23-Year-Old Indian-Origin CEO Daksh Gupta Backs 12-Hour Work Week, Offers ₹1.5 Crore Salary To Freshers: Who Is He And Why Has He Gone Viral?

Daksh Gupta, the young co-founder and CEO of AI startup Greptile, has once again ignited discussions on work culture in Silicon Valley with his advocacy for intense work schedules. Drawing from his own experiences and the demands of early-stage startup life, Gupta promotes a disciplined lifestyle that prioritises productivity over traditional work-life balance.

Who is Daksh Gupta?

Daksh Gupta is a 23-year-old entrepreneur of Indian origin based in San Francisco. He co-founded Greptile, an AI company that develops tools to help software engineers understand and review codebases, alongside Soohoon Choi and Vaishant Kameswaran while studying at Georgia Tech in 2022.

Initially starting with a project to scrape Reddit reviews for consumer decisions, the team pivoted to AI tools for developers, rebranding from Onboard AI to Greptile in 2023. The startup secured $5.3 million in seed funding earlier this year from investors including Y Combinator, Initialized Capital, and SV Angel.

i don’t think you can force smart to people work 996, but if you do desire, you can find enough smart, experienced people that want to.

the trick is to post an incendiary tweet about your work hours to let the grinders self-select. then hire the ones that give a shit.

next,… pic.twitter.com/Cf5nqd2gsY

— Daksh Gupta (@dakshgup) August 20, 2025

Greptile operates out of San Francisco's Transamerica Pyramid, focusing on API-based AI solutions used by over 800 teams, including unicorns and financial services firms. As CEO, Gupta emphasises personal sacrifice, claiming to be the lowest-paid on his team to extend runway, and leads by example in a high-intensity environment.

Why has he gone viral?

Gupta's '9-9-6' rule i.e. working from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week, has gone viral due to his unapologetic endorsement of grind culture amid a resurgence in Silicon Valley's AI boom.

996 is but a symptom of the passion

— Daksh Gupta (@dakshgup) September 1, 2025

The phrase gained traction after Gupta described the current tech vibe as 'no drinking, no drugs, 9-9-6, lift heavy, run far, marry early, track sleep, eat steak and eggs' in an interview, contrasting it with indulgent events like Burning Man, which he says no longer appeals to younger, disciplined professionals. This follows his earlier viral X post in November 2024, where he disclosed telling candidates upfront about 14-hour days (9 am to 11 pm or later), six to seven days a week, high stress, and no tolerance for poor performance, leading to death threats and job applications.

base

$140-180k/yr for junior
$240-$270k/yr for staff (7+ YoE)

equity

$130-180k/yr

in-office in san francisco every day

free lunch, dinner, transit
healthcare + 401k match

— Daksh Gupta (@dakshgup) August 28, 2025

Recently, Gupta announced job openings at Greptile, offering freshers base salaries of $140,000–$180,000 (about ₹1.2–1.5 crore) plus equity, but requiring full-time in-office presence in San Francisco and long hours. The post, which garnered over 300,000 views, reignited debates on sustainability, with Gupta defending it as voluntary for passionate 'grinders' in early startup phases.

Media coverage has portrayed Gupta as the 'poster child' of grindcore culture, highlighting potential burnout while praising transparency.