This extract follows Goyal’s early years in Punjab, tracing how his family, education, and experiences of insecurity and self-doubt shaped his relentless drive to build.

Born into a family of farmers, Harbans Lal Goyal grew up in a quaint village in Punjab called Lambwali. His childhood smelled of fresh earth after the rains, wheat ripening under the sun and laughter as he played with his siblings. He dreamed of becoming a doctor but settled for being a biology teacher, choosing stability over ambition. His wife, Kaushalya, taught English and shared his belief in education as liberation. Together they raised their sons, Geetinder and Deepinder, in Muktsar — a town still healing from Punjab’s turbulent 1980s. Theirs was a home where books mattered more than money.

Deepinder’s childhood was marked by contrast — sheltered from the violence that surrounded his family yet scarred by personal insecurities. He stammered, was bullied for his appearance, and constantly compared to his studious elder brother. The teasing left its mark. He withdrew inward, developing a fierce determination to prove his worth. “Even now,” he would later admit, “I hate being compared to others.” Unknown to his family, he was also living with undiagnosed Asperger’s Syndrome, which shaped how he perceived and processed the world.

In school, an unexpected incident changed everything. A teacher once leaked him answers during an exam, propelling him to third place in class. The new attention that followed — the praise, the validation — was addictive. When that teacher left, Deepinder panicked, studying obsessively to retain his standing. He discovered the power of focused effort and ranked first by the year’s end. “Success,” he realised, “didn’t need endless hours. It needed focus.”

In Chandigarh, he met Albinder Dhindsa — his future co-founder at Blinkit — during an NTSE camp. They bonded instantly. Both outsiders, both restless, they studied for IIT together. After scraping into the lowest batch, they decided to take the exam “for experience” — and both cracked it. At IIT Delhi, Deepinder fell in love with Kanchan Joshi, a mathematics student, and later married her. The entrepreneurial spark flickered early. He built small web sites, sold code, and brainstormed ventures that failed fast but taught him faster. One of these ideas, Foodlet.com, was the precursor to Zomato.

After graduation, he joined Bain & Company in Gurugram, where a daily cafeteria problem — long queues and crumpled menus — sparked the idea that would change his life. On 26 January 2008, his 25th birthday, he launched Foodlet.in, soon renamed Foodiebay.com. It began with scanned menus shared among colleagues. When co-worker Pankaj Chaddah helped promote it internally, traffic soared, and Bain’s cafeteria hack became India’s first restaurant discovery platform.

By the end of 2009, Foodiebay had listings across three cities. Deepinder quit Bain, infuriating his father, who feared his son was gambling away stability. Pankaj took a leave of absence to join him full time. They borrowed ₹2 lakh from family and set up shop in their living room. Kanchan cooked for the team, her sister Mehak handled menus, and IIT junior Gunjan Patidar coded late into the night. It was messy, improvised, and full of heart. But when Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani discovered the site and offered a $1 million investment, Foodiebay became Zomato—and a new chapter began.

Becoming Eternal – Beyond Food, Toward Legacy

This extract traces Zomato’s transformation into ‘Eternal Ltd’, as it expanded beyond food delivery into supply chains, entertainment, and enduring purpose.

It was the morning of an internal bootcamp when Deepinder asked the room, “Who here is afraid of failure?” Every hand went up. “By avoiding small failures, we’re missing big opportunities,” he said. That moment captured Zomato’s next evolution. The company’s journey beyond restaurants had begun years earlier with its acquisition of WOTU — a small Bengaluru start-up that organised fresh produce supply chains. That venture became Hyperpure, Zomato’s gateway into sourcing ingredients for restaurants. “If Zomato served diners, Hyperpure served chefs,” said one insider. It brought consistency, transparency, and a foothold in the messy, invisible world behind the plate.

Then came Blinkit, the quick-commerce platform that added speed to Zomato’s scale. In 2024, the company bought Paytm Insider’s events arm, merging it with Zomato Live to form District — a single playground for dining, music, and experiences. For Deepinder, District wasn’t another app; it was an ecosystem where India could eat, meet, and celebrate under one umbrella.

Each acquisition added a dimension — Hyperpure grounded Zomato, Blinkit gave it velocity, and District expanded its cultural reach. Together they shaped what Deepinder began calling “Eternal” — a long-term vision that transcended quarterly results. In February 2025, Zomato Ltd officially rebranded as Eternal Ltd, marking its entry into the BSE Sensex 17 after its founding. In his letter to shareholders, Deepinder wrote: “Becoming the first tech start-up in India to make it to the Sensex is a moment of pride and reflection. It brings with it a responsibility — towards the people we serve, the people who build with us, and the country we live in.”

For him, “Eternal” wasn’t a corporate identity — it was a philosophy. To build something that outlasted hype, cycles, and even its founder. What began as Foodiebay in a Gurugram apartment had become a national symbol of reinvention. From scanned menus to supply chains, from delivery bikes to public markets, the company had moved from speed to sustainability. “We’ve broken some ice,” Deepinder told his team. “Now we need to build for generations.”

(Excerpted with permission from Penguin Random House India)

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Published on October 31, 2025