Daksh Gupta, the Indian-origin CEO of AI startup Greptile, has claimed he received numerous “death threats” after disclosing his company’s grueling 84-hour workweek, which offers “no work-life balance.”
Gupta’s now-viral post described the demanding work culture, where employees typically work from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. or later, with Saturdays as regular workdays and occasional Sunday shifts.
“Recently, I started telling candidates right in the first interview that Greptile offers no work-life balance. Typical workdays start at 9 a.m. and end at 11 p.m., often later, and we work Saturdays, sometimes also Sundays. I emphasise the environment is high stress, and there is no tolerance for poor work. It felt wrong to do this at first but I am convinced now that the transparency is good, and I’d much rather people know this from the get-go rather than find out on their first day,” Gupta stated.
The post, viewed over a million times, drew sharp criticism, with many labeling it a promotion of a “toxic work environment.” While some praised his honesty, they warned, “As long as you’re paying employees fairly, it’s fine. Otherwise, it’s modern-day slavery.”
In a follow-up post addressing the backlash, Gupta shared that his inbox had become “20% death threats and 80% job applications.”
“To everyone who is overworked and underpaid at their software jobs, especially outside the US, I feel for you, and I’m sorry this struck a nerve. The people that work here had 6-fig 20 hr/week jobs before this and can go back to them any time. It might be hard to believe but there exist people that want this, while a minority. The transparency exists to identify them,” Gupta clarified.
He explained that the intense workload was temporary, aimed at Greptile’s early growth phase. “This way of working isn’t supposed to be forever because it isn’t sustainable. It’s the first year or two of a startup which is like reaching escape velocity.” Gupta also stressed that this approach wasn’t a universal model for success, adding, “This is NOT meant to be prescriptive… Lot of Indian hate coming from this post so I want to clarify that I am like this not because I’m Indian but because I’m San Franciscan.”
The discussion has sparked debates about employee well-being, transparency, and fair labor practices.