Daksh Gupta is a 23-year-old Indian-origin founder of San Francisco-based AI startup Greptile. Recently he has become the poster child for grind culture after publicly backing a strict 9-9-6 trend.
He openly said that his startup thrives on a "no work-life balance" regime, with rules like "no drinking, no drugs" and a schedule that runs from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week.
Gupta insists he is transparent with potential hires about this ethos, framing it as a temporary necessity for a startup to hit "escape velocity". He believes when two equally smart teams chase the same goal, the one that "works harder and is luckier" wins.
Photo: Daksh Gupta
His stance has drawn comparisons to Narayana Murthy's infamous call for 70-hour workweeks, earning him the tag of being the "Gen Z Narayana Murthy".
Gupta is not alone. 75 hard. 70-hour workweek. Hustle. Trends like this indicate that burning out your body while working is becoming the new cool for some.
What 9-9-6 Really Means
The 9-9-6 model is shorthand for working 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. That's 72 hours - far beyond normal working standards. Following the trend also means no drinking, drugs, and focus on just the hustle.
The roots of 9-9-6 lie in China's rapid growth years, with Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma becoming its most prominent and controversial proponent. The trend grew when speed-to-market pressures and rigid hierarchies led leaders to glorify long hours as a competitive advantage. According to several news websites, various organisations have adopted the 9-9-6 work culture. The list includes at 40 companies including 58.com, ByteDance, JD.com, Huawei and Alibaba Group and more.
But the backlash has been equally fierce: from GitHub protests to government rulings and global scrutiny. By 2019, the backlash had gone global with the 9-9-6.ICU protest on GitHub, which argued that this culture sends employees "to the ICU" sooner or later.
Cases in Chinese courts have even ordered reinstatements and compensation for employees punished for refusing 9-9-6, and deaths during extreme overtime have been treated as work-related and compensable. This shows how serious the risks are, not just for individuals but for employers' legal standing too.
It directly violates China's own labour laws (ahem), which cap weekly working hours and demand proper overtime pay. In 2021, China's Supreme People's Court ruled that 9-9-6 is illegal, reinforcing years of pushback from workers who labelled it "modern slavery."
Unlike Murthy's time, this is an era where young workers increasingly reject overwork. Gupta's posts and interviews have triggered intense backlash, with critics calling such policies exploitative and unsustainable. While he says he's received threats, he has also received job applications from those willing to sign up for his model.
The debate has put him at the centre of a global conversation: is extreme overwork a recipe for success or a guaranteed path to burnout? We tried to find out.
Why It Is Toxic
Working more than 55 hours a week is already proven dangerous. Duh.
A joint WHO and ILO study found that such hours increase stroke risk by 35% and heart disease risk by 17% compared to a 40-hour week. 9-9-6 goes far beyond that, compounding risks of cardiovascular problems, sleep disorders, stress, and musculoskeletal pain.
It also fuels burnout, family breakdown, and mental health crises. Productivity doesn't actually increase either, mistakes go up, decision-making quality goes down, and even employers end up losing more than they gain.
Why It Doesn't Work For Salaried Staff At All
Gupta's defence of 9-9-6 echoes the mindset of a founder. For entrepreneurs, extreme hours may seem like a trade-off: sacrifice health now for a chance at equity-driven success later. But salaried employees don't get that upside. They shoulder the health costs and family strain, without ownership or decision-making power.
In office settings, 9-9-6 simply breeds attrition. Talented workers, especially younger generations, are increasingly choosing to "lie flat" or quietly quit rather than burn themselves out for a company that won't reward them proportionally.
Photo: Unsplash
Employers trying to enforce such hours risk high turnover, reputational damage, and even legal trouble.
The Gen Z Narayana Murthy
When Narayana Murthy said young Indians should work 70 hours a week, he was speaking from the perspective of someone who built Infosys from scratch. Gupta's harsher stance takes that argument even further, framing 72-84-hour weeks as a "rocket launch" stage for startups.
After his take on 9-9-6 went viral, Gupta shared a blog on his company's site on Wednesday, "Greptile's work culture follows from our goals. To win, we must quickly build the best product for the most customers. A common misrepresentation of our culture is that I tell people to work 72/84/90 hours a week. Not only do I not do that, it wouldn't even work if I tried."
But biology doesn't bend for anyone. Sleep deprivation, chronic stress, and exhaustion affect creativity and judgment - the very things entrepreneurs need most. Even for founders, 9-9-6 is not sustainable in the long run. It may work for short sprints, but extended grind culture erodes both the individual and the company.
What's The Better Way
Public health experts and workplace researchers agree: productivity should be measured in outcome, not hours. Protecting recovery time, enforcing legal limits, and distributing workloads fairly make teams healthier and sharper.
If companies genuinely need more capacity, they should hire more people or stagger shifts, stretching employees past their limits is counterproductive.
Gupta's "Gen-Z Narayana Murthy" image may appeal to those chasing a romantic idea of hustle, but the reality is harsh: 9-9-6 is a health hazard, a legal risk, and a productivity trap. For founders, it may sometimes serve as a short-term sprint. For salaried employees, it's nothing but exploitation.