Indian engineer Soham Parekh, who was caught juggling multiple full-time Silicon Valley jobs, sparked both a viral meme storm and a fierce debate on remote work, ethics and startup hiring processes.
Soham Parekh, a 26-year-old software engineer from Mumbai, has found himself unexpectedly at the heart of a Silicon Valley employment controversy. Parekh completed a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from the University of Mumbai in 2020.
Seeking to advance his prospects in the global tech sector, he moved to the United States to pursue a master's in computer science at the Georgia Institute of Technology, graduating in 2022.
Armed with these academic credentials, Parekh entered the competitive startup environment as a remote software engineer. Like many foreign graduates in the US tech ecosystem, he appeared focused on building a stable career.
The allegations: Multiple full-time jobs across startups
In late June 2025, the situation changed abruptly when Suhail Doshi, co-founder of analytics platform Mixpanel and now running an AI venture called Playground, accused Parekh of simultaneously working full-time at multiple companies without disclosure in a post on X that has now had a domino effect.
Doshi's post, which included screenshots of internal communications and Parekh's subsequent messages, quickly gained attention in startup circles.
Following this, founders from at least five more startups came forward on social media and in interviews to various media, reporting that they too had employed Parekh under full-time agreements.
Each learned only later that he was allegedly holding similar positions at several other startups concurrently, which violated typical exclusivity expectations.
According to these reports, Parekh's simultaneous roles extended to companies such as Sync Labs, a firm developing AI-driven lip-sync tools. At Sync Labs, he even featured in a product video, a detail that emerged after the allegations became public.
Parekh, when confronted, did not deny managing multiple roles.
In private messages to Doshi that were later shared publicly, Parekh wrote, 'Have I completely sabotaged my career? I want to come clean.'
He cited financial difficulties as a primary reason for juggling numerous jobs and claimed to be working close to 140 hours a week across different projects.
Internet reaction: From industry shock to meme frenzy
The revelations triggered significant discussion within the global tech community. The situation was widely reported, highlighting how multiple early-stage companies failed to detect overlapping employment.
The story also spilled rapidly into popular social media spaces.
On LinkedIn, a platform usually dominated by professional updates, the topic became a magnet for memes and satirical posts. Some joked about Parekh's exceptional 'time management' while others posted mock schedules illustrating 28-hour workdays or compared him to exaggerated 'hustle culture' memes.
X also saw a wave of humour and commentary, with posts highlighting how the incident exposed gaps in vetting and trust in remote hiring. One viral meme pointed out how Parekh allegedly managed to work for more startups simultaneously than many people interview in a year.
Despite the humour, some industry voices also underscored the serious trust issues this raised for startups heavily reliant on small, dedicated engineering teams.
New employment and industry lessons
In the aftermath of the revelations, Parekh announced that he had joined AI startup Darwin Studios. According to reports, this time he has committed to working exclusively for a single employer.
As of early July 2025, there are no indications from public records or company statements that civil or criminal cases have been filed against him. The startups involved appear to have addressed the situation primarily through termination of contracts.
The episode has nonetheless triggered broader discussions in tech hubs from San Francisco to Bengaluru. Startup founders and HR professionals have pointed to the need for stronger background checks, clearer exclusivity clauses in employment contracts and more structured approaches to managing remote teams spread across continents.
Meanwhile, Parekh's messages describing financial hardship have also found resonance in discussions around the high costs and job instability often faced by immigrant tech workers in the US.
While many in the industry condemned the breach of trust, some noted that it also exposed vulnerabilities in hiring processes that depend heavily on informal references and trust.
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