A Billionaire And His Battle For Food

From being a startup that just focused on scanning menus to becoming the go-to online guide for food and nightlife to mastering the art of delivery and going full throttle over food, Zomato has truly come of age in the last decade.

- Punita Sabharwal

In the rollercoaster journey, the food tech giant has seen it all: the devaluation of the startup, the exit of the co-founder, or the bleeding wars in the overall sector. Standing in the middle of the battleground is the braveheart founder Deepinder Goyal. As his area of expetise kept expanding, Deepinder’s stand is very much clear even now. He wants to do anything and everything under the sun related to food but will not touch anything outside. The focus on the core product and not spreading itself too thin is nothing to scoff at. Says Deepinder Goyal, “We didn't start out to build what we’re building right now. And we are excited to be playing a huge role in transforming food as a whole.”

The Zomato founder has not just presented a tech platform to the now burgeoning Indian food industry but also given it a celebrated unicorn. The company is a willing partner in India’s growth story for the last 10 years. As we enter the company’s new Gurgaon office on the closing day of the financial year, we are greeted with an alumni wall pasted with pictures, including Pankaj Chaddah, the ex co-founder of Zomato. The best thing about meeting Deepinder on a Saturday is he is not being reminded of any other urgent tasks at hand. We meet a super fit and relaxed Deepinder sporting a new bald look in his den. Close to 50 odd people are working in the new office as the culture here is not to spill off work to the next week. There are no deadlines at Zomato, everyone is assessed based on the impact they are able to make at work, says Deepinder. His management mantra: “When people are aiming towards outcomes, they feel ownership towards driving those outcomes, you can just leave it to them instead of trying to micromanage anything.”