Rahul Yadav, the erstwhile CEO of Housing.com, has come out in support of the beleaguered TinyOwl cofounders. The cofounding team of TinyOwl has been under fire over its recent layoffs, and one cofounder was held hostage in its Pune office for over 2 days by irate employees. However, Rahul Yadav, who’s no stranger to controversy himself, had words of encouragement for the TinyOwl team.
“Seems like Powai Valley is feeling low. Come on guys! Expecting to build a nation wide food delivery company in just 24 months in a country where f**king internet lease line sometimes take 6 months is no joke! On a roller coaster ride, you not just enjoy highs but lows as well! Have fun man 🙂 and #FTW!”, read his Facebook status.
TinyOwl, like Housing, is an IIT Bombay startup and its cofounders are Yadav’s juniors from college. Both Housing and TinyOwl are based out of the Supreme Towers in Hiranandani, Mumbai. Housing is also going through a rough patch, having announced 200 layoffs yesterday, bringing its total to 800 in the last 3 months.
Housing and TinyOwl were the stars of the Mumbai and IIT Bombay startup ecosystems, and their layoffs have the community concerned. Mumbai entrepreneurs are particularly concerned about the treatment meted out to Gaurav Choudhary, who was held hostage by employees at TinyOwl’s Pune office, and had to call the police for protection. After announcing the layoffs, the other founders of TinyOwl had been unreachable with their phones switched off.