Indian-origin CEO wants employees to work 14 hours a day, 6 days a week and 'sometimes' Sundays at startup

Daksh Gupta is the CEO and co-founder at San Francisco based Greptile. (Image credit: @dakshgup/X)

San Francisco-based Greptile, an artificial intelligence startup led by Indian-origin CEO and co-founder Daksh Gupta, has ignited a social media storm after Gupta defended his company’s controversial work culture. In a recent tweet, Gupta detailed Greptile's demanding work schedule, admitting that employees face long hours, high stress, and little work-life balance. His openness, though intended to be transparent, quickly drew a barrage of criticism online.

In his original post, Gupta explained his approach, stating, “Recently, I started telling candidates right in the first interview that Greptile offers no work-life balance. Typical workdays start at 9 a.m. and end at 11 p.m., often later, and we work Saturdays, sometimes also Sundays.”

This would make an employee work for 84 hours or more for six days of work.

He added that his aim was to provide clarity for potential hires, so they “know this from the get-go rather than find out on their first day.” The disclosure quickly went viral, garnering over 1.6 million views and sparking a wave of heated responses.

Many Twitter users were quick to criticise Gupta’s approach. One user questioned the trade-off, asking, “Transparency is great, but what makes you think this will make your company successful instead of giving weekends off to increase productivity?” Others accused him of exploiting workers for personal gain, with one commenter remarking sarcastically, “It’s great to see that you’re already exploiting workers straight out of college.”

The backlash only intensified as more responses poured in, with critics warning Gupta about the toll of such hours on productivity and mental health. Another said to expect such hours, the reward needs to be promising: “If you’re not giving them large amounts of equity why on earth would they do that.”

Some were harsh with one saying: “Does it make you feel like Elon a bit? Presumably you’re worried if you get to your supposed destination you want to be able to tell time magazine how much you all grinded it out?”

In response to the backlash, Gupta issued a follow-up tweet, acknowledging the criticisms and clarifying his position. Sharing a screenshot of his initial post, he acknowledged that his message had “struck a nerve” with some in the tech community, especially those struggling with overwork outside the US.

He also began by saying he has been receiving a lot of job applications and also a number of death threats.

now that this is on the front page of reddit and my inbox is 20% death threats and 80% job applications, heres a follow up- to everyone who is overworked and underpaid at their software jobs esp outside the US, i feel for you, and im sorry this struck a nerve. the people pic.twitter.com/RzAM75DiG2Daksh Gupta (@dakshgup) November 10, 2024

Gupta said that the gruelling hours were a temporary measure designed for the startup’s early, high-growth phase. “This way of working isn’t supposed to be forever because it isn’t sustainable…as we mature, we’ll hire older, more experienced people who have families and can’t work 100 hours a week.”

He also clarified that his intense approach was rooted in his experience of San Francisco’s startup culture rather than his Indian heritage, countering some racially charged comments he had received.

Despite Gupta’s attempts at damage control, responses remained polarised. Some commended his honesty, with one commenter stating, “You could’ve easily deleted it and moved on, but you chose not to. Speaks volumes.” Others, however, remained skeptical, suggesting the company’s extreme demands would limit Greptile’s ability to attract diverse, sustainable talent in the long run.

Another pointed out the importance of health to work such strenuous hours. “It won’t work though. Nobody does great work without adequate sleep. Bad sleep leads to bad decisions and lousy products,” they wrote.

Another asked Gupta to prioritise personal relationships over work. “Your work won’t be at your funeral or hold your hand on your death bed. Invest in your family. There’s plenty of time to work 7-5 daily,” the comment read.