Deepinder Goyal is an Indian entrepreneur. He is best known for being the founder and CEO of Zomato, an Indian multinational restaurant aggregator and food delivery company.
Wiki/Biography
Deepinder Goyal was born on Wednesday, January 26, 1983, in Muktsar, Punjab, India (40 years; as of 2023). His zodiac sign is Aquarius.
Dipinder Goyal as a child
His grades as a student were very poor, and he barely passed the grade until eighth grade. Apparently, in sixth grade, he did poorly on a test and almost failed. However, at his father’s request, he was promoted to the next class by the principal. When he was studying in Class 8, one of his teachers came with a solved answer sheet to help him with his first-semester exams, and for the first time, Deepide secured third rank in the class. Touched by the appreciation from his teachers and parents, Deepinder decided to do well in all his exams. In an interview, he said about this incident,
In the last exam of Class 8, the teacher gave me all the answers. I reached the top. This gave me false confidence. Once you get to the top, you don’t want to go back to 25th. I started taking myself very seriously. “
When the next semester’s exams came around, Deepinder tried to look up the question papers before the exam to get a good score, but he couldn’t. Realizing that there are no shortcuts to success, Deepinder studied hard the day before the exam and ended up finishing fifth in the second semester. This was a turning point in his life. Talking about this in an interview, Deepinder said,
It gave me some confidence that I could do something if I wanted to. From that point on, life became a treadmill. “
The period of improved academic performance lasted for two years, after which his parents sent him to Chandigarh for classes 11th and 12th to join DAV College as a science student. However, during that period, he encountered another setback and failed class 11 again. Speaking about his failure in the interview, he said:
In Muktsar, I topped the list of 25 students. There are 500 kids as good as me in Chandigarh. My illusions were shattered. “
Despite the many challenges he faced during his studies, he managed to clear the Joint Entrance Examination of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in his first attempt. He then studied engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. After graduating in 2005, Goyal founded a food delivery startup called Foodlet. However, the startup failed to thrive.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′ 9″
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
family
He came from a very humble middle-class family in Muktsar, Punjab.
Parents and siblings
Deepinder Goyal’s father’s name is Harbans Lal Goyal. Both his parents are teachers. His father was a botany teacher and his mother was an English teacher. He has an older brother.
Deepinder Goyal and his mother in childhood
wife and children
Deepinder Goyal married Kanchan Joshi, a professor of mathematics at Delhi University, in 2007. Kanchan holds a PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Kanchan prefers to stay out of the spotlight. They have a daughter named Siara Goyal, born in 2013. Deepinder first met Kanchan at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, where she was pursuing a degree. Deepinder fell in love with her instantly. Talking about this in an interview, Deepinder said,
I chased her for six months. “
Deepip Goyal and his wife
sign
Deepip Goyal’s signature
Profession
In January 2006, Deepinder Goyal joined Bain & Company, a corporate management consulting firm based in Gurgaon, Haryana, as an Associate Consultant. Although he initially thought he wouldn’t stay there for more than a year, he ended up working there for about three years. While working at Bain & Company, Deepinder observed that menu cards were in high demand among his colleagues at the time. It was then that he came up with the idea of starting Zomato. In his final days at Bain, he took a pay cut and streamlined his involvement with the consulting firm, embarking on a journey to revitalize his startup. In July 2008, Deepinder and his Bain & Company colleague Pankaj Chaddah founded a restaurant listing and recommendation portal called Foodiebay, which was later renamed Zomato. In November 2009, he resigned from Bain & Company. In 2010, Zomato received its first investor check from Sanjeev Bikhchandani of InfoEdge. Initially, Zomato relied heavily on an advertising-led approach, with restaurants promoting their brands on the platform.
Deepinder Goyal and his team at Zomato office
Later in 2015, Zomato launched a food ordering service on its platform. Subsequently, the company focused on enhancing its B2B technology solutions aimed at boosting its transaction-driven business. In January 2020, Zomato successfully completed its all-stock acquisition of Uber Eats India. The transaction resulted in Uber holding 9.99% stake in Zomato. In July 2023, Zomato achieved its first quarterly profit, the first time since its establishment in 2008. Specifically, on August 3, the company reported a net profit of Rs 20 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2022-2023.
Deepinder Goyal working in his office
Apart from India, Zomato operates in more than 24 countries, including UAE, Sri Lanka, Qatar, UK and Indonesia. Deepinder showcased his investments in 16 startups, including ChefKart and Unacademy. Until March 2023, he served on the Urban Company board of directors. However, Deepinder resigned from his role at Urban Company when Blinkit, which he acquired for $568 million in August 2022, entered the home services space. Goyal is also a designated partner of First Lap LLP with effect from June 7, 2021.
car collection
Deepinder Goyal owns a fleet of luxury vehicles including;
income
Deepinder Goyal did not earn anything in 2022 as he gave up his salary for three financial years. Despite being the founder and CEO of Zomato, Deepinder Goyal received shares worth Rs 100 crore. 387 crore under the Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) in the second half of 2022. However, he did not personally benefit from it.
net worth
As of January 2021, Deepinder Goyal’s net worth was Rs.Approximately Rs 2,200 Crore
Favorites
Facts/Trivia
- Deepinder Goyal revealed in an interview that when he was growing up, he did not make friends with anyone because his previous scores were very low and his parents often restricted their children from being with Deepinder.
- On August 6, 2023, Deepinder Goyal shared a few pictures of himself on a Royal Enfield bike holding a friendship band with the words “Best Foodie Friends Forever” on it. Goyal announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he would be delivering meals and friendship bracelets to delivery executives, customers and restaurant partners. The founder of the food tech giant wrote,
There will be some food and friendship bands available for our delivery partners, restaurant partners and customers. Best Sunday ever! ! “
Deepinder Goyal impersonates Zomato delivery boy
- Previously, he played the role of a Zomato delivery boy on New Year’s Eve 2022. He decided to deliver some of the orders received on the app and tweeted that his first order was from the Zomato office itself. Overall, he said, he delivered as many as four orders.
Deepinder Goyal as Zomato food delivery agent
- Interestingly, his X resume reads: “Delivery boy for Zomato and Letsblinkit.”
- In July 2023, he shared a glimpse of his personal fitness and weight loss journey. He shared before and after photos from 2019 and 2023 on Instagram. Along with the photos, he also shared two post-it notes, one from 2019 and the other from 2023. The two notes mentioned his weight, cholesterol levels and physical condition. Fat percentage in 2019 and 2023. The results showed that Goyal dropped from 87 kg in 2019 to 72 kg in 2023. Goyal was also able to reduce cholesterol levels and body fat percentage levels within four years.
- His family and friends fondly call him Deepi and DG.
- He lives in Gurgaon, Haryana.
- Deepinder is fluent in three languages - English, Hindi and Punjabi.
- As a child, Deepinder stuttered when speaking. Even now, he often encounters speech impediments when talking.
- In an interview, Deepinder attributed his success entirely to his first employer, saying:
I’d love to go back to Bain if necessary. Counseling is really great because it teaches you how to think, talk, and communicate. Communication is the one thing they get to know you deeply, and it’s one of the most important things when you’re leading a team or building a business. I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t been trained by Bain & Company. “
- In an interview, a Zomato employee mentioned that Deepinder usually occupies a workspace in a corner of a spacious desk in an open-plan office environment. The area is shared with at least four other colleagues.
- Deepinder revealed in an interview that he started a startup because he didn’t want to compete. He said,
I started a startup because I didn’t want to be part of the rat race. For me, it’s about being able to chart your own path and I’m not comparing myself to anyone else. I think this comparison is a negative thing. “
- In the process of choosing a name for their brand, when Deepinder searched for domain names, he found that “Zomato” was priced at $10,000, while another option, “Forkwise,” was priced at $10. Deepinder expressed to investors that he preferred “Forkwise” because he believed spending $10,000 on a domain was an unnecessary expense. Nonetheless, with some encouragement from investors, he finally decided to choose “Zomato” as their brand name.
- After the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, he donated shares worth Rs 7 billion to the Zomato Future Foundation. This move is intended to support the education of his birth partner’s offspring.
- In 2023, he unveiled plans to set up “rest points” – dedicated infrastructure for gig economy workers, including not just Zomato’s employees but also those from various other companies. He announced Project Sanctuary via a social media post,
We’ve begun building public infrastructure, called break points, to support the entire gig economy and companies’ delivery partners. “
- Apparently, Blinkit founder Albinder Dhindsa is Deepinder’s classmate. Dinsa helped Goyal study so that he could pass the board exams.
- Deepinder Goyal follows a non-vegetarian diet.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education