Why did Soham Parekh work multiple jobs? Indian techie shares his reasons

India Today

6 hours ago

Soham Parekh, the Indian tech professional based in the United States, who has been in the news for the past few days has spoken out about why he took up multiple jobs at the same time across US startups.In a recent interview, he admitted to the allegations but explained that his actions were driven by financial pressure, not greed.PAREKH ADMITS TO HOLDING MULTIPLE JOBSIn a candid appearance on a TBPN show, Parekh did not shy away when asked if the claims were true. 'It is true,' he said clearly. 'I would surely like to add colour to it, but it is true.'He confirmed that he worked at several companies simultaneously and misrepresented his location and employment status in the process.NECESSITY, NOT PROFIT, SAYS PAREKHWhile many have accused him of wrongdoing for personal gain, Parekh insisted that his actions were not motivated by profit.'No one really likes to work 140 hours a week, but I had to do it out of necessity,' he explained. He said the decision was made during a difficult time, where survival and financial stability were his main priorities.When asked whether he believed he had broken any laws, Parekh said he accepted full responsibility. 'I'm not proud of what I've done. It's not something I endorse either,' he said. 'I did what I had to do to get out of a tough situation.'He also denied accusations that he had taken advantage of junior developers while holding multiple jobs. 'That's simply not true,' he stated firmly.SOCIAL MEDIA REACTS TO VIRAL VIDEOParekh's interview has gone viral online, sparking strong opinions. Some supported him, saying companies today are unreliable due to frequent layoffs. 'There's nothing wrong in working for multiple companies at the same time if he's delivering results,' one user wrote. 'Everyone needs to have multiple jobs.'Another user commented, 'If anyone is going to be the first one-person unicorn, it'll be Soham Parekh.' A third added, 'Film directors are probably scrambling to get as much as they can out of this.' Others, however, were not convinced. 'Again putting people in a guilt trip citing his personal financial situation total BS,' one critic said.WHO IS SOHAM PAREKH?Parekh is originally from Mumbai and had plans to move to the US in 2018 to pursue higher studies. But financial issues delayed his move. He finally shifted to the US in 2020. He earned his undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Mumbai in 2020 and later completed a Master's in Computer Science from Georgia Tech in 2022.He came into the spotlight after Suhail Doshi, co-founder of analytics firm Mixpanel, posted on social media accusing him of 'scamming US startups.' Doshi alleged that Parekh was employed at four to five startups at the same time, many of them backed by the startup accelerator Y Combinator, while actually working remotely from India.Despite the criticism, Parekh says he has learned from his actions and does not plan to repeat the same mistakes. 'I was determined to change my situation, and I took action to help myself through it,' he said, taking full responsibility for the decisions he made.- EndsTrending Reel
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