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Bengaluru AI Startup Seeks 60–80-Hour Weeks, Founder Defends Demand

The founder said compensation details would be disclosed only to shortlisted applicants.

Overview

  • Runable co-founder Umesh Kumar posted on X seeking an on-site Bengaluru full-time or intern engineer willing to work six days and pull 60–80 hours weekly with skills in JavaScript/TypeScript and large language models.
  • The listing drew heavy pushback over health and feasibility, with users invoking Infosys’s past long-hours debate by asking if he was Narayana Murthy, to which Kumar replied that he had recently met Nandan Nilekani.
  • Kumar told Hindustan Times he views one’s 20s as a time to push limits to learn fast and argued that choosing not to work 60–80 hours then makes later complaints about opportunity unfair.
  • Users questioned the absence of pay details, and Kumar said he left compensation out intentionally, adding he would reveal the structure to candidates who agree to the terms and hinting at pay in a reply about interns buying an iPhone 17 Pro.
  • Coverage notes the post remains a flashpoint on social media with no public change to the requirements reported.