Billionaire food app CEO wants you to pay for the privilege of working with him

The CEO of Indian restaurant booking and food deliver app Zomato has posted a job ad in which he seeks a chief of staff who is willing to pay for the privilege of working with him.

The ad, posted to X, opens with the innocuous statement that Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal wants to hire an ambitious chief of staff. Experience is not necessary – he thinks it's overrated – but a learning mindset is required along with strong communication skills and a willingness to do the right thing even if it ruffles feathers.

The job description is a little broad: "Anything and everything to build the future of Zomato" and its associated brands.

The ad also admits the gig is "not a conventional role with the usual perks," and is designed to be "unattractive for most people" – because it isn't paid.

Indeed, Goyal wants the successful applicant to pay ₹2 million ($23,700) for the privilege of working alongside him.

The CEO thinks that's worth it as the job involves "10x more learnings than a 2-year degree from a top management school, working with me and some of the smartest folks in consumer tech."

But clearly not the most empathetic people.

"We believe people who apply for this role should do it for the learning opportunity it presents, rather than for a fancy well paying job which will make you look cool in front of yourself or people you want to impress," the ad reads.

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The job has some tiny upsides. One is that you don't have to submit your CV to get the job: Goyal wants emails of 200 or fewer words. Another is that Zomato will donate ₹5 million to a charity of the successful recruit's choice when they join. But even that payment isn't entirely altruistic: Goyal wrote it's being made to demonstrate that the zero-salary scheme isn't being done to save money.

A third is that Zomato will pay in the second year.

Zomato's "job" ad. Source: X – Click to enlarge

Wealth-watching outlet Forbes rates Goyal a billionaire.

Response to the "job" offer is mixed, with some suggesting it's marvellously entrepreneurial and others condemning it as exploitative.

One comment on X compares Goyal to Infosys co-founder Narayama Murthy – who regularly advocates for 70-hour work weeks and recently opined that introducing two-day weekends was a mistake.

The commenter opined: "Even Narayana Murthy seems like a saint after reading this." ®