What should be the ideal work duration for budding techies? After Infosys’ Narayanan Murthy’s viral comment on advocating for a 70-hour work week, a 23-year-old Indian-origin entrepreneur and CEO, Daksh Gupta, has come up with another controversial take on work duration. Calling it his ‘9-9-6’ rule, Gupta advocates for a 12-hour workday for 6 days a week.
The viral ‘9-9-6’ comment refers to a workday spanning 9AM to 9PM for six days in a week. That ensures a 12-hour workday for six days a week. Gupta, who is a co-founder of the AI startup Greptile, believes that the longer work hours don’t translate to exploitation – it indicates how hard new startups need to push.
Young CEO says hard work necessary to rise
Gupta, a former Georgia Tech student, co-founded the company with his partners, Soohoon Choi and Vaishant Kameswaran. Their initial project, which involved scraping Reddit reviews, was short-lived but led to a crucial $100,000 investment. They later shifted to developing AI tools for software engineers and, in the process, rebranded the company to Greptile. Gupta and is team successfully raised $5.3 million in seed funding.
In order to ensure that his startup stays strong financially, Gupta revealed that he is the lowest-paid person on his team.
Coming back to the controversial ‘9-9-6’ rule, Gupta reveals that it is core to the culture of his startup Greptile, not just a personal habit. He says that before making new hires, he clarifies this expectation from the first day. Gupta believes that this is a necessity for a young startup to achieve rapid growth, believing that it allows the company to “compress months of work into weeks.”
This is an easy way to “collapse all variables—time, energy, and distractions—into momentum,” says Gupta.
“The current vibe is no drinking, no drugs, 9-9-6 [work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week], lift heavy, run far, marry early, track sleep, eat steak and eggs,” said Daksh recently.
Gupta’s unique rule drew criticism
While Gupta’s approach is praised as a key to his company’s progress, it has also drawn significant criticism.
The concept of an intense, prolonged work schedule with no promised work-life balance is looked down on in the modern work environment, especially in startups. Critics and experts warn that while such a regimen might be effective for short-term sprints, it is unsustainable in the long run and could lead to severe employee burnout, an overall decline in creativity, and strained personal relationships.
“9-9-6 is ok if you own the part of the company. For strictly employees, it is modern-day gulami,” wrote one social media user.
“This is how start-up CEOs would cash out after the IPO, leaving behind grunt workers. But soon, they will realize Ferrari is just another car,” wrote another.
“FOLLOW THIS “MODEL” AT THE COST OF YOUR PHYSICAL, SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING AND DIE IN YOUR THIRTIES LEAVING BEHIND A FEW MILLIONS…!!!,” said another user.