This Indian startup is also looking for a chief of staff. 'We will pay you Rs 21 lakh in first year'

Ganesh Sonawane is the founder and CEO of Pune-based Frido. (Image credit: LinkedIn)

A day after Zomato co-founder and CEO announced that he is looking for a chief of staff who is willing to pay Rs 20 lakh (the first year salary) to charity, another Indian startup has declared that they too are looking to hire for a similar position, but unlike Zomato, they are willing to pay the employee Rs 21 lakh in the first year.

Ganesh Sonawane, the founder and CEO of Pune-based Frido--that sells innovative products for pain relief and ergonomics--took to X on Thursday to invite applications for a chief of staff.

"Plot Twist: If you apply for Frido’s chief of staff role and get selected, we will pay you 21 lakhs per annum in first year instead of you paying us," he wrote referring to Goyal's recent hiring call. "Learning is going to be great, after all winning in multiple niches and launching many innovative products requires a nuanced and fast-paced approach. Email: ganesh@myfrido.com."

Sonawane added that Frido would also be open to offering employee stock ownership plans (ESOP) to the chief of staff and other employees who excel at work.

Frido's hiring call was met with both amusement and appreciation on social media. When a user asked Sonawane if the intent of the post was to troll Deepinder Goyal and Zomato, he wrote on LinkedIn: "Not trolling, check my Twitter, hiring spree!"

Meanwhile, the Zomato boss has been facing backlash on social media for what most users called a job opportunity meant for only the privileged. Even industrialist Harsh Goenka pointed out that asking to pay for a job feels exploitative despite being positioned as a learning opportunity. He also said that the "innovative idea" has good PR value but raises "ethical concerns".

My view:1. Rs 20L fee excludes talented but underprivileged candidates2. Asking to pay for a job feels exploitative, even if positioned as learning.3.Lack of clarity on Year 2 salary4.Innovative idea- yes I like it (good PR value too) yet it raises ethical concerns. https://t.co/U2RQcmlupt
Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) November 20, 2024

"I am looking for a chief of staff for myself," Goyal shared on X. "However, this role is not a conventional role with the usual perks that such jobs come with. In fact, we are making this job unattractive for most people. There is no salary for this role for the first year. You will have to, in fact, pay Rs 20 lakh for this opportunity. 100% of this 'fee' will be paid in the form of a donation directly to Feeding India."

Also, to demonstrate that the company is not trying to save money, Zomato would contribute Rs 50 lakh (equivalent to a chief of staff salary) to a charity of the employee's choice.

"Second year onwards, we will start paying you the usual salary (definitely more than Rs 50 lakh, but something we will only talk about at the start of the Year 2," Goyal added.

On the other hand, listing the perks of the job, the Zomato boss said that the chief of staff would get "10x more learnings than a 2-year degree from a top management school, working with him and some of the "smartest folks in consumer tech".