Indian techie Soham Parekh facing backlash over moonlighting announces he has found a full-time job
AI startup Darwin Studios
as a founding engineer, marking a new chapter after a heated controversy in Silicon Valley. The announcement follows intense criticism over Parekh's moonlighting, which he attributed to financial hardships. In his first public comments since the scandal broke, Parekh told TBPN, a U.S. technology show, 'I'm not proud of what I did.' He admitted to juggling jobs at five companies but denied employing junior developers to manage the workload, emphasizing, 'I wish I had the money.' Parekh also clarified that he began taking multiple jobs in 2022, 'before the CoPilot boom,' and did not rely on AI tools to handle his tasks.
The controversy erupted when Playground AI founder Suhail Doshi exposed Parekh on X, warning, '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.' The post, referencing startup accelerator Y Combinator, led to swift consequences: Parekh was fired from multiple roles, and recruiters flagged him as a risky hire.
Despite the backlash, Parekh has found a new opportunity with Darwin Studios, where he will help build Wayve, an AI-powered video remixing platform. Sanjit Juneja, the startup's founder, praised Parekh as a '10x engineer' with 'something even greater to prove than just his love for software.'
The scandal has reignited debates in tech circles about the ethics of moonlighting and the pressures of startup culture. Critics have labeled Parekh's actions fraudulent, while others argue the incident exposes deeper issues in the industry's demand for relentless productivity and the lack of oversight in remote work. Parekh's move to Darwin Studios signals a fresh start, but his story continues to spark discussions about trust, hustle, and accountability in the fast-paced world of tech startups.
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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Who is Soham Parekh? Silicon Valley's secret star, who juggled multiple jobs without anyone knowing
Soham Parekh, the serial moonlighter Silicon Valley startups can't stop hiring- Soham Parekh, a software engineer based in India, has recently become one of the most talked-about names in Silicon Valley — not for launching a billion-dollar startup or raising VC capital, but for secretly holding jobs at multiple startups at the same time. Over the past week, his story has exploded across social media, after several startup founders came forward to share how Parekh managed to get hired, perform well in technical interviews, and juggle several roles — all while none of the companies knew he was moonlighting. The scandal began when Suhail Doshi, CEO of Playground AI, posted a warning on X (formerly Twitter), revealing Parekh had worked at 3–4 startups simultaneously and allegedly lied about it. Doshi's tweet has since garnered over 20 million views, sparking a wave of revelations from other startup founders who had similar experiences. But who exactly is Soham Parekh, how did he pull this off, and why are startups still hiring him? How did the Soham Parekh story go viral in silicon valley? The entire saga kicked off with a viral X post on Tuesday, July 2, by Suhail Doshi. Doshi warned other tech founders, writing: '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 claimed that he fired Parekh a year ago from Playground AI after finding out he was working other jobs. Despite confronting him and warning him to stop 'scamming people,' Doshi alleged that Parekh continued the behavior. That post opened the floodgates. Dozens of startup CEOs and founders began sharing their own stories of hiring Parekh — many from Y Combinator (YC)-backed companies — only to later discover red flags. Among them: Live Events Flo Crivello, CEO of Lindy, hired Parekh recently and fired him after Doshi's post. Matt Parkhurst, CEO of Antimetal, said Parekh was their first engineering hire in 2022 but was let go in early 2023. Sync Labs, an AI lip-sync startup, also reportedly fired him after he appeared in one of their promo videos. Pally AI and Mosaic, both YC-backed, reported that Parekh either applied or was offered roles. Agency and Cluely, two other AI startups, interviewed Parekh and later raised concerns. Why did startups keep hiring Soham Parekh despite red flags? The most surprising part of the story is that Parekh consistently did well in technical interviews. Founders say he came across as talented, skilled, and driven. For instance, Rohan Pandey, formerly at Reworkd (a YC startup), told TechCrunch that Parekh performed among the top three candidates in algorithm tests. However, the team became suspicious when Parekh claimed he was in the U.S. — a requirement for the role — but an IP logger from a Zoom invite placed him in India. Adam Silverman, co-founder of Agency, said Parekh initially seemed like a solid candidate but kept rescheduling meetings. In total, Parekh postponed five different interview slots. Though technically impressive, he refused to relocate or even reveal his actual location, which raised doubts. Similarly, Roy Lee, CEO of Cluely, noted Parekh 'seemed to have strong React knowledge' during interviews but wasn't hired due to concerns that eventually surfaced. Who is Soham Parekh and how did he respond to the allegations? Soham Parekh finally addressed the controversy in an interview with the Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN) . In a conversation with hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays, he admitted to working multiple jobs at the same time since 2022. He denied using AI tools or outsourcing the work and instead claimed he managed the workload himself — working 140 hours a week, or 20 hours a day, seven days a week. He described himself as sleep-deprived, obsessed with coding, and motivated by a financial crisis. According to Parekh, he turned down a master's degree program he had been accepted to, in favor of earning through jobs at various startups. Ironically, a resume shared by Doshi claims Parekh already earned a master's degree from Georgia Institute of Technology. When asked why he didn't just ask for a raise instead of juggling multiple jobs, Parekh said he liked keeping his personal struggles private. However, this conflicted with the fact that he chose lower salaries and high equity at his jobs — which doesn't quite align with the idea of financial desperation. He also said, 'I'm not proud of this. I don't endorse it,' and emphasized that he genuinely cared about the mission of the companies he worked for. Is Soham Parekh facing consequences or capitalizing on the attention? While many call Parekh a scammer or liar, some in the startup world are treating the episode as yet another moment of viral tech culture. In a Silicon Valley ecosystem where controversy can lead to capital, Parekh seems to be attempting a rebound. Soon after the TBPN interview, Parekh announced on X that he's now working exclusively at a startup called Darwin Studios, focused on AI video remixing. However, both Parekh and Darwin CEO Sanjit Juneja deleted the announcement post shortly after. Still, Juneja issued a statement to TechCrunch through a representative: 'Soham is an incredibly talented engineer and we believe in his abilities to help bring our products to market.' This follows a recent trend in tech — where companies like Cluely, known for its controversial marketing and 'cheat-on-everything' AI tagline, managed to raise a $15 million seed round from Andreessen Horowitz despite its provocative reputation. Will Soham Parekh become a cautionary tale or silicon valley's next controversial hire? Soham Parekh's story is still unfolding. With multiple firings, red flags, and a trail of skeptical startup founders behind him, he remains a controversial figure. Yet, in a tech ecosystem that often rewards attention — even negative attention — Parekh could still land on his feet. Startups are increasingly looking for standout talent who can hit the ground running. In a world of remote-first work, high-speed development cycles, and experimental hiring, Parekh's saga raises an important question for Silicon Valley: Where do we draw the line between hustle and deception? Whether he ends up building the next viral AI product or fades from the scene, Soham Parekh's name is now embedded in one of 2025's most bizarre tech stories — a strange blend of hustle, deceit, and raw engineering skill. FAQs: Q1: Who is Soham Parekh in Silicon Valley tech? Soham Parekh is a software engineer who secretly worked at multiple startups at the same time. Q2: Why is Soham Parekh called a serial moonlighter? He's called a serial moonlighter because he held several jobs across different startups without informing them.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
After Soham Parekh, YC rejects X user for an ‘extremely disappointing' reason: ‘This world is doomed'
The Internet is still buzzing over Soham Parekh – the man who managed to work multiple startup jobs at once and allegedly duped several YC-backed founders. But just as that story continues to unravel, another viral post tied to Y Combinator has caught everyone's attention – and it's all because of… lowercase letters. A user named Maze (@mazeincoding), who warns followers not to take '99% of what I say seriously,' recently shared a screenshot of a rejection email from Y Combinator. His caption read: 'Just got rejected from yc for using all lowercase in our application.' The email he posted offers more detail. It reads: 'One recurring piece of internal feedback: the decision to format the entire application in lowercase made it difficult to evaluate. While unconventional formatting isn't disqualifying on its own, it signals a lack of attention to detail and clarity – both of which matter to us.' It goes on to explain: 'We understand stylistic choices, but in a high-signal, high-noise environment, presentation is part of communication. Yours detracted from the content.' couldn't independently verify the email. just got rejected from yc for using all lowercase in our application — Maze (@mazeincoding) July 4, 2025 Unsurprisingly, the post blew up, racking up over a million views and sparking a wave of commentary. Maze later posted a screenshot showing that Y Combinator had liked the tweet, asking, 'uh should i be concerned?' Reactions poured in. One user argued, 'Given the ubiquitous autocorrection features, it actually takes extra effort to write in all lowercase. So no, it doesn't signal a lack of attention to detail — on the contrary, it shows huge dedication to details and contrarian thinking.' Another user said, 'God forbid you try not to look like ChatGPT wrote the whole thing.' A third user wrote, 'yUo shOldVe MAde IT lOoK lIkE tHiS.' While didn't work at Y Combinator, many of the companies he allegedly misled were part of its network. Founders, including Playground AI's Suhail Doshi, have accused Parekh of holding multiple jobs at once across YC-backed startups, without disclosing it to any of them. Doshi and others claim Parekh took advantage of remote work setups to juggle roles, access sensitive information, and in some cases, allegedly funnel projects to his own ventures. So while the lowercase controversy might be funny, the backdrop of YC's recent headlines is far from light – making Maze's viral post both oddly timed and perfectly in sync with what's buzzing on the Internet.
India Today
3 hours ago
- India Today
From hired to fired, tech founder reveals how Soham Parekh operated and hints at how he fooled companies
In a bizarre saga that could be ripped straight from a tech satire, Soham Parekh, an India-based software engineer, has stunned Silicon Valley after admitting to secretly working full-time for dozens of US startups, at the same time. What began as whispers of moonlighting quickly exploded into a full-blown controversy after revelations surfaced that Parekh was juggling roles at up to 34 different companies, sparking outrage, disbelief, and a flurry of story broke when Suhail Doshi, founder and former CEO of Mixpanel, posted on X (formerly Twitter), accusing Parekh of deceiving several Y Combinator-backed startups. Doshi claimed he had fired Parekh within a week of uncovering the truth. As the thread gained traction, more founders chimed in, admitting they had either hired or interviewed Parekh, only to discover he was already employed elsewhere. One such founder, Dhruv Amin, co-founder of AI startup Create, shared his experience with Parekh in an X thread that quickly went viral. Dhruv explained that Soham had joined his team in San Francisco as engineer number five, on the back of a recruiter's recommendation and an impressive pair-programming interview. 'Yes, we hired him He was eager and crushed our in-person pair programming onsite. I believe he's actually a good engineer,' Dhruv wrote. But the enthusiasm quickly turned into accepting the job, Parekh said he'd be away in New York and would begin a week later. When Monday rolled around, he texted Dhruv excitedly, only to call in sick on his first day. 'He said he'd onboard from home. Gave an address to ship the laptop,' Dhruv there, things only got weirder. Parekh missed meetings, delayed deliverables, and made excuses. It all unravelled when Dhruv's team discovered he was actively working at another company, Sync, at the same time.'When we called Soham up, he denied it to the end. Said Sync guys were just friends,' Dhruv recalled. But the real kicker came when Sync published an 'Employee of the Month' video, featuring none other than Soham Parekh contract was swiftly terminated. 'He dipped,' Dhruv said, assuming he was just a young engineer who had made a bad call. But when the wider story broke, Dhruv's embarrassment turned to amazement. 'Then I was pissed. Then impressed Still not sure how he pulled it off for so long with in-person startups and long hours, but appreciated the hustle. Hope he had a good reason. Feels like a stressful way to make money.'Soham Parekh's side of the storyadvertisementAs the tech world demanded answers, Parekh finally spoke out in an interview on The Backchannel podcast (TBPN), confirming what many had suspected. 'It is true,' he said, calmly owning up to the deception. 'I'm not proud of what I've done. But, you know, financial circumstances, essentially. No one really likes to work 140 hours a week, right? But I had to do this out of necessity. I was in extremely dire financial circumstances.'He added that he completed all the work himself -- no shortcuts, no AI, no external help -- and maintained that his output met claimed the hustle began in 2022, after postponing graduate school and enrolling in an online programme from Georgia Tech. But that detail raised more questions when a Georgia Tech spokesperson confirmed there was no record of his enrolment, casting further doubt on the timeline and fuelling speculation around how far the deception may have the storm, Parekh has already landed on his feet. He's now joined a San Francisco-based AI startup named Darwin, and has promised to leave his multi-job days behind. 'I won't be taking up any more additional jobs,' he his story has raised ethical questions about moonlighting and transparency in remote hiring, it's also exposed deeper vulnerabilities in the startup hiring culture, especially in the fast-moving world of venture-backed tech, where background checks are often minimal and pressure to scale is high. Love him or loathe him, Soham Parekh's name is now etched into Silicon Valley lore.- Ends
