Silicon Valley Engineer Juggled Multiple Jobs — Experts Warn of the Dark Side of Hustle Culture
The tech world is buzzing after a shocking revelation: a Mumbai-based software engineer was exposed for secretly working at multiple Silicon Valley startups simultaneously — and the fallout has reignited debate around toxic hustle culture and the limits of remote work freedom.
The Man Behind the Controversy: Soham Parekh
Soham Parekh, a software engineer from India, recently went viral after being accused by several startup founders of working at three to four startups at the same time without disclosing his multiple job commitments.
It all began when Suhail Doshi, founder of AI startup Playground, called Parekh out publicly on social media platform X (formerly Twitter):
“There’s a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time… I fired this guy in his first week and told him to stop lying / scamming people. He hasn’t stopped a year later.”
The post quickly exploded, gaining over 25,000 likes. Soon, other startup founders joined in with similar experiences.
Founders Speak Out
Matthew Parkhurst, founder of Antimetal, revealed that Parekh was his first engineering hire in 2022. Though Parekh came across as intelligent and likable, it didn’t take long to notice inconsistencies in availability and work quality. They soon realized he was working multiple jobs.
Another founder, Haz Hubble of social media platform Pally, said they had offered Parekh a lucrative $250,000 founding engineer role. However, they retracted the offer after he declined to relocate to San Francisco — a red flag that now makes sense in hindsight.
“It seems like he’s addicted to collecting job offers more than actually working,” Hubble remarked.
Parekh Admits the Truth
Appearing on the tech podcast TBPN, Parekh confessed to the allegations.
“No one really likes to work 140 hours a week… but I was in extremely dire financial circumstances,” he said.
Parekh also claimed his motivations weren’t driven by greed — stating that he often chose lower salaries in exchange for higher equity stakes at early-stage companies. Still, his confession has stirred mixed reactions across the tech community.
A Broader Industry Problem
While Parekh’s case is extreme, experts argue that it reflects a broader trend in the tech industry. During the remote work boom post-2020, stories of “overemployment” — workers secretly holding multiple full-time remote jobs — became more common.
The subreddit r/overemployed, launched in 2021, hosts thousands of users who share tips on juggling multiple tech roles without getting caught.
According to Randstad India, moonlighting (working more than one job without disclosure) in India’s IT sector surged by 25–30% between 2020 and 2023. Reasons include job insecurity, low wages, and remote flexibility.
Experts Weigh In: The Dark Side of Hustle Culture
Industry voices are calling this incident a cautionary tale — not just about deception, but about Silicon Valley’s unhealthy obsession with productivity and performance.
“What we’re seeing is the extreme end of hustle culture: when work becomes performance, and identity becomes fragmented,” said Dmitry Zaytsev, founder of Dandelion Civilization.
Zaytsev warned that when qualities like reliability and presence are ignored in favor of technical skills, companies may hire people who aren’t genuinely committed. Burnout, he said, is an inevitable outcome in such a system.
“Soham’s admission of working 140 hours a week isn’t just unhealthy — it reflects a culture that treats exhaustion as achievement.”
Will This Threaten Flexible Work?
Alexandru Voica, head of policy at AI firm Synthesia, raised concerns that cases like this could jeopardize remote and hybrid work setups — especially for those who genuinely benefit from them.
“Flexible work has helped women, people with disabilities, and those in vulnerable situations. But bad actors risk ruining it for everyone.”
Final Thoughts: A Wake-Up Call for Startups
The story of Soham Parekh is more than just about one engineer — it’s a reflection of deeper issues within the startup ecosystem. From glorifying overwork to rushing hires in a competitive market, the tech world may need to rethink what sustainable success looks like.
As hustle culture reaches its limits, companies may start placing more value on transparency, balance, and genuine commitment — not just raw output.
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