Soham Parekh: The Indian engineer at the center of Silicon Valley’s latest meme storm

In a tech world increasingly defined by layoffs, burnout, and remote work ethics, one Indian engineer has managed to become the unexpected face of both criticism and comedy.Soham Parekh, a tech professional with degrees from the University of Mumbai and Georgia Tech, is now at the center of a heated debate in Silicon Valley after being accused of moonlighting at multiple US startups without disclosure.

The allegations, first made public by Mixpanel founder Suhail Doshi, quickly spiraled into viral internet content — turning Parekh into a controversial symbol of hustle culture gone rogue.

Allegations of juggling startups

The controversy kicked off when Doshi posted on X, warning other founders about Parekh. “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,” Doshi wrote, claiming to have fired him during his first week.

In subsequent posts, Doshi said he had tried to reason with Parekh before going public, but “it clearly didn’t work.”

Parekh’s résumé — which includes a 9.83 GPA from the University of Mumbai and a master’s from Georgia Tech — made the situation all the more baffling to onlookers. He had reportedly managed to land roles at multiple companies in stealth, exploiting the loose oversight in remote work setups.

Social media saw opportunity

But what might have remained a cautionary tale about hiring in the remote era quickly turned into a full-blown meme fest.

As tech layoffs hit headlines — including Microsoft’s announcement of 9,000 job cuts — users latched onto Parekh’s story with sarcasm and satire.“Microsoft just laid off 9,000 workers. All of them Soham Parekh,” one user joked.

Another posted a photo of Zohran Mamdani with the caption: “Soham Parekh is now running for mayor of New York, Boston, and Los Angeles.”A third user edited a picture of Soham where the latter can be seen holding a book called “Cracking the Coding Interview with Soham Parekh.”

He also captioned the post as, “Soham Parekh could do the funniest thing.”Even parody accounts joined the pile-on, highlighting tech’s double standards. One viral post asked: why is it a problem when someone like Parekh works for multiple companies, but not when Elon Musk runs Tesla, SpaceX, and more? The implication: race, class, and perceived legitimacy still shape the narrative in tech.

Parekh responds: “I’ve got something to prove”

Facing intense scrutiny online, Parekh broke his silence with a lengthy response.

“There’s a lot being said about me right now, and most of you don’t know the full story,” he wrote. “If there’s one thing to know about me, it’s that I love to build. That’s it.”He described feeling isolated and “shut out by nearly everyone I’ve known and every company I’ve worked at.” Despite the backlash, he announced he had signed an exclusive deal as the founding engineer at a new startup in the video AI space. “They back misfits,” he said, noting that the company is planning to launch later this month.“I’m pissed. And I’ve got something to prove,” he added, teasing more details in an upcoming interview with TBPN.