“We are living in interesting times,” tweeted Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Sekhar Sharma on Tuesday, a day before the video of his overly passionate speech at the Paytm annual party went viral on social media. With demonetisation propelling Paytm into a success unimagined like never before, it surely is interesting times for the Paytm team and they are making the best of it. Which justifies why Sharma could be so charged up in the video, dancing and shouting as he gives a pep talk to his employees, and spares the sarcasm for his competitors.
“2017 will be ours,” he screams out. And why not? In the first week after demonetisation, the company touched a record five million transactions a day. The stupendous success of Paytm from there on is now part of startup folklore. Sharma made sure he was shouting as loud as he possibly could when he said, “Jo hamare saath nahin hein who royenge [Those who are not with us will cry]. Sharma's seemingly heady speech, however, has triggered wide criticism on social media. While some call it sheer arrogance and others compare it the Wolf of Wall Street performance, a whole lot of social media users feel that such behaviour is unbecoming for a CEO. Whatever happened to CEO etiquette and flamboyant language?
While Sharma is not the first CEO of a company to give a pep talk in one of the most uninhibited ways, he certainly overstepped the line by using cuss words on stage.
At an event privately held for Paytm employees, Sharma, who is generally seen sporting a bubbly smile, busted societal restrictions and moral code to bare his true emotions. In the video, he certainly looks high on something more than just success, but would he have behaved the same otherwise is a question.
Some social media users even compared him to former CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, who is famous for his on-stage performances during the company's launch events. At the launch of the Windows 95, Ballmer even got Bill Gates to shake a leg along with him on stage. Sadly, those were not the days of social media and viral footage.
Some tweeteratis took a dig at Sharma, saying that Paytm's overnight success has nothing to do with his hardwork, but demonetisation. Well, no hard feelings people. The chap just got lucky, and that's how it works in the real world. Some take off, some don't. So, let's just calm down and let the man celebrate. I guess all those startup folks out there, struggling to make things work, can relate to the joy that Sharma feels at the moment.
