Soham Parekh, who has become the person of interest right now on social media, has finally spoken after being accused of moonlighting at 3-4 startups. He has reached out to Playground AI founder Suhail Doshi, who called him out.
Soham Parekh’s ‘golden words’
Parekh asked Doshi if he had completely “sabotaged” his career and sought advice on how to “come clean” and turn things around (much needed, especially after you’re all over the Internet).
“Soham has reached out,” wrote Doshi on X (formerly Twitter).
He then added his “primary question”: “Asking this as genuine advice since I do really love what I do, have I completely sabotaged my career? What can I do to improve my situation? I am also happy to come clean.”
Doshi concluded his post with the words: “Vox populi, Vox Dei.” It means that the voice of the people is the voice of God, or in this case, the public opinion.
Enter: The ‘Real Soham Parekh’
A post from the account of the so-called “Real Soham Parekh” has thrown more fuel on the fire. He claims he’s “pissed” and has “something to prove”. According to him, there’s a lot being said without context (we can’t argue that this story definitely has layers – just like Soham’s career).
“If there’s one thing to know about me, it’s that I love to build,” he wrote on X after sending the techies and everyone else into a frenzy.
The comeback attempt?
In what seems like his version of a redemption arc, Parekh claimed that after being rejected by pretty much everyone in tech, he’s signed on as a founding engineer at a new startup. Only time will tell whether or not it’s really a one-job-only deal, but he insists this is his clean slate.
“That’s it. I’ve been isolated, written off, and shut out by nearly everyone I’ve known and every company I’ve worked at. But building is the only thing I’ve ever truly known, and it’s what I’ll keep doing,” he expressed.
One last mic drop
He further said, “Earlier today, I signed an exclusive founding deal to be founding engineer at one company and one company only. They were the only ones willing to bet on me at this time,” before adding, “The team is cracked, they back misfits, and they’re building something absolutely insane in the video AI space.”
“I’m pissed. And I’ve got something to prove,” he concluded. (We know that he has already proved himself by moonlighting at 3-4 jobs, but let’s see what else the man has to prove…)
All it took was one founder and his tweet
Parekh’s side-hustle empire came to light when Doshi issued a ‘Public Service Announcement (PSA)’ and shared his CV online. He also warned others to be wary of him in his now-viral tweet, which has clocked 13 million views – and that’s how the world got to know about 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,” he wrote on X.
Doshi added that he fired Parekh in his first week of joining the company after being caught lying. “I fired this guy in his first week and told him to stop lying/scamming people. He hasn’t stopped a year later. No more excuses.”
He also said that 90 per cent of the links on his CV are “fake”.
Doshi further said that he gave him a chance to “turn a new leaf”, but it clearly “didn’t work”.
Turns out… He ‘lied’ to others too
Many people who hired him (apparently because of the way his email starts – we will talk about it later – said that he worked or tried to work for them). One person said that he “worked multiple jobs in parallel”, another said that he “lied about his visa status”.
One even said that they “signed him up” for trial work, but cancelled it after reading the tweet.
Another claimed that the guy has been running this scam for years.
Parekh also lost “a job” after a string of excuses to avoid showing up in person (for obvious reasons… managing four jobs isn’t easy).
Who really is Soham Parekh?
Soham Parekh, or Soham P (that’ what the name on his resume reads), holds an MS in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2022 and a BE in Computer Engineering from the University of Mumbai in 2020.
The now-infamous two-page resume, which Doshi shared, listed five companies – DynamoAI, Union.ai, Synthesia, Alan AI, and GitHub – all in remote roles. All remote, of course – because it’s kind of hard to show up at five offices at once.
Also, is it even legal to juggle multiple jobs in India or the US? Well, when it comes to private firms, it all comes down to that fine print that you call “offer letter” or “contract”, because moonlighting isn’t always black and white.
The Soham-gate
So, how did he even land jobs at top-tier Y Combinator-backed startups? According to one founder, Parekh lied about being in the US. No one has cracked the mystery of his true whereabouts – India, the US, or some secret startup lair halfway across the globe?
One founder said, “We thought we were hiring someone in the US. Even sent a laptop to a US address. Got it back! Allegedly, it was sent to his ‘sister’.”
So, are you taking notes?
Most would want to know this one – how he managed to switch jobs so easily? He had a reason for everything.
Take pen and paper or make mental notes, or maybe phone notes or whatever works for you.
Sometimes it was “time zone issues,” other times “lack of revenue,” “burning runway,” or “starting his own ERP company”.
Founders and CEOs did admit one thing – he “crushed the interviews”.
‘TL;DR: I love everything about…’
Parekh doesn’t follow the standard “Hi” or “Greetings” in his emails. Instead, he begins with “TL;DR” – something that catches attention. Some people might Google what it means, while grammar nazis or others might get furious and read his email – either to reply or share it with others. And that’s exactly what he wants: “attention”.
All his emails start with the line, “I love everything about….”
They end with “Best, Soham”.