He shared that he met with over 150 applicants, of which 30 were extended offers. Goyal also stated that 18 individuals have already joined Zomato and other group companies, such as Blinkit, in high-impact roles.
https://x.com/deepigoyal/status/1887001278498398217
Four of the 18 individuals who have already joined work directly with Goyal, two of whom hold chief of staff roles.
He added, “They’re being handsomely compensated for the value they bring, and nobody paid anything to work with us.”
Goyal had faced social media backlash when he first posted on X about the chief of staff vacancy, particularly for stating that the role would not offer a salary in its first year. He also mentioned that candidates would need to pay a fee of Rs 20 lakh, which would be donated to the non-profit Feeding India. In return, the company would contribute Rs 50 lakh to a charity of the candidate’s choice.
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He had later clarified that the Rs 20 lakh payment was merely a “filter” to find people who appreciated the opportunity.Elaborating on who these 30 individuals were, Goyal described them as founders who “bootstrapped” startups in dorm rooms, engineers who revamped tech stacks overnight, operators who scaled chaos, and brilliant young minds fresh out of college—people who, according to Goyal, “will lead the company into the future”.
Goyal also praised them for their “long-term mindset,” which he believes sets them apart, and expressed gratitude for having found such talent.
The Zomato founder concluded by stating that this wasn’t a “one-time hiring sprint” and that they are still “carefully sifting through this incredible talent pool.” On Tuesday as well, Goyal had posted on X, saying he was looking for business and product leaders who have embraced artificial intelligence (AI) as their “second brain.”