Indian engineer Soham Parekh is blowing up online after being accused of working secretly for multiple US startups at the same time. According to Business Today, he allegedly juggled as many as six remote jobs, many from well-known Y Combinator-backed companies. Founders say he used fake resumes, lied about his location, and tricked them into hiring him.
It all kicked off when Playground AI founder Suhail Doshi exposed him on X. Doshi wrote, “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.”
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.
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.
— Suhail (@Suhail) July 2, 2025
Doshi later claimed 90% of Parekh’s resume was fake.
Probably 90% fake and most links are gone. pic.twitter.com/h9bnLc8Cwj
— Suhail (@Suhail) July 2, 2025
Startup Founders Slam Soham Parekh For Fake Resume And Work Ethic
After Doshi’s post, other startup CEOs also shared their experiences. Lindy AI’s Flo Crivello said, “Holy sh*t. We hired this guy a week ago. Fired this morning.”
Holy shit. We hired this guy a week ago. Fired this morning. He did so incredibly well in interviews, must have a lot of training. Careful out there. https://t.co/XP33febCYs
— Flo Crivello (@Altimor) July 2, 2025
Antimetal’s Matthew Parkhurst told Silicon India that Parekh was “really smart and likeable,” but it didn’t take long to realise he was working multiple jobs. Many others shared the same ‘hiring and firing’ instance in comments
According to Hindustan Times, Parekh’s resume listed Mumbai University and Georgia Tech as his education, along with jobs at Dynamo AI, Union AI, Synthesia, and Alan AI. But now, founders are questioning how much of it was real.
In private messages shared by Doshi, Parekh sounded broken and regretful. He asked, “Have I completely sabotaged my career? What can I do to improve my situation? I am also happy to come clean.”
Soham has reached out. 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”
Vox Populi, Vox Dei
— Suhail (@Suhail) July 3, 2025
Later, according to Financial Express, he updated his LinkedIn showing a new role as a founding engineer at just one company.
While many people online are criticising Soham Parekh, not everyone feels the same. Conor Brennan-Burke, who runs the AI company HyperSpell, offered him a new job as a second chance. He said, “He’s definitely learned his lesson now and is going to work insanely hard to prove everyone wrong. Massive opportunity to bring on top talent with a chip on their shoulder,”
he’s definitely learned his lesson now and is going to work insanely hard to prove everyone wrong
massive opportunity to bring on top talent with a chip on their shoulder
— conor brennan-burke (@conor_ai) July 3, 2025
I-9 Verification Loopholes, Remote Work Debate
Because Parekh worked remotely from India, he didn’t have to pass the US I-9 verification, which checks if someone is eligible to work in the US. Business Today says this case exposed a huge loophole in how remote employees are hired, raising big questions about background checks and trust in remote teams.
Despite the criticism, some founders admitted Parekh had real talent but failed ethically. His story has now sparked wide debates on moonlighting, honesty in remote work, and whether startups are checking employees well enough.
Right now, Parekh seems to be trying for a fresh start, but his actions have already shaken the remote work industry.
