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News18
a day ago
- Business
- News18
Venture Capitalist Alleges Indian-origin Startup Founders Faked Ties With Tech Giants To Lure Investors
Ash Arora's claims of misconduct by two Indian-origin founders have sparked a social media debate on startup ethics. US-based venture capitalist Ash Arora has alleged serious misconduct by two Indian-origin startup founders, claiming they misrepresented their businesses to lure investors. These allegations have sparked both criticism and introspection across the startup community. In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter), Arora, a partner at LocalGlobe and a Forbes 30 Under 30 (Europe Finance) listee, said, 'Have met two founders in SF this month. Both fraud: 1. Is subletting a rented apartment and showing that as revenue for his startup. 2. Is claiming Amazon and Google are clients who have signed LOIs when they have never even heard of them," she wrote. What truly lit the fuse, however, was Arora's follow-up remark, where she wrote, 'What's common among them? Both desi men. Beware of these people!" This characterisation quickly ignited debate online. While the underlying concern about startup ethics struck a chord with many, others took issue with her framing, accusing her of reinforcing stereotypes based on ethnicity. A sample of two. What's the point of including their race ?— bubble boi (@bubblebabyboi) July 8, 2025 Another user wrote, 'The 'desi men' part is a spicy take, but honestly, the patterns of fraud in SF are pretty universal. Desperation or greed, it always comes back to the same stuff." The 'desi men' part is a spicy take, but honestly, the patterns of fraud in SF are pretty universal. Desperation or greed, it always comes back to the same stuff.— Dan (@salinasdanielf) July 8, 2025 'Generalise a race off of a sample set of 2? Why would a brown male founder even want to take your money? Do better," read one of the comments. Generalize a race off of a sample set of 2?Why would a brown male founder even want to take your money? Do better. — Vishal Jain (@vishal_the_jain) July 9, 2025 Arora, though, stood by her words. She clarified that her use of the term 'desi" was intended to subtly point to the individuals without directly naming them. 'It breaks my heart that Indians are doing this and ruining the reputation of my country," she replied to one of the comments. Because it breaks my heart that Indians are doing this and ruining the reputation of my country— Ash Arora (@asharoraa) July 8, 2025 The conversation escalated further when Arora revealed that a few investors reached out to her. '4 VCs have pinged me correctly guessing both these founder names. Is this Soham Parekh 2.0? We need a BS radar community out here," she wrote, referencing the now-infamous case of Soham Parekh, an engineer who was recently accused by Mixpanel co-founder Suhail Doshi of fabricating parts of his resume and misrepresenting his background. 4 VCs have pinged me correctly guessing both these founder namesIs this Soham Parekh 2.0? We need a BS radar community out here. — Ash Arora (@asharoraa) July 8, 2025 The timing of Arora's remarks, coming just days after Suhail Doshi publicly called out Soham Parekh, has further heightened scrutiny over how startup founders portray themselves and their ventures to investors. While the identities of the two founders remain unknown, the post has reignited concerns about ethical standards in startup culture, especially within Silicon Valley's competitive ecosystem. view comments Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
NDTV
2 days ago
- Business
- NDTV
"Soham Parekh 2.0?": Indian Woman In US Exposes Startup Scams By 2 "Desi" Founders
A US-based Indian venture capitalist has stirred up a storm on social media after calling out fraudulent practices by two "desi" founders in San Francisco's startup ecosystem. Ash Arora, a LocalGlobe partner featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 (Europe Finance) list, alleged that she met two Indian founders who were inflating metrics and fabricating client associations. She claimed that while one founder was subletting a rented apartment and falsely projecting the rent income as startup revenue, the other claimed that Amazon and Google had signed Letters of Intent with his firm, despite the tech giants reportedly having no knowledge of such deals. "Have met two founders in SF this month. Both fraud: 1. Is subletting a rented apartment and showing that as revenue for his startup. 2. Is claiming Amazon and Google are clients who have signed LOIs when they have never even heard of them," Ash Arora wrote. "What's common among them? Both desi men Beware of these people!" she continued, adding, "4 VCs have pinged me correctly guessing both these founder names. Is this Soham Parekh 2.0? We need a BS radar community out here." 4 VCs have pinged me correctly guessing both these founder names Is this Soham Parekh 2.0? We need a BS radar community out here. — Ash Arora (@asharoraa) July 8, 2025 The post quickly caught the internet's attention, sparking mixed reactions. Several users accused Ms Arora of unfairly singling out her own community. "A sample of two. What's the point of including their race?" asked one user. "The 'desi men' part is a spicy take, but honestly, the patterns of fraud in SF are pretty universal. Desperation or greed, it always comes back to the same stuff," commented another. However, Ms Arora defended her mention of the founders' ethnicity, saying, "Absolutely shocked to see egos being hurt here. The ONLY reason I mentioned them being desi was to ensure other people (and investors) are able to guess who these people are without actually naming and shaming them. The intention was to ensure people are staying away from these founders. That's it." "As a desi myself, why in the world would I think lesser of my own community? It is dumb to think someone who is consistently proud of India, literally talks about successes every month and supports Indians in this world would ever want anything except progress for our ethnicity. Also, if we can't self criticize, who will? How will we ever fix something if we are too proud to acknowledge it? If a non Indian pointed out this 'jugaad' culture that is already present everywhere in our country, they would 100% be called racist in this woke environment. Didn't we cancel woke culture? Do better," she added. Others on social media expressed shock at the fraudulent practices. "I really don't understand. This way will never stay longer than few weeks or months. The end is dead. With life goal of genuinely making difference in whatever industry they are willing to do with perseverance is key to success. Shortcuts Never Works," wrote one user. "What's the point of doing this? If you're severely inflating your revenue, you're only hurting yourself. You'll never truly validate your idea, and you'll keep pouring time and effort into the wrong direction," commented another. Notably, Ms Arora's post comes days after Mixpanel founder Suhail Doshi publicly warned fellow entrepreneurs about software engineer Soham Parekh on X. Mr Doshi alleged that Parekh had worked at Mixpanel briefly before being fired and claimed that Parekh had been taking advantage of YC companies. Mr Doshi also shared Parekh's CV, questioning the authenticity of his portfolio, and arguing that probably 90% of the claims made in it are fake. Several other Silicon Valley founders, engineers, and hiring managers also accused Parekh of exploiting job opportunities for personal benefit
