Ragini Das, a former senior executive at Zomato and now Head of Google for Startups India, on Friday wrote a lengthy post on social media to talk about her previous company and its “intense” work culture. Das’s post, titled “Zomato isn’t for everyone and that’s exactly the point,” came days after Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal made a public call to former employees to return to the company.
While Goyal’s post sparked discussion online, Das’s response offered a rare insider account of what life inside one of India’s most demanding consumer internet companies looks like.
‘Zomato demands all-in mindset’
In her post, Das argued that Zomato’s culture has never been designed for comfort or balance in the conventional sense. Instead, she described it as a place that demands an “all-in” mindset. “If you want to clock in and clock out, you won’t survive Zomato. It is intense. It’s fast. It’s demanding. But if you survive it, it changes you…In return? The company gave it right back – in trust, responsibility, and irrational belief in your potential,” the Linkedin post read.
Drawing on her six-year stint at Zomato, Das credited Goyal’s relentless attention to detail and high standards for shaping her professional resilience. She recounted how the company trusted young employees with outsized responsibility. “They trust you before you are ready. At 26, having never worked in an international market before, I was trusted with a million-dollar budget to launch a new product,” Das recalled.
Das praises work culture
Das further talked about how the work culture at Zomato changed her for good as a professional. “When you are surrounded by the most passionate people in the room, the energy is infectious. It taught me overcommunication, it taught me resilience, showed me the real meaning of the word ‘dream team’,” she wrote.
Das’s post comes at a time when startup work cultures are under sharper scrutiny, with employees increasingly questioning burnout, intensity and expectations.