Soham Parekh, a software developer from India, has recently become popular for working at at least 10 startups at the same time. This became known after company executives started talking about him on social media, writes CNBC.
At least 10 tech executives have publicly said they hired Parekh in recent weeks, only to be quickly fired after the public outcry. It all started with the CEO of analytics startup Mixpanel, who on Wednesday decided to warn his colleagues about Parekh, who was trying to work for multiple companies at once.
"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," the executive's post reads.
More people started sharing their experiences with Parekh in the comments. Some said they had only recently hired him, but had immediately cut off all contact with him after hearing such comments. Others said they had only recently interviewed him.
Later, the guy himself began giving interviews about the whole situation. He said that he was prompted to take such actions by a difficult financial situation, and that he had to spend many sleepless nights working at several startups.
"I’m not proud of what I’ve done. That’s not something that I endorse, either. 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. I was in extremely dire financial circumstances," Parekh says.
One of Parekh's former employers at Normic AI said that the guy worked at most four startups at a time, where he sometimes received a six-figure salary. According to his estimates, he could earn $30-40 thousand per month. Parekh himself said that he began to get a job at several companies at the same time in 2022.