The Indian-American CEO of Greptile, an AI startup, has set off controversy and received a wave of online criticism including death threats for posting a job requiring an 84-hour workweek and an inflexible "no tolerance for poor work" policy. 

A job post meant to bring transparency for those applying for employment with companies has started heated debates about work-life balance in Silicon Valley.

What did the job posting say?

In his now-viral post on social media platform X formerly known as Twitter, Gupta explained the demanding work environment at Greptile. He had noted that he wanted to be transparent about this to a future hire, to spare them from any sour surprises afterward.

“Recently I started telling candidates in the first interview that Greptile offers no work-life balance. Typical workdays start at 9 am and end at 11 pm, often later, and we work Saturdays, sometimes also Sundays. I emphasize the environment is high-stress, and there is no tolerance for poor work. It felt wrong to do this at first, but I’m 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 tweeted.

The post, which has garnered over 1.6 million views since November 9, fueled a heated debate about the sustainability and ethics of such work cultures.

Critics speak out

The comment thread under Gupta's post quickly filled up with sharp critiques, many questioning the logic and long-term sustainability of his approach.

One user wrote:

“If you can’t figure out the very obvious pitfall here, that’s concerning. It’s a competition question: why would a candidate choose to work for you when you’re asking them to work twice as hard without double the compensation?”

And another pointed out the risks to the employees' burnout:

“The transparency is fine, but the pitfall is that if you offer no work-life balance for long enough, employees will churn and affect your progress more. It takes a lot of time to hire and ramp up new engineers, so you have to be careful about how hard you work them. You are a founder; they have <1% equity.”

Others questioned the effectiveness of such grueling hours:

“Transparency is great, but I’m curious what makes you think this is going to make your company win vs. doing the bare minimum of giving weekends off to increase productivity that can lead to better work in lesser hours? What’s the trade-off?”

Gupta explained his approach 

Despite the negative reaction, Gupta confirmed the validity of his claim about being open about the work culture of the company. However, he also had a sadder side, saying his inbox was filled more with threats to kill him (20%) than with job applications (80%).

Now that this is on the front page of Reddit and my inbox is 20% death threats and 80% job applications, here's a follow-up, he posted in a subsequent tweet

Gupta explained grueling hours at the startup was only a temporary measure during its initial stages, likening it to achieving the "escape velocity." He reassured critics that Greptile's work culture would evolve with the growth of the company.

“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. As people said in the comments, as we mature, we’ll hire older, more experienced people who have families and can’t work 100 hours a week, and naturally, we would adapt like any good organization,” he clarified.

He also sympathized with the overworked employees in the tech world, especially those who were not in the U.S.:

“To everyone who is overworked and underpaid at their software jobs, especially outside the U.S., I feel for you, and I’m sorry this struck a nerve. The people that work here had six-figure, 20-hour-per-week jobs before this, and can go back to them any time.”

According to Gupta, the new post again serves as a starter to the much-overdue discussion on work-life balance at startups, where most people ironically find that such cultures may prioritize short-term gains over employee well-being and sustainability. 

Gupta's approach through transparency is not without mixed reactions,, and this incident shines a light upon ever-growing scrutiny of corporate work environments in the tech industry.

In this continuing debate, Greptile's story forms a case study in the broader discourse around transparency, productivity, and employee welfare.