Get full access to one story every week, and to summaries of all other stories. Just create a free account

It is a difficult meeting. At a busy coffee shop in Gurugram. Music blares from the speakers, coffee machines busy, hissing, and Deepinder Goyal, the CEO and co-founder of Zomato, sits in a chair. He sips his tea, leans forward to hear the questions.

Did you read the email before he sent it?

Of course. We’re co-founders. We worked together for 10 years.

… I thought, maybe he wrote it independently…

No, why? When he wrote it he asked me to read it. He had to ask because I have to run whatever is left.

So, when you were reading it, how did you react?

Nice email.

Goyal talks about the email his co-founder Pankaj Chaddah sent to all of Zomato announcing his resignation. On 1 March. As soon as he sent that email, Chaddah put out some tweets, primarily to quell any speculation that would come after.

The next day, there were a few newspaper inches dedicated to Chaddah’s exit. And that was it. The news disappeared quietly into the long weekend. It was all very strategic. Very Zomato.

In a world where founders are celebrated, sometimes even raised to demigod statuses, Chaddah is an outlier. It is that unique part of being a co-founder. The other guy. You are sometimes forgotten. Think about it, when you say Google, you think about Larry Page but not always Sergey Brin. Microsoft is always Bill Gates and very rarely Paul Allen. How about Apple? Steve Jobs, sometimes Steve Wozniak but almost never Ronald Wayne. Closer home? Ola is Bhavish Aggarwal and not Ankit Bhati.

Now, think of Zomato. It is Deepinder Goyal. Almost never Chaddah. It is just how it works. Zomato has been synonymous with Goyal for a few years now. Very few noticed Chaddah until he was gone. But that’s you. And that’s me.

Inversely, for the 2,000+ employees of the Gurugram-headquartered food tech unicorn, Chaddah was the one with the magic wand. He taught them how to make money off uploading menus on the internet. He taught them to sell. And for many, he was what made Zomato tick. The 200-something replies that clogged Zomato’s email server after he sent the farewell letter tell their own tale. But as soon as this announcement was made, Zomato had a shakeup.

AUTHOR

Patanjali Pahwa

Patanjali has spent over seven years in journalism. He last worked at Business Standard as Principal Correspondent, where he wrote on startups, e-commerce companies and venture capital. He has worked at an array of institutions, which include Forbes India, Caravan and Outlook Business. He is a Mumbaikar, born and brought up. Patanjali did his BSc in IT from Mumbai University and then got his journalism degree from IIJNM in Bangalore. He is enamoured by Ernest Hemingway and Tom Waits and may try to sneak in references to them in his stories.

View Full Profile

Subscribe to read this story

The Ken is the only business subscription you need. Questions?

 

Premium

  • 5 original and reported longform business stories every week
  • Access to ONLY India edition
  • Close to 250 exclusive stories every year
  • Full access to over 6 years of paywalled stories
  • Pick up to 5 premium subscriber newsletters
  • 4 original and reported longform business stories each week
  • Access to ONLY Southeast Asia edition
  • Close to 200 exclusive stories every year
  • Full access to all paywalled stories since March 2020
  • Pick up to 5 premium subscriber newsletters

Rs. 2,750 /year

$ 120 /year

India Edition
Subscribe Subscribe
Most Asked For

Borderless

  • 8 original and reported longform business stories each week
  • Access to both India and Southeast Asia editions
  • Close to 400 exclusive stories every year
  • Full access to over 6 years of paywalled stories across India and Southeast Asia
  • Unlimited access to all premium subscriber newsletters
  • Visual Stories

Rs. 4,200 /year

Subscribe
 

Echelon

  • 8 original and reported longform business stories each week
  • Access to both India and Southeast Asia editions
  • Close to 400 exclusive stories every year
  • Full access to over 6 years of paywalled stories across India and Southeast Asia
  • Unlimited access to all premium subscriber newsletters
  • Visual Stories
  • Bonus annual gift subscription
  • Priority access to all new products and features

Rs. 8,474 /year

Subscribe
Or

Questions?

What kind of subscription plans do you offer?

We have three types of subscriptions
- Premium which gives you access to either the India or the Southeast Asia edition.
- Borderless which gives you complete access to The Ken across both editions
- Echelon which gives you complete access to The Ken across both editions along with a bonus gift subscription

What do I get if I subscribe?

The Premium edition gives you access to stories in that edition along with any five subscriber-only newsletters of your choice.

The Borderless and Echelon subscription gives you complete access to The Ken across editions and unlimited access to as many newsletters as you like.

What topics do you usually write about?

We publish sharp, original and reported stories on technology, business and healthcare. Our stories are forward-looking, analytical and directional — supported by data, visualisations and infographics. We use language and narrative that is accessible to even lay readers. And we optimise for quality over quantity, every single time.

Our specialised subscriber-only newsletters are written by our expert, award-winning journalists and cover a range of topics across finance, retail, clean energy, cryptocurrency, ed-tech and many more.

How many newsletters do you have?

We are constantly adding specialised subscriber-only newsletters all the time. All of these are written by our team of award-winning journalists on a specialised topic.

You can see the list of newsletters that we publish over here.

Does a Premium subscription to your Indian edition get me access to the Southeast Asia edition? Or vice-versa?

Afraid not. Each edition is separate with its own subscription plan. The India edition publishes stories focused on India. The Southeast Asia edition is focused on Southeast Asia. We may occasionally cross-publish stories from one edition to the other.

We recommend the Borderless or the Echelon Plan which will give you access to stories across both editions.

Do you have a mobile app?

Yes! We have a top-rated mobile app on both iOS and Android which allows you to read on-the-go and has some amazing features like the ability to bookmark stories, save on your device, dark mode, and much more. It’s really the best way to read The Ken.

Is there a free trial?

You can sign up for a free account to experience The Ken and understand our products better. We’ll send you some free stories and newsletters occasionally, and you can access our archive of previously published free stories. You can stay on the free account as long as you’d like.

The vast majority of our stories, articles and newsletters can be accessed only by a paid subscription.

Do you offer any discounts?

Sorry, no. Our journalism is funded completely by our subscribers. We believe that quality journalism comes at a price, and readers trust and pay us so that we can remain independent.

Do you offer refunds?

No. We allow you to sample our journalism for free before signing up, and after you do, we stand by its quality. But we do not offer refunds.

I am facing some trouble purchasing a subscription. What can I do?

Just write to us at [email protected] with details. We’ll help you out.

I have a few more questions. How can I reach out to you?

Sure. Just email us at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter.