Soham Parekh, an India-based software engineer, has shocked Silicon Valley after it was revealed that he had been secretly working for multiple startups simultaneously for several years.

 

Once the truth came to light, all of his employers promptly fired him.

 

It was Suhail Doshi, CEO of image generation startup Playground AI, who warned other companies on X about Parekh’s scheme. Doshi wrote, “There’s a guy named Soham Parekh who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He’s been preying on YC companies and more. Beware.”

 

His post went viral, receiving nearly 20 million views and prompting other founders to share similar experiences.

 

Flo Crivello, CEO of Lindy, said he had recently hired Parekh but fired him after seeing Doshi’s post. Matt Parkhurst, CEO of Antimetal, revealed that Parekh was their first engineering hire in 2022 and that they also fired him after discovering he was moonlighting. Sync Labs and other Y Combinator-backed startups, including Pally AI and Mosaic, also had run-ins with Parekh.

 

Despite the deception, many CEOs admitted that Parekh was an impressive candidate and excelled in technical interviews. At Reworkd, he was among the top performers but raised suspicions when it turned out he was based in India, not the US as he had claimed. Some founders said his GitHub activity and job history often didn’t add up.

 

In an interview on the Technology Business Programming Network, Parekh admitted he had been juggling multiple jobs since 2022. He claimed he did all the work himself without using AI or junior engineers, sometimes working up to 140 hours a week. Parekh said he took on so many roles because he was in “financial jeopardy” and had deferred his plans for graduate school.

 

When asked why he didn’t negotiate a better salary instead of secretly working several jobs, Parekh said he preferred to keep his professional and personal lives separate. He admitted he is not proud of what he did and doesn’t recommend it.

 

Meanwhile, social media users have been quick to weigh in on the situation, with reactions ranging from criticism to begrudging admiration.

 

One user wrote, “You just made Soham superstar of the year!” Another said, “How does he keep getting hired?” Others joked, “Come on man. Leave Soham jobs for the rest of us” and “I’m actually impressed he gets hired so much, he must be amazing at interviews!”

 

Some people are calling Parekh a scammer and a liar, but true to Silicon Valley style, he seems to be trying to turn his sudden fame into a business opportunity.