The Great Tech Hustle: How One Engineer Duped Silicon Valley Startups Out of $200K Salaries
- JB Quinnon
- Jul 4
- 3 min read
The Great Tech Hustle: How One Engineer Duped Silicon Valley Startups Out of $200K Salaries

In a bizarre tale that underscores the pitfalls of remote hiring and the fierce competition for tech talent, a software engineer named Soham Parekh has admitted to simultaneously working multiple high-paying jobs at various Silicon Valley startups—delivering minimal work while pocketing salaries as high as $200,000 per role.
The deception unraveled after Suhail Doshi, co-founder and former CEO of Mixpanel, took to social media platform X to publicly warn startups about Parekh’s tactics. Doshi claimed Parekh had been targeting Y Combinator-funded companies and “working at 3-4 startups at the same time.” His post quickly went viral, with numerous founders chiming in to share similar experiences.
A Pattern of Deception
Founders described Parekh as a charming and convincing candidate who “crushed” interviews, aced technical questions, and boasted a resume that listed a master’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology. But Georgia Tech confirmed there was no record of his enrollment. Once hired, Parekh would deliver minimal code or vanish entirely, offering a slew of excuses ranging from visa delays and health issues to drone strikes and natural disasters.
“He was insanely slow,” said Arkadiy Telegin, co-founder of Leaping AI. “Then the Indo-Pakistan conflict happened—and he said a drone hit his building. But he was nowhere near the conflict zone.”
Telegin isn’t alone. Marcus Lowe, co-founder of Create, hired Parekh as a full-time independent contractor with a $150,000 base salary. Parekh made a single in-office appearance and then began ghosting the team. After discovering he was also contributing code to another startup, Lowe confronted him. Parekh was eventually terminated for poor performance.
The Silicon Valley Echo Chamber
The story took a surreal turn when startup founders began to realize—often through casual conversations—that they were all “dating the same guy.” Within Telegin’s Y Combinator cohort alone, Parekh had applied to or worked with at least three other companies. Others reported having paid him for trial projects before noticing red flags.
According to software engineer and newsletter writer Gergely Orosz, at least 10 companies hired and fired Parekh for doing nothing while misleading them. Eight more rejected him after interviews. “There are likely many, many more,” Orosz posted.
Financial Desperation or Calculated Grift?
When confronted in an interview on TBPN, Parekh admitted to juggling multiple jobs and expressed regret. “I’m not proud of what I’ve done,” he said. “But no one likes to work 140 hours a week. I had to do it out of necessity.”
Yet the scale and consistency of the scam suggest more than desperation. With forged credentials, fabricated excuses, and a polished interview persona, Parekh exploited the startup ecosystem’s hunger for engineering talent. Remote work and trial contracts made it easier for him to stay under the radar.
Despite the widespread criticism, one founder still defended Parekh. Sanjit Juneja of Darwin called him “an incredibly talented engineer” and stood by his capabilities.
Lessons for the Startup World
This incident exposes a critical vulnerability in how early-stage startups hire. In a remote-first world with inflated competition for AI and engineering talent, due diligence has often taken a backseat to speed. The allure of a “10x engineer” who performs well in interviews can cloud judgment—even when red flags emerge.
Parekh’s story also highlights a broader trend of “over-employment,” where workers quietly hold multiple full-time roles. Though not always malicious, it raises ethical and legal concerns—especially when deception and underperformance come into play.
Startups, especially those with limited resources, may need to rethink their hiring processes. Verifying credentials, checking references, and using trial periods wisely could prevent costly mistakes. In a space where trust is currency, this saga serves as a sobering reminder: even in the innovation capital of the world, not everything—or everyone—is what they seem.
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