Indian techie accused by 5 US CEOs of scamming startups: What did he do?

Business Standard

a day ago

At least five CEOs of US-based companies have warned startups against an Indian techie, accusing him of being a 'scammer'. Reason - the techie, Soham Parekh, had been moonlighting multiple firms.
The issue was first highlighted by Suhail Doshi, the co-founder and former CEO of Mixpanel, who said that Parekh had been scamming multiple startups by working there simultaneously under false pretences.
In a post on X, Doshi revealed that Parekh had been employed briefly at his company, Playground AI, but was let go within a week due to his dishonest behaviour. Doshi said he had cautioned Parekh to stop moonlighting at multiple companies but found that his warning was ignored. Despite being fired, Doshi claims that Parekh continued to take on multiple roles in different startups.
'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,' Doshi wrote. '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.'
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
Ex-employee's CV shared by Doshi
To substantiate his claims, Doshi posted Parekh's CV on X, which listed his work at various startups, including Dynamo AI, Union AI, Synthesia, and Alan AI, in technical roles.
Parekh's CV claims a bachelor's from the University of Mumbai and a master's from Georgia Tech, but Doshi cast doubt on the document's legitimacy, saying it was 'probably 90 per cent fake'.
Doshi also mentioned that he had tried to have a conversation with Parekh in an attempt to make him understand the impact of his actions. 'I want to also say that I tried to talk sense into this guy, explain the impact, and give him a chance to turn a new leaf because sometimes that's what a person needs. But it clearly didn't work,' Doshi explained.
He further confirmed that he had corroborated his story with more than six companies before deciding to make his accusations public.
'He's been doing this for years'
The post sparked debate on social media, with many supporting Doshi's claims and some confirming similar experiences with Parekh. Nicolai Ouporov, co-founder and CEO of Fleet AI, added to the conversation by saying, 'He has been doing this for years and works at more than 4 startups at any given time.'
Justin Harvey, co-founder of AIVideo, shared, 'I was THIS close to hiring him. The craziest part is he actually crushed the interview.' Another startup founder, Adish Jain, confirmed, 'Can confirm. This guy wasted our time for a month. did great in interviews. but he's a liar.'
Matthew Parkhurst, CEO of Antimetal, said 'Soham was our first engineering hire in 2022. Really smart and likable... We realized pretty quickly that he was working at multiple companies and let him go.'
Adish Jain, founder of San Francisco-based Mosaic, also confirmed Doshi's account. According to him, Parekh did 'great' in interviews, but "he's a liar".
Michelle Lim, product head at Warp, said Parekh had been hired for a trial but the engagement was cancelled after allegations surfaced.