Indian techie working at 4 startups simultaneously goes viral for moonlighting

Soham Parekh, an Indian engineer, is accused of secretly working for multiple Silicon Valley startups at once. After being exposed online, he admitted to moonlighting out of financial need and claims he’s now working exclusively with a new AI firm.

Hyderabad: Indian software engineer Soham Parekh has sparked widespread debate in Silicon Valley after being accused of moonlighting at multiple early-stage US startups simultaneously, without disclosing his overlapping roles.

The controversy erupted when Suhail Doshi, founder of Playground AI and former CEO of Mixpanel, publicly shared Parekh’s résumé and work history, alleging that he had misled YC-backed companies by working for three to four startups at once. Doshi claimed that up to 90% of Parekh’s CV appeared fake and warned others about hiring him.

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In response, Parekh admitted to juggling multiple jobs, saying he was driven by “extremely dire” financial circumstances. “I’m not proud of what I’ve done,” he said in a YouTube interview. “But I had no choice. I worked 140 hours a week just to stay afloat.”

Founders across several companies, including DynamoAI, Union.ai, Synthesia, Alan AI, and GitHub, confirmed short stints or suspicious behavior, including failed trial projects, inconsistencies in location, and missed deadlines.

Despite widespread backlash and being dropped by multiple employers, Parekh says he’s signed on as a founding engineer at a new startup. “I’ve been shut out by almost everyone, but building is all I know,” he wrote on X.

The scandal—dubbed ‘Soham-gate’—raises broader questions about moonlighting ethics, remote hiring verification, and contract enforcement in a post-pandemic tech world. Whether Parekh’s latest opportunity marks a true comeback or another chapter remains to be seen.