Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha says team works 80-100 hours a week for 'sheer passion'

Aadit Palicha, the CEO of quick commerce platform Zepto, has revealed that his employees often work between 80 and 100 hours a week to meet the demands of the fast-paced business. While Palicha acknowledges the long hours, he emphasizes that it's not about the money but rather about the passion and drive to build something meaningful.

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 mentioned that his team is motivated by the excitement of building Zepto.

"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,” the Stanford University dropout further said.

There has been a lot of debate about work-life balance lately, with some people supporting hustle culture and others focusing on personal well-being. Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy suggested last year that young people should work 70 hours a week, and this discussion continues to be important.

Palicha expressed optimism about Zepto’s ability to change the startup story in India, where local internet companies have not grown as much in value compared to successful foreign companies.

"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 compared India to global tech hubs like Shanghai, which has a larger market cap. However, he believes that Zepto could be the game-changer that elevates India's tech scene.

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