A controversy has erupted in the tech industry after it was revealed that software engineer Soham Parekh had been working for multiple startups simultaneously. At least 10 tech company executives have come forward claiming to have employed Parekh recently, sparking a heated discussion about remote work practices and the ethics of holding multiple jobs at once.
The controversy began when Suhail Doshi, former CEO of Mixpanel, warned others in the tech industry about Parekh on social media. “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.
Parekh has since admitted to working multiple jobs, citing financial necessity as the reason. In an interview with “TBPN,” he stated, “I’m not proud of what I’ve done… But, you know, financial circumstances, essentially. No one really likes to work 140 hours a week, right? But I had to do this out of necessity.”
To manage multiple jobs, Parekh described himself as a “serial nonsleeper” who doesn’t engage in activities outside of coding. He denied rumors of having a team of engineers working for him or using AI tools to acquire more jobs.
The extent of Parekh’s multiple employment was revealed in an online discussion where he claimed to have held four jobs simultaneously, with at least some of them being six-figure salaries. He estimated his monthly earnings to be between $30,000 and $40,000.
However, his actions have had consequences. Marcus Lowe, founder of tech startup Create, shared his experience with Parekh. Despite acing an in-person interview, Parekh repeatedly made excuses for not showing up to work. Lowe discovered that Parekh was committing code to another company’s repository during the time he claimed to be unavailable for Create.
“This was a huge waste of time for us, a big distraction. We’re a small company… just such direct immoral behavior felt worth speaking out about,” Lowe said.
The incident has raised questions about the prevalence of multiple job-holding. According to The Wall Street Journal, the share of people in the United States with multiple jobs has recently increased from 5.3% to 5.5%.
Parekh has now signed a deal to work for a single company, Darwin, as per his statement to “TBPN.” Sanjit Juneja, Darwin’s founder and CEO, expressed confidence in Parekh’s abilities, stating, “At Darwin, we are solely focused on building the most innovative software products… Soham is an incredibly talented engineer and we believe in his abilities to help bring our products to market.”
The controversy highlights the challenges and ethical considerations in the tech industry’s remote work landscape, particularly regarding transparency and professional integrity.
