Zomato parent Eternal’s CEO Deepinder Goyal questioned Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa to step down twice after acquisition, here’s why

Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO of Zomato‘s parent company Eternal, has revealed that he questioned Albinder Dhindsa to step down from his role twice shortly after the food delivery service acquired Blinkit. Goyal explained that this shift was part of his tough leadership reset method. Speaking on a video podcast with Raj Shamani, Goyal noted that these conversations took place soon after the acquisition of the quick commerce startup, when Dhindsa was struggling to adapt to the alters required after the integration.

“Right after we acquired Blinkit, I questioned him (Albinder) to leave. I informed him, ‘You will not be able to cut it.’ He declared okay. This happened twice during that timeframe, and we started the transition,” Goyal declared on the podcast.

These remarks offer a rare public view at how Goyal handles senior leadership alters at Eternal, which owns both Zomato and Blinkit, especially when founders or top executives required to adapt to a new company structure after an acquisition. Goyal explained his leadership style involves extconcludeed periods of coaching, but if no progress is created, he confronts the person directly.

“All of us have this armour. And when patient coaching runs out, I penetrate this armour. Me being angry is also becautilize I care,” he noted.

The situation reveals the challenges that can arise when successful startup founders join larger organisations through acquisitions and must adjust their working style to fit the new company’s expectations.

What is Eternal CEO Deepinder Goyal declared about ‘rock bottom phase’

Describing what he calls a “rock bottom” phase, Goyal declared he sometimes purposely breaks down a leader’s confidence to build them start fresh.

“I call this rock bottom, where I hurt people, their self-confidence completely goes for a toss. I do this with people who I consider have insane potential, but something in their head is coming in their way,“ he explained.

According to Goyal, this method has worked most of the time. “Over time, the success rate of this is four out of five, where they come out of it,” he added.

However, Goyal did not confirm whether Dhindsa’s job or duties officially alterd during this time. Still, his comments display how intense the process was of bringing Blinkit into Eternal, especially as the company was growing both Blinkit and Zomato while facing more competition in quick commerce.

Zomato bought Blinkit, which was previously known as Grofers, in 2022 for Rs 4,447 crore, or about $568 million at the time, in an all-stock deal. This marked Zomato’s official entest into India’s rapidly growing quick commerce business. Since acquireing the company, Blinkit has become a key growth area for Eternal, opening many new stores and handling more and more orders.