Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal overwhelmed by 8,000 emails ‘full of emotions’ — ‘Find my number, WhatsApp me’
Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal found himself in the middle of a massive digital deluge after issuing a public invitation for official employees to return to the company under a program called back@eternal.com.
A week after his initial post, Goyal shared that he received nearly 8,000 emails on X in just a few days. Half of them were from former employees, while the rest were from people who had not worked at Zomato parent Eternal but wanted to.
“Over the last week we’ve received over 8,000 emails. Nearly 4,000 from people who have been part of the Eternal journey at some point. The rest are from people who haven’t worked here but want to. Thank you so much for that. I never expected this,” he said.
The former Eternal CEO’s appeal to those who have previously worked at the company seems to have struck a deep chord with employees.
“A lot of these emails are full of stories and emotion and honesty. There’s so much context and history in them. And a lot of our current team has no context about people who left five, ten, fifteen years ago,” he said.
However, since these stories are from years ago, Deepinder Goyal said that the only person who understands the matter is the Eternal founder himself. He said it would take time.
“Eternal is currently in his late teens. I’m the only one who can actually read these emails and know who he should respond to. And it’s not humanly possible for me to read 8,000 emails and quickly pick and choose the right ones to respond to,” Goyal said.
Connect to WhatsApp
Eternal’s founder, who recently stepped down as the company’s CEO, said he was reviewing each of the emails but “it will take time.”
But he asked people working with him to switch directly to WhatsApp so he could quickly reconnect.
“But if you have worked with me directly, written and are waiting for a response, here’s what will work quickly: find my number and reach me on WhatsApp. I look forward to reconnecting,” he said.
Deepinder Goyal urges former employees to reconnect
Last week, Deepinder Goyal issued a heartfelt open invitation to Eternal’s former employees to return to the company, regardless of how or why they left.
He acknowledged that Eternal may not have provided the right environment or leadership for some people in the past, but assured that many employees have enjoyed their time at the company.
“If you haven’t reached out to me because you think the door is closed or you think I’m holding on to the past, I’m not. I want you back,” he said.
He encouraged former employees to reconsider and contact the manager if they wanted to join again, as they knew how the company worked.
“There’s a lot to build in the Eternal… We need people here who already know what good looks like and care enough to fight for it. There’s no better person for that than someone who’s been here, gone, grown up, and wants to come back,” Goyal said.
