Who is Soham Parekh, the Indian techie accused by 5 CEOs of moonlighting for several companies? A look at his amazing educational qualifications

Time of India

6 hours ago

— Suhail (@Suhail)
More Startups Speak Out
Positive First Impressions, Damaging Revelations
The Pattern Repeats: A Troubling Trend Emerges
Anonymous Voices Confirm the Deception
Educational Background: A Solid Foundation
— Suhail (@Suhail)
A Sobering Lesson for Startups
A techie has become Silicon Valley's worst nightmare. Once considered a promising talent in the tech sphere, Soham Parekh is now at the center of a major scandal. The uproar began when Suhail Doshi , co-founder and former CEO of analytics platform Mixpanel, alleged on social media that Parekh had been fraudulently employed at multiple startups at the same time. Doshi's initial post on X (formerly Twitter) quickly gathered momentum, triggering a cascade of similar claims and reactions from the tech community."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," read his post. It has since crossed 10 million views and 14K likes on X.Within hours of Doshi's public accusation, others began chiming in with their own accounts of interactions with Parekh. What started as a single red flag soon evolved into a full-blown exposé, with founders, engineers, and hiring managers from across Silicon Valley accusing Parekh of manipulating job opportunities for personal gain.Following Doshi's viral post, he shared multiple messages allegedly sent to him by professionals who had encountered Parekh. One message came from an engineer who mentioned that their company had planned to start a work trial with Parekh the following week. After seeing Doshi's claims, they promptly cancelled it. Another company representative reported that they were in the final stages of hiring Parekh but decided to confront him with the allegations instead.At least five other companies have come forward, claiming that they too were deceived by Parekh. Many admitted that he left a strong impression during interviews—exhibiting deep technical knowledge and persuasive communication skills—which made it easy for him to earn their trust initially.Flo Crivello, founder and CEO of AI assistant startup Lindy, disclosed that Parekh had joined their team just a week prior. Crivello acknowledged Parekh's impressive performance during interviews. According to notes from his hiring round, Parekh mentioned leaving his previous job at Antimetal because of inconvenient time zones and a shift in the company's business direction, which he claimed no longer aligned with his interests.Matthew Parkhurst, CEO of Antimetal, verified that Parekh was indeed their first engineering hire back in 2022. Parkhurst described him as bright and well-liked. However, the illusion didn't last long. They soon discovered that Parekh was also working for several other companies simultaneously and decided to terminate his employment.Another tech founder, Nicolai Ouporov of Fleet AI, also confirmed that Parekh had worked for them. Fleet AI was listed on Parekh's publicly shared resume, which Doshi had posted to bolster his claims. Ouporov stated that Parekh had a habit of juggling multiple startup roles at once, something considered unethical in the close-knit startup ecosystem.San Francisco-based entrepreneur Adish Jain, who founded the productivity tool Mosaic, backed Doshi's assertions and shared that Parekh had also impressed during interviews with his firm. Michelle Lim, who leads product development at the startup Warp, revealed that they had recruited Parekh for a work trial, which was cancelled as soon as the allegations surfaced.Despite the growing number of accusations, Parekh has not made any public statements addressing the controversy. Doshi, however, mentioned that Parekh had reached out to him privately, allegedly expressing remorse over the situation.On Hacker News, an online forum frequented by tech professionals, several unidentified startup founders and engineers shared similar experiences. One individual claimed that Parekh's engineering abilities were exceptional—among the top percentile of candidates. However, they said once work began, Parekh frequently missed meetings and delayed projects, often offering elaborate excuses. These inconsistencies eventually exposed that he was not committed to a single employer.Another user recalled that during Parekh's trial period, he showed up in person but often left mid-day, citing appointments with lawyers or personal obligations. Yet another commented that they noticed Parekh's LinkedIn profile listed multiple concurrent roles, including theirs. At first, they assumed these were old internships or overlapping freelance gigs. It wasn't until later that they realized he was actively working for all of them at the same time.According to a résumé shared by Doshi, Soham Parekh holds a Bachelor's degree in computer engineering from the University of Mumbai. He had top-notch grades with a GPA of 9.83 out of 10. He also pursued higher studies in the United States, earning a Master's degree in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. These academic credentials added further credibility to his professional profile, enabling him to gain quick acceptance in competitive startup environments.Soham Parekh's rise and fall has stirred widespread conversations about hiring practices, remote work, and trust in the startup world. While many agree that he possesses undeniable technical talent, his alleged conduct has raised ethical concerns that Silicon Valley cannot ignore. Startups, known for their agility and informal culture, may now feel the need to tighten vetting processes and reconsider how they assess commitment in a remote-first world. For now, Parekh remains silent publicly, but the tech industry is still grappling with the implications of what some have dubbed the 'multi-job scammer' saga.