A job posting demanding 12-hour office days, round-the-clock availability, and a three-year commitment has ignited fresh debate about Silicon Valley’s escalating hustle culture. The role: chief of staff to billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla.
Khosla Ventures, which has backed OpenAI, Stripe, and DoorDash, published the requirements with striking bluntness. Ryan Batra, the firm’s vice president of talent, wrote on LinkedIn that anyone needing “predictable hours, a defined playbook, or frequent direction” need not apply.
The listing has drawn both admiration and alarm across the tech world. Eight Sleep founder Matteo Franceschetti said he would pursue the position himself if not already occupied. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian described it as potentially life-changing. Others saw something closer to indentured servitude.
The posting arrives as artificial intelligence pushes industry work expectations to new extremes. Young AI founders promote “9-9-6” schedules: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days weekly. Insurance startup Corgi has required multi-day work trials to test candidate stamina. Another startup, LemonLime, offered interviews to anyone willing to get a company tattoo.
Margaret O’Mara, a University of Washington history professor who studies the high-tech economy, called the explicit demands “saying the quiet part out loud.” The no-hire job market has emboldened employers to make such asks publicly, according to Raheela Anwar, CEO of Group 360 Consulting.
Meanwhile, the chief of staff position itself promises a fast track to executive leadership. Khosla described the role as a “believed partner” who will evaluate investments and work with portfolio companies. “What matters is how quickly you learn, the questions you ask, and whether you can think from first principles,” he posted on X.
Jason Fried, CEO of 37signals and a frequent critic of tech overwork, defended the listing. “The expectations are very clear,” he said. “If I was 25, maybe it’d be the best thing in the world.”
No salary range appeared in the posting. Khosla Ventures expects more than 1,000 applications, a spokeswoman said. Late Friday, Khosla clarified on X: “This job has no specific hours requirement but is intense. I work 80 hours/week and this person needs to keep up.”
Former chief of staff Hesam Motlagh, who held the role from 2021 to 2023, called it “an amazing learning experience” that outweighed the demands.
