us. We’ll keep reaching out to the right folks, slowly but surely,” he stated.

In his original hiring post in November, Goyal outlined the qualities he sought in candidates, describing them as individuals who were “hungry, had common sense, empathy, and no conditioning or baggage from experience.” He also emphasised traits such as being down to earth, having zero entitlement, strong communication skills, and a learning mindset.

Now, he has elaborated on the backgrounds of those who were ultimately selected. According to Goyal, the 30 individuals who received offers included “founders who bootstrapped startups from their dorm rooms, engineers who rewrote entire tech stacks over a weekend, operators who turned chaos into scale, and a handful of brilliant young minds fresh out of college—people we believe will lead us into the future.”

What set these individuals apart, he noted, was their long-term perspective. “They are not optimising for short-term outcomes but for compounding impact,” he said.