Zepto team works 80-100 hours a week, says CEO Aadit Palicha: 'It's not about money'

Aadit Palicha, 22, is the co-founder of Zepto.

Aadit Palicha, the 22-year-old co-founder and CEO of quick commerce giant Zepto says the immense hardwork his team puts in – 80 to 100 hours a week – has propelled the company’s rapid rise to a market valuation of $5 billion. He added that the company values passion and purpose over personal financial gain and that the employees are genuinely excited to build something, hence the taxing hours.

Speaking at the NDTV World Summit, Palicha said: "Candidly, working 80-100 hours a week, we could have probably worked half of that with a lot less stress... At a certain point, money becomes inconsequential." He said his team his driven by the excitement to build Zepto.

The Stanford University dropout added: "We love what we're building, we work like crazy, and we're genuinely so excited about what we're creating. It's not really about money or personal wealth.”

Discussions on work-life balance have been rife recently with two sides facing off – those who advocate for the hustle culture and others who prioritise personal well-being over work. Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy had last year said the youth should work 70 hours a week – a discussion that is still relevant.

Palicha added that he is optimistic about Zepto’s potential to rewrite the startup narrative in the country, where internet companies have not scaled as compared to their foreign counterparts that have soared in valuation in tens of billions.

"We think we have a shot at really building out an exciting company, and if we do it, there's a huge amount of value that we'll add—not just to shareholders and capital markets, but to the startup ecosystem at large,” he said.

He drew comparisons between India and global tech hubs like Shanghai, which currently boasts a larger market cap. But Zepto, he believes, could be the game-changer that propels India's tech landscape to new heights.

Zepto was founded in July 2021 by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra.