Who Is Soham Parekh? Indian Engineer at Center of Silicon Valley Moonlighting Storm
Soham Parekh, an Indian software engineer, has found himself at the heart of a growing controversy in Silicon Valley after several US-based startup founders accused him of moonlighting—working multiple full-time jobs simultaneously—without informing his employers.
Believed to be based in India, Parekh reportedly worked at up to four or five startups at the same time, many of them backed by the influential startup accelerator Y Combinator. The allegations have triggered wider discussions around the ethics of moonlighting, remote hiring loopholes, and lax verification practices in the tech world’s new normal of distributed workforces.
The controversy began when Amogh Doshi, founder of Playground AI, posted on X that Parekh had joined his company briefly last year, but was let go within a week after they discovered he was working for other companies simultaneously. Doshi also shared what he claimed was Parekh’s CV, listing high-profile startups such as Dynamo AI, Union AI, Synthesia, Alan AI, and more. “The résumé is 90% fake,” Doshi alleged.
Other founders soon joined the thread, sharing their own experiences with Parekh. Flo Crivello, founder of Lindy, said Parekh had been hired just a week earlier. “Fired this morning,” Crivello wrote. “He did so incredibly well in interviews, must have a lot of training.”
Nicolai Ouporov, CEO of Fleet AI, added that Parekh had “been doing this for years.” Matthew Parkhurst, CEO of Antimetal, also confirmed his company had briefly hired Parekh before uncovering the same pattern. “Hiring Soham is a new rite of passage tbh. Any great company should go through it,” Parkhurst quipped.
Michelle Lim, Head of Product at Warp, revealed that Parekh was on a trial assignment with the company, which was quickly cancelled after the revelations surfaced.
Despite the accusations, many described Parekh as highly skilled and likable. One social media user who claimed to have worked with him said, “When he works, yes. I saw him taking on a task and finishing in an hour when it’d take at least three for other engineers.”
So far, Parekh has not made a public statement, but he did privately message Doshi. In a screenshot shared online, Parekh asked, “Have I completely sabotaged my career? What can I do to improve my situation? I am also happy to come clean.”
His CV lists a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mumbai and a master’s from Georgia Tech, though those credentials are now being questioned in light of the moonlighting scandal.
The saga has prompted larger questions about the risks of remote hiring in the fast-paced tech startup ecosystem. Critics say that many early-stage companies often skip proper vetting in their rush to hire talent—especially engineers who perform well in interviews.
For now, Parekh has become a cautionary tale in Silicon Valley—highlighting the fragile balance between flexible remote work and accountability in the post-pandemic tech economy.
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