A software program engineer grew to become X’s major character final week after being outed as a serial moonlighter at a number of Silicon Valley startups.
“PSA: there’s a man named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3–4 startups on the similar time,” wrote Suhail Doshi, the founding father of AI design firm Playground, on X on Tuesday. “He’s been preying on YC firms and extra. Beware.”
PSA: there’s a man named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups on the similar time. He’s been preying on YC firms and extra. Beware.
I fired this man in his first week and informed him to cease mendacity / scamming folks. He hasn’t stopped a 12 months later. No extra excuses.
— Suhail (@Suhail) July 2, 2025
Within the feedback, founders of different Silicon Valley firms shared comparable tales of interviewing, hiring, and infrequently firing the engineer. “LMFAOOO I INTERVIEWED THIS GUY YESTERDAY BRO IM DYINGG,” Cluely CEO Roy Lee posted on X. Digger CEO Igor Zalutski mentioned his firm “practically employed him,” including “he appeared so sharp and no-bs in the course of the interviews.”
LMFAOOO I INTERVIEWED THIS GUY YESTERDAY BRO IM DYINGG
— Roy (@im_roy_lee) July 2, 2025
Following the revelation, a database named SohamTracker sprang up, revealing that Parekh has held no less than 19 jobs since 2021—no less than 5 of which he began in simply the final two months. “That is fairly hilarious really lmao. could possibly be a skit on silicon valley,” one X consumer wrote. “The /r/overemployed king,” one other added.
On Thursday, Parekh appeared on the podcast TBPN to deal with the accusations. He admitted he was pushed to juggle a number of jobs on account of “dire monetary circumstances.” He added: “I simply thought that if I labored a number of locations, I can mainly assist myself alleviate the scenario I used to be in a lot quicker.” Parekh claimed to have been working 140-hour weeks—roughly 20 hours a day—with lots of the roles requiring in-person attendance. Unsurprisingly, he famous that he’s recognized amongst associates for not sleeping.
Whereas the hustle is likely to be admirable to some, Parekh is hardly alone in embracing Silicon Valley’s so-called “grindset” mentality. The subreddit r/overemployed at present hosts practically half one million members, the place customers commerce tales about secretly holding down a number of distant jobs. “We roast Soham Parekh, however bear in mind your organization’s making you do 5 folks’s jobs on one individual’s wage,” one X consumer identified.
We roast Soham Parekh, however bear in mind your organization’s making you do 5 folks’s jobs on one individual’s wage.
— Devaiah Bopanna (@devaiahPB) July 5, 2025
Sarcastically, Parekh’s publicity has ended up working in his favor—he landed a brand new job at Darwin, an AI video remixing startup. Nonetheless, his actions could have penalties for others in comparable conditions. “After the Soham saga, fairly certain only a few YC startups will rent distant Indians,” wrote Varunram Ganesh, head of progress at payroll platform Warp, on X. “Basic case of 1 man exploiting a high-trust society, which results in downfall of all of the others round him.”
After the Soham saga, fairly certain only a few YC startups will rent distant Indians. Basic case of 1 man exploiting a excessive belief society which results in downfall of all of the others round him.
— Varunram Ganesh (@varunramg) July 2, 2025
However “everybody’s favourite founding engineer” insists he meant no hurt. “I don’t actually care a lot in regards to the cash,” he informed TBPN. “I used to be actually into it for constructing.”
