LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman appeared to join a growing online storm this week after a little-known Indian techie, Soham Parekh, was accused of moonlighting at multiple US-based startups. As Silicon Valley processed the scale of the alleged deception, social media platforms erupted into a frenzy of memes, jokes and commentary, with Hoffman engaging with several posts circulating under the now-viral #SohamParekh.
The scandal, which has since spiralled into one of the most widely discussed tech controversies in recent times, began when Suhail Doshi—founder of analytics firm Mixpanel and co-founder of Playground AI—took to X (formerly Twitter) to issue a public warning to fellow entrepreneurs.
“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,” Doshi wrote on Tuesday, revealing that Parekh had briefly worked at one of his companies before being sacked in his first week.
As Doshi's post gained traction, other startup founders began coming forward to share their own experiences of hiring Parekh. Flo Crivello, CEO of Lindy, said, “Holy sh*t. 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.”
Doshi later shared what he claimed was Parekh’s CV. It listed a bachelor's degree from the University of Mumbai, a master’s degree from Georgia Institute of Technology, and work experience at startups including Dynamo AI, Synthesia, Alan AI, and Union AI. Several founders confirmed that Parekh had worked for them before being let go for allegedly working other jobs simultaneously.
Matthew Parkhurst, CEO of Antimetal, stated that Parekh had been their first engineering hire in 2022. “Really smart and likable; enjoyed working with him,” Parkhurst wrote. “We realised pretty quickly that he was working at multiple companies and let him go.” In jest, he added, “Hiring Soham is a new rite of passage tbh. Any great company should go through it.”
The revelations prompted a surge in online curiosity. Google Trends showed spikes in searches like “Soham Parekh LinkedIn” and “Soham Parekh Georgia Tech,” as netizens attempted to verify the now-infamous CV.
As the story spread, so did the memes. Across X and Reddit, Parekh was dubbed a “generational talent”—both for his engineering prowess and his ability to allegedly juggle several jobs undetected. Even Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn and one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent voices, interacted with the trending jokes and memes, appearing to endorse the light-hearted takes on what many in the industry consider a serious breach of ethics.
The saga also reignited debates around the culture of remote work and the rise of “overemployment”—a trend where employees covertly hold multiple full-time jobs. AI investor Deedy Das commented that Parekh was merely “the tip of the iceberg,” and alleged that thousands more like him existed across remote teams.
In a viral LinkedIn post, Das described the typical tricks of such individuals: using “mouse jigglers” to simulate activity, keeping cameras off during meetings, scheduling “focus time” on calendars to avoid live check-ins, and even outsourcing work. “With efficiency boosts with AI up to 10x and not much change in expectations by employers, this seems bound to happen,” one user commented on Das's post.
Das also referenced a Reddit community with over 500,000 members where one anonymous user claimed to earn $800,000 a year from five jobs. The individual claimed, “Interviews should be gamified. Lie, cheat, and steal. Use AI.”
The post read: “No job should take too much effort (time) relative to the return. This is also tied to stress. Are they demanding things? Unfriendly? Drop them!”
Michelle Lim, Head of Product at Warp, said Parekh had been hired on a trial basis before the allegations emerged. “Trial cancelled,” she confirmed.
Despite the uproar, some questioned whether Parekh's actual job performance warranted dismissal. A user on Hacker News observed, “All anecdotes I see about this dude is: ‘We hired him and he did a fantastic job, but once we found out he had multiple employment we fired him.’... Why? If the guy's doing well by all metrics and not leaking IP, literally, who cares?”
Others, however, stressed the importance of trust and legal obligations in employer-employee relationships, especially around NDAs and exclusivity clauses. “It's risky to employ people of low character. There’s the risk of theft, lawsuits, etc—not to mention the frustration of dealing with lies and flakiness,” one commenter replied.
Though he has made no public statement, Parekh reportedly messaged Suhail Doshi privately. According to Doshi, Parekh asked, “Have I completely sabotaged my career? What can I do to improve my situation? I am also happy to come clean.”
Doshi said he tried to “talk sense into this guy,” but added, “It clearly didn’t work.”
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