Who is Soham Parekh, and why is he famous all over the internet, triggering a global meme-fest
An Indian tech professional named Soham Parekh has become the most famous name in the world of tech and AI social media overnight. Suddenly, memes about Soham Parekh’s abilities are all over the internet and every tech boss is posting about him. Who is this Soham Parekh? Let’s find out.
Early-stage startups wanted to hire him because of impressive technical talents mentioned in his resume and ability to ace interviews. However, he exploited this ability by taking on several full-time positions at once. He frequently assigned work to junior developers or was unable to perform because of divided commitments.
He might have succeeded in continuing had he not been exposed by the United States-based entrepreneur Suhail Doshi who accused him of working at many startups at the same time and defrauding them. Now, Parekh has turned into a subject for controversy and regrettably for him, a magnet of jokes on social media.
On 2nd July, Doshi, the co-founder and former CEO of Mixpanel, highlighted Parekh’s actions. He mentioned that Soham Parekh is involved with 3-4 startups simultaneously and targets YC companies, among others. Furthermore, Doshi revealed that he terminated Parekh’s employment within the first week and explicitly instructed him to cease his deceitful and fraudulent acts. “He hasn’t stopped a year later. No more excuses,” Doshi added.
The founder of Playground AI also shared Parekh’s CV/resume, pointing out that 90% of its content is fabricated and that the provided links were no longer active. He also noted that he attempted to reason with him, to clarify the consequences and to offer him an opportunity for redemption “because sometimes that’s what a person needs,” yet it evidently proved ineffective.
Doshi shed light on the magnitude of Parekh’s deception and asserted that he concocted persistent falsehoods rather than performing any actual work. This was corroborated by more than six other companies in answering to a tweet that advocated for moonlighting.
Parekh even fabricated details regarding his whereabouts. Doshi mentioned that he believed he was employing an individual from the United States and dispatched a laptop to an address within the country, but it was returned. “Allegedly it was sent to his sister,” he conveyed.
It is indeed challenging, if not impossible, for people to change their ways, particularly when those are steeped in notorious practices. However, Parekh, unsurprisingly, appeared to have come to a realization and recognized his mistakes only after his wrongdoings were busted. He reportedly approached Doshi for honest counsel and claimed that he has a genuine passion for what he does, and hopefully, that involves technology and not misleading companies.
According to Doshi, he then inquired if he had completely jeopardised his career and what he could do to improve his circumstances. Parekh was even willing to admit the truth. Doshi, however, entrusted the decision to the people and declared, “Vox Populi, Vox Dei.” This Latin phrase, which billionaire Elon Musk frequently employs, seems to be quite popular among tech entrepreneurs.
Spooked techies respond to Doshi
Meanwhile, Doshi received messages from numerous people, for whom he was indeed their savior, expressing that they had employed Parekh on the basis of his resume but were now going to investigate the allegations while some even cancelled his work trial.
Nicolai Ouporov, the co-founder and CEO of Fleet AI, commented on a meme which lauded the YC community for identifying Parekh’s deceit and remarked that he had only collaborated with him for one week, while his friends had employed him for several years. He added that Parekh has been doing the same for a long time and is involved with over four startups simultaneously, to which Doshi replied, “Has to stop.”
AIVideo co-founder Justin Harvey must have felt fortunate, as he was very close to hiring Parekh. Interestingly, he mentioned that Parekh truly excelled in the interview.
Similarly, others also replied to the post, supporting Doshi’s statement and outlined that Parekh was ousted after they realised that he was employed at many companies. It was also mentioned that he did great in the interviews but squandered their time as he failed to accomplish any work.
The email he forwarded to his prospective companies also surfaced on social media which shared a common pattern and was utilized to manipulate them into selecting him.
Nevertheless, amidst all the backlash surrounding Parekh, a glimmer of hope emerged when an account advised him to contact Technology’s daily show for an interview. Now, in the words of this person, the burden lies with him to discover his “one chance to fix it all.”
Amidst the scandal that Doshi referred to as “Soham-gate,” he jested that he would be canceled by socialists who would overlook the fraud aspect to justify having many jobs.
Soham-gate leads to a global meme-fest
While the tech world processed the unexpected disclosure, netizens were navigating the onslaught of memes that had been unleashed on social media over the issue. A person took a jab at how meticulously he crafted his email to attract his target companies and declared that if someone’s email is not as striking, it should be polished.
A netizen shared a picture of a desk featuring many computers, with “you’re Soham Parekh about to check in for the day,” mocking how the latter must have been managing multiple jobs simultaneously.
An individual humorously highlighted how Parekh has remained a consistent figure across all the technology companies developing modern digital infrastructure.
A user wrote that Parekh should offer lessons on how to excel in coding interviews, based on his remarkable achievement of securing many jobs.
Another referred to Parekh as a “10x engineer that every YC company seeks” and mocked that he had been assisting over 10 startups with his contributions.
On the one hand, the tech firms are startled by the incident and calling for measures to stop this from reoccurring and on the other, the online community has found humour in the situation. Meanwhile, Sonam Parekh who seems to have moonlighting superpowers, remains elusive.
News