In the fast-paced and often secretive world of tech startups, one name has unexpectedly captured the attention of the global startup ecosystem this week: Soham Parekh. An Indian engineer, Parekh has been accused of secretly holding multiple full-time jobs at the same time across various US-based startups, sparking controversy and debate about work ethics in remote settings. What initially began as a social media warning has now grown into a full-blown scandal, with industry veterans, founders, and observers weighing in.
Soham Parekh first entered the public spotlight when Suhail Doshi, the co-founder and former CEO of Mixpanel, posted a series of statements on X (formerly known as Twitter). In his post, Doshi directly accused Parekh of working simultaneously for three to four early-stage companies, including those backed by Y Combinator. Doshi also shared what he claimed to be Parekh’s resume and warned other startups to be cautious.
PSA: there’s a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He’s been preying on YC companies and more. Beware.
I fired this guy in his first week and told him to stop lying / scamming people. He hasn’t stopped a year later. No more excuses.
— Suhail (@Suhail) July 2, 2025
🚨 Soham Parekh, an Indian software engineer, has become the focus of a major controversy in the global tech industry after being accused of moonlighting secretly holding multiple jobs at several US-based startups. pic.twitter.com/NgKNZqChot
— Indian Tech & Infra (@IndianTechGuide) July 4, 2025
According to Doshi, Parekh had been hired briefly at one of his ventures but was quickly dismissed when he allegedly failed to deliver any meaningful output and was found to be misrepresenting his commitments. Doshi described his own attempt to speak to Parekh in private, hoping to give him a chance to correct his behavior. However, the situation did not improve, prompting the public post.
Soham Parekh showing up to work at 5 different companies on the same day pic.twitter.com/QwqY2TbFVI
— Karma (@0xkrma) July 3, 2025
The post gained widespread attention in a matter of hours. Doshi’s statements quickly amassed millions of views and sparked discussion on work ethics, honesty in hiring, and the grey areas surrounding remote job arrangements. Soon after, several other startup founders joined the conversation, some sharing their own brief experiences with Parekh, indicating a pattern of quick hires followed by poor performance or sudden disappearances.
Soham Parekh is just the tip of the iceberg, just like this Redditor pulling $800k a yr working 5 jobs.
r/overemployed is a ~500k community where people just maniacally discuss this.
There are 1000s of Soham Parekhs we don’t know about. pic.twitter.com/UKyH7uqRUf
— Deedy (@deedydas) July 2, 2025
The resume shared online listed a number of reputed tech companies, including Dynamo AI, Synthesia, Alan AI, and Union AI. Most of these roles were described as engineering or technical positions. Suhail Doshi and others suggested that much of this resume could be exaggerated or entirely fabricated. Screenshots showed broken links and vague descriptions, raising further questions about Parekh’s past work.
POV: you’re Soham Parekh about to check in for the day pic.twitter.com/Dzn2nZ9JYb
— VCs Congratulating Themselves 👏👏👏 (@VCBrags) July 2, 2025
Parekh, however, did not remain silent. On July 3, 2025, he posted his own response on X. In a lengthy message, he defended his character, suggesting that most people do not understand the full story. According to him, he had been excluded and ignored by most of his peers and employers. His passion, he said, lies in building things. This passion, he claimed, had been misjudged or overlooked.
Best comment dropped on Soham Parekh’s lore pic.twitter.com/9wDPV40KJK
— Tensorian Legend (@Tensorianlegend) July 3, 2025
In the same message, Parekh announced that he had signed an exclusive agreement to work as a founding engineer at a new video AI startup. He described the team as one that supports unconventional thinkers and promised a product launch by the end of the month. He ended his message with a tone of frustration, expressing that he has something to prove now more than ever.
soham parekh logging in to work pic.twitter.com/Awwdr3Bh2m
— hacunha matata (@amrtsh) July 3, 2025
While Parekh’s response received some sympathy, particularly from those who believe moonlighting is acceptable if one meets performance targets, others remained critical. Many tech professionals pointed out that the issue wasn’t just about working multiple jobs. The primary concern was deception—faking updates, lying to different teams, and failing to deliver. In Doshi’s words, “It wasn’t just moonlighting. It was lying, faking progress, and deceiving multiple employers at once.”
Soham Parekh pic.twitter.com/1tVEr7kXXl
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) July 2, 2025
The situation escalated further when Parekh appeared for an interview on TBPN. There, he confirmed the allegations of working multiple jobs at once. He did not deny the claims. Instead, he explained that he had taken on several roles out of financial need. According to Parekh, he had initially planned to move to the US in 2018 for higher studies but ended up doing so only in 2020 due to personal and financial setbacks. These setbacks, he said, pushed him into difficult economic circumstances.
In his own words, Parekh said, “I’m not proud of what I’ve done. That’s not something I endorse either. But no one really likes to work 140 hours a week. I had to do it out of necessity.”
Parekh’s statement confirmed that he had breached contracts and ethical standards but tried to draw attention to his own struggles as the motivation behind his actions. He admitted that the work pressure had taken a toll on him and described himself as someone who does not open up easily to others about personal challenges.
The hashtag #SohamGate soon began trending on social media, particularly in Indian tech circles. Memes and jokes circulated widely, but so did serious discussions about transparency in hiring and how remote working arrangements have changed traditional expectations. The case has stirred emotions, with some seeing Parekh as a scammer and others as a desperate engineer trying to escape poverty through extreme measures.
Founders sharing Soham Parekh meetings screenshots like girls share screenshots when they find out the same guy was cheating on them with others
— Sarvagya Kulshreshtha (@sarvagya_kul) July 3, 2025
At the heart of the issue is a broader question about the changing nature of employment in the tech sector. With remote work and international hiring becoming more common, trust between employer and employee has become both more important and more difficult to maintain. Startups, especially those in their early stages, often depend heavily on small, reliable teams. When one member fails to perform, it affects the entire company.
This incident also underscores the need for startups to carry out more detailed background checks, and perhaps re-evaluate how they manage and monitor remote employees. On the other hand, it brings attention to the pressures many engineers face, particularly immigrants or international workers, who may find themselves in difficult positions and unable to speak openly about their problems.
if your CEO doesn’t have a soham parekh email in their inbox it’s time to start polishing your resume pic.twitter.com/riIEayyXYp
— varepsilon (@var_epsilon) July 2, 2025
🤖 AI: I can’t build 25 features in parallel for 7 different products.
Me: Soham Parekh was able to do this in his bedroom with a laptop. pic.twitter.com/ciqw0u7CNE
— Imran Khan (@EhThing) July 3, 2025
BREAKING: Soham Parekh is now running for mayor of New York, Boston, and Los Angeles pic.twitter.com/HS3GTLVhxS
— Jovian Gautama 劉恆原 (@jovvvian) July 3, 2025
on soham parekh:
he’s either good enough to work all of these jobs and meet the bar, in which case why fire him and deprive yourself of a good employee
or
the companies that hire him are so mismanaged they don’t see a guy doing 0 work
either way is a self report
— Rhys (@RhysSullivan) July 2, 2025
There are no LLMs it’s just Soham Parekh responding to every query himself
— vas (@vasumanmoza) July 2, 2025
We hired Soham Parekh and let him go after 2 weeks.
Crushed the coding interviews. Said all the right things (screenshot below).
Easily the most impressive scam I’ve seen and unfortunately been part of. pic.twitter.com/j4gg47VyxV
— Rohit Shenoy (@realrohitshenoy) July 4, 2025
