Did ‘scammer' techie Soham Parekh land another lucrative job offer? Startup founder says he's looking for ‘greedy' engineers

Time of India

12 hours ago

Amidst online criticism for allegedly working multiple jobs, software engineer Soham Parekh received a job offer from HyperSpell's founder, Conor Brennan-Burke, who saw it as an opportunity for redemption. Parekh, acknowledging his actions, secured a position at Darwin Studios. Despite mixed reactions, the incident sparked debate about second chances and professional ethics within the tech community.
A techie who has been accused of moonlighting at several startups has been offered a job by another founder. (Representative image)
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Divided Reactions Online
Parekh Speaks Out
The Man Behind the Headlines
In the midst of an online uproar targeting Indian software engineer Soham Parekh , who has been accused of clandestinely working for several U.S.-based startups at the same time, one entrepreneur has gone against the tide by offering him employment. While digital platforms were flooded with criticism over Parekh's alleged misconduct, Conor Brennan-Burke , the founder of AI company HyperSpell, extended an olive branch instead.As online commentators condemned Parekh's actions, Brennan-Burke adopted a more forgiving stance. He viewed Parekh's situation as a chance to recruit talent under pressure to redeem itself. The AI startup head shared publicly that he believed Parekh had likely realized the gravity of his decisions and was now highly motivated to prove skeptics wrong. In Brennan-Burke's view, this made him an ideal candidate—someone with both experience and something to prove.Brennan-Burke also published the email he sent to Parekh. In the message, he referenced Parekh's previous work with well-known startups and mentioned that HyperSpell was actively hiring engineers. He invited Parekh for an informal conversation, indicating an openness to reintegrate him into the industry rather than shut him out."Burke also shared the email he wrote to Parekh, inviting him to be a part of his tech team. "Hi Soham, Saw that you've worked with quite a few successful startups and heard you might be on the market. We're hiring engineers right now. Let me know if you're open to a casual chat next week," the e-mail read.Sharing the e-mail, Burke tweeted, "Be greedy when others are fearful."Despite Brennan-Burke's attempt at rehabilitation, he received pushback from others in the tech community. Critics warned against employing individuals accused of lacking professional ethics. One user even described Parekh as someone of questionable integrity. In response, Brennan-Burke stood firm, arguing that everyone should be allowed the opportunity to make amends. He encouraged others to support what he called Parekh's potential comeback story.Following the wave of attention, Parekh revealed in a now-removed social media post that he had accepted a position with another AI company, Darwin Studios. This marked his first public acknowledgment of the allegations. During an interview with The Big Programming Network (TBPN), Parekh admitted his actions had not been commendable and expressed regret.He stressed that he managed all the workload himself and never outsourced tasks to junior coders. He further clarified that he had not used artificial intelligence tools to perform his duties and stated he began balancing multiple jobs in 2022—well before AI tools like GitHub Copilot became mainstream.Soham Parekh is a software developer from India with an impressive academic background. He earned his undergraduate degree in computer engineering from the University of Mumbai, graduating with an exceptional GPA of 9.83 out of 10. He then pursued further education in the United States, obtaining a Master's in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology.The allegations against him first surfaced when Suhail Doshi, co-founder of Mixpanel and Playground AI, issued a warning to other founders on X (formerly Twitter). Doshi accused Parekh of deceiving several startups into hiring him simultaneously and specifically stated that Parekh had been exploiting companies backed by Y Combinator. Since then, at least six tech executives have come forward, acknowledging that Parekh was on their teams and had been dismissed once his dual employment became known.Though the incident has left Parekh's professional reputation in question, the gesture from Brennan-Burke and the job offer from Darwin Studios signal that redemption may not be out of reach.