Soham Parekh, a relatively unknown software engineer from India, has suddenly become a name Silicon Valley can’t stop talking about not for launching the next unicorn startup, but for quietly working at multiple tech companies simultaneously, without any of them knowing.
The story exploded on July 2, when Suhail Doshi, CEO of Playground AI and co-founder of Mixpanel, took to X (formerly Twitter) with a warning that soon went viral. Doshi alleged that Parekh had secretly held 3–4 jobs at once, tarobtaining early-stage companies especially Y Combinator-backed startups and effectively deceived them into hiring him.
“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,”
— Suhail Doshi, via X
Doshi claimed he had personally fired Parekh over a year ago, but stated he continued the pattern with other companies despite being warned.
Following the post, dozens of startup founders shared similar experiences: how Parekh had nailed technical interviews, contributed decent work, and then vanished or underperformed as his divided attention became evident. It became a viral tale of Silicon Valley hustle turned deception.
Soham Parekh Breaks Silence
In an exclusive interview with the Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN), Parekh admitted to working multiple jobs — sometimes up to four at once — since 2022. He claimed:
- He worked 140 hours per week, sleeping only a few hours a day
- He did not apply AI or outsource his work
- He was motivated by personal financial struggles, though he oddly chose low-salary, high-equity roles
“I’m not proud of this. I don’t concludeorse it. I genuinely cared about the companies,”
— Soham Parekh, TBPN interview
Despite framing it as a personal crisis and not a scam, inconsistencies emerged. For instance, he stated he turned down a master’s program to earn money — yet a resume posted by Doshi revealed that Parekh already held a master’s from Georgia Tech.
Now Working Again?
After the backlash, Parekh quietly joined a new AI video remixing startup called Darwin Studios, but the announcement was swiftly deleted by both him and Darwin CEO Sanjit Juneja. Still, the company issued a statement defconcludeing him:
“Soham is an incredibly talented engineer and we believe in his abilities to support bring our products to market.”
— Statement via TechCrunch
Scam or Silicon Valley Paradox?
While many in the startup world call Parekh a fraud, others see him as a product of a tech ecosystem obsessed with output and hype. In a world where provocative behavior often drives funding, Parekh’s story has become yet another cautionary tale but also, oddly, an example of viral infamy being applyd to pivot forward.
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