"No One Likes Working 140 Hrs a Week”: Indian Engineer Admits to Multi‑Startup Moonlighting
"No One Likes Working 140 Hrs a Week”: Indian Engineer Admits to Multi‑Startup Moonlighting
Soham Parekh, a Bengaluru freelancer, reveals his grueling 140-hour work weeks for US startups. Discover his take on necessity vs. choice in the tech world. Watch the full interview.
Bengaluru-based techie Soham Parekh recently acknowledged working 140 hours a week as a freelancer for several US startups. Additionally, he claimed that he worked multiple jobs out of necessity rather than to con people. Parekh told TBPN in an interview that when asked why he worked as a freelancer for US startups,
"Financial circumstances essentially. No one really likes to work 140 hours a week but I had to do it out of necessity."
He was then asked if he had broken any employment contracts or if he thought he was able to do so without breaking any laws. The techie responded by saying that he would not support his actions and that he is not proud of them.
"Honestly, going back to how it started and what the motivations were. You probably know, I would want to preface with saying I'm not proud of what I've done. It's not something I endorse either."
When asked if using AI tools to code led to him taking on more gigs, Parekh responded that while using AI tools aided him, it did not result in him landing more work. He went on to say that he concentrated on the task at hand rather than following a set timetable for every company.
"I think people around me will probably say that I am notoriously known for not sleeping. I am a… you know… I am a serial like non-sleeper at this point, I would say," the Bengaluru-based techie mentioned.
Who Is Soham Parekh?
Parekh, who is originally from Mumbai, intended to relocate to the US in 2018 in order to continue his education. However, his move was delayed by financial concerns. In 2020, he relocated to the United States. After graduating from the University of Mumbai with a bachelor's degree in computer engineering in 2020, he went on to Georgia Tech to earn a master's degree in computer science in 2022.
Following a social media post by Suhail Doshi, co-founder of analytics company Mixpanel, in which he accused him of "scamming US startups," Doshi gained notoriety. Doshi claimed that Parekh worked remotely from India while simultaneously working for four to five startups, many of which were supported by the startup accelerator Y Combinator.
What made Soham Parekh make news?
When Suhail Doshi, the CEO of Playground AI and co-founder of Mixpanel, posted on X that he had fired Soham Parekh for dishonesty within a week, the techie became the talk of the town. According to Doshi, the engineer worked as a freelancer for several US startups, including ones supported by Y Combinator.
He even said that "90%" of his resume appeared to be fake. According to his resume, the engineer holds a master's degree from Georgia Tech and a bachelor's degree from the University of Mumbai. It also lists positions at Alan AI, Synthesia, Union AI, and Dynamo AI.
According to his employers, these credentials helped him ace job interviews but barely produced any results. Soham Parekh is accused of managing work commitments by using overlapping timelines, false credentials, and "ghost work" excuses in addition to working three to six jobs concurrently.
The Pissed Moment
In a rapidly viral X thread, one such founder, Dhruv Amin, co-founder of AI startup Create, talked about his encounter with Parekh. According to Dhruv, Soham joined his team in San Francisco as engineer number five after a strong pair-programming interview and a recommendation from a recruiter.
“Yes, we hired him He was eager and crushed our in-person pair programming onsite. I believe he's actually a good engineer,” Dhruv wrote.
After accepting the job, Parekh said he would be away in New York and start a week later. On Monday, he texted Dhruv with excitement, but on his first day, he called in sick. "He said he'd be on board from home. Gave an address to ship the laptop," Dhruv wrote. However, the excitement soon turned to frustration.
It only got stranger from there. Parekh made excuses, postponed deliverables, and skipped meetings. When Dhruv's team learned that he was concurrently employed at Sync, another company, everything fell apart.
His contract was immediately terminated. Dhruv assumed that he was merely a young engineer who had made a poor decision when he said, "He dipped." But Dhruv's embarrassment gave way to astonishment when the larger story was revealed.
"Then I was furious. Then it impressed I'm still not sure how he managed to manage long hours and in-person startups for so long, but I appreciate the effort. I hope he had a good reason. It feels like a demanding method of earning money."
"THE END" Moment
Parekh is already upright in spite of the storm. He has now joined Darwin, an AI startup based in San Francisco, and has pledged to put his days of working multiple jobs behind him. He declared, "I will not be taking on any more jobs."
His story has sparked ethical debates about remote hiring transparency and moonlighting, but it has also revealed more serious flaws in startup hiring practices, particularly in the rapidly evolving field of venture-backed technology, where there is a lot of pressure to grow and few background checks. Whether you like him or not, Soham Parekh's name has become part of Silicon Valley legend.
#Freelancing #TechIndustry #WorkLifeBalance #Bengaluru #StartupLife
