Drawing from Zomato’s IPO experience, Goyal highlights how newfound financial security can impact employee motivation and company culture.
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal shared insights from his company’s IPO journey, cautioning Swiggy’s new millionaires about the challenges sudden wealth can bring.
Goyal reflected on the aftermath of Zomato’s 2021 IPO, which created a wave of new crorepatis among its employees, significantly boosting their financial fortunes. However, he noted that this windfall, while positive in many ways, also led to an unexpected cultural shift within the organization.
“After the IPO, while the company was still performing well, many employees, now financially secure, began to lose their drive and sense of urgency,” Goyal explained when speaking at a media event. “This complacency slowed down progress and innovation within the company. Competent people who had made significant money for the first time in their lives didn’t recognize that they had stopped pushing for progress.”
According to Goyal, these changes highlight an important lesson for other startups, including Swiggy, which is also in the process of cultivating a new wave of financially successful employees. He emphasized that while wealth can be a catalyst for personal growth and security, it can also inadvertently lead to a loss of focus and momentum within the workplace.
Zomato’s post-IPO experience, Goyal suggested, serves as a crucial reminder that companies must remain vigilant in fostering a culture of continued growth and ambition, even after their employees have achieved significant financial success.
