Latest news with #Telegin
Mint
a day ago
- Business
- Mint
Soham Parekh used India-Pak conflict to delay work, lied about ‘drone strike,' says ex boss
Soham Parekh, an Indian tech professional accused of secretly working for several US-based startups at the same time, has been accused of emotionally manipulating his former boss by using the India-Pakistan conflict as an excuse. Arkadiy Telegin, co-founder of Leaping AI, made these claims in a recent post on X. According to Telegin, Parekh falsely claimed that he was living close to a conflict zone in Mumbai during the tensions between India and Pakistan in May. He alleged that Parekh messaged him saying, "They shot a drone in the air near my house 10 mins away," to explain delays in work. Telegin further claimed that Parekh lied and guilt-trip him for being slow with coding tasks, saying, "Soham used to guilt-trip me for being slow on PRs when the India-Pakistan thing was going on, all while he was in Mumbai." He jokingly added, "The next person should hire him for the Chief Intelligence Officer role." Telegin also shared screenshots of their chats to support his claims. The messages were likely exchanged during a tense period of military action between India and Pakistan, following Operation Sindoor. The operation came in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 persons lost their lives on April 22. Later, Parekh reached out to Telegin to apologise for the "trouble" he had caused. Sharing a screenshot of this apology, Telegin captioned it, "Soham character arc that I hoped to see." In a separate post on X, Suhail Doshi, former CEO of Mixpanel, accused Parekh of juggling multiple jobs at once. Doshi claimed that Parekh had been working with "34 startups at the same time" and accused him of faking his CV to secure these jobs. He said that Parekh was fired within a week of being hired but allegedly continued to deceive other startups. Warning others in the startup community, Doshi wrote, "PSA: there's a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He's been preying on YC companies and more. Beware," adding, "He hasn't stopped a year later. No more excuses." Responding to the controversy, Parekh admitted his actions and said, "I'm not proud of what I've done. But, you know, financial circumstances, essentially. No one really likes to work 140 hours a week, right? But I had to do this out of necessity. I was in extremely dire financial circumstances." He also said that he completed the work himself, without using AI tools or help from other engineers. Despite the backlash, Parekh has now joined a new AI startup called Darwin, based in San Francisco. He said he will no longer be taking on multiple jobs. Darwin's CEO and founder, Sanjit Juneja, defended the hiring, saying, "Soham is an incredibly talented engineer, and we believe in his abilities to help bring our products to market."
Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Soham Parekh used India-Pak conflict to delay work, lied about 'drone strike' near Mumbai home amid moonlighting row
Soham Parekh, an Indian tech professional accused of secretly working for several US-based startups at the same time, has been accused of emotionally manipulating his former boss by using the India-Pakistan conflict as an excuse. Arkadiy Telegin, co-founder of Leaping AI, made these claims in a recent post on X. According to Telegin, Parekh falsely claimed that he was living close to a conflict zone in Mumbai during the tensions between India and Pakistan in May. He alleged that Parekh messaged him saying, "They shot a drone in the air near my house 10 mins away," to explain delays in work. Telegin further claimed that Parekh blamed him for being slow with coding tasks, saying, "Soham used to guilt-trip me for being slow on PRs when the India-Pakistan thing was going on, all while he was in Mumbai." He jokingly added, "The next person should hire him for the Chief Intelligence Officer role." Telegin also shared screenshots of their chats to support his claims. The messages were exchanged during a tense period of military action between India and Pakistan, following Operation Sindoor. The operation came in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 civilians lost their lives on April 22. Later, Parekh reached out to Telegin to apologise for the "trouble" he had caused. Sharing a screenshot of this apology, Telegin captioned it, "Soham character arc that I hoped to see." In a separate post on X, Suhail Doshi, former CEO of Mixpanel, accused Parekh of juggling multiple jobs at once. Doshi claimed that Parekh had been working with "34 startups at the same time" and accused him of faking his CV to secure these jobs. He said that Parekh was fired within a week of being hired but allegedly continued to deceive other startups. Warning others in the startup community, Doshi wrote, "PSA: there's a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He's been preying on YC companies and more. Beware," adding, "He hasn't stopped a year later. No more excuses." Responding to the controversy, Parekh admitted his actions and said, "I'm not proud of what I've done. But, you know, financial circumstances, essentially. No one really likes to work 140 hours a week, right? But I had to do this out of necessity. I was in extremely dire financial circumstances." He also said that he completed the work himself, without using AI tools or help from other engineers. Despite the backlash, Parekh has now joined a new AI startup called Darwin, based in San Francisco. He said he will no longer be taking on multiple jobs. Darwin's CEO and founder, Sanjit Juneja, defended the hiring, saying, "Soham is an incredibly talented engineer, and we believe in his abilities to help bring our products to market." On June 3, Parekh posted on X, reflecting on the fallout from the controversy. "I've been isolated, written off and shut out by nearly everyone I've known and every company I've worked at. But building is the only thing I've ever truly known, and it's what I'll keep doing," he wrote.
NDTV
2 days ago
- Business
- NDTV
Soham Parekh Lied About Drone Strike During Op Sindoor To Guilt Trip Ex-Boss
Soham Parekh, the Indian tech professional accused of moonlighting at multiple US-based startups, emotionally manipulated his ex-boss - Leaping AI co-founder, Arkadiy Telegin, by citing the India-Pakistan conflict in May, Telegin asserted. Parekh's ex-boss made the claim on X, just days after the techie admitted to working at multiple startups without disclosing. Telegin further said that Parekh pretended to be near a conflict area saying, "They shot a drone in the air near my house 10 mins away", despite living in Mumbai. Telegin also alleged that the techie "guilt-tripped" him for taking too long to get work done. When Telegin asked if he was safe, Parekh said that a building near his house was damaged because of the strike. "Soham used to guilt-trip me for being slow on PRs (a step in coding carried out by a coder) when the India-Pakistan thing was going on, all while he was in Mumbai. The next person should hire him for the Chief Intelligence Officer role," Telegin wrote in a post on X. He also attached screenshots of the chats with Parekh on X. Soham also used to guilt trip me for his being slow on PRs when India Pakistan thing was going on, all while he was in Mumbai. Next person should hire him for the Chief Intelligence Officer role. — Arkadiy Telegin (@akyshnik) July 2, 2025 The chats took place in the backdrop of an intense military stand-off between India and Pakistan after the former launched Operation Sindoor. The strikes followed the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, where 26 civilians were killed. Parekh later reached out to Telegin apologising for the "trouble" he had caused. Soham character arc that I hoped to see, Telegin captioned the screenshot that he posted on X. Soham character arc that I hoped to see — Arkadiy Telegin (@akyshnik) July 4, 2025 In a revelation, Suhail Doshi, former CEO of Mixpanel, posted on X that Parekh had been working with "34 startups at the same time". Doshi accused Parekh of scamming startups by working multiple jobs at one time and faking his resume. Doshi fired Parekh within a week of hiring him and warned others about his behaviour, but Parekh allegedly continued working for other startups. "PSA: there's a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He's been preying on YC companies and more. Beware," Doshi had said. "He hasn't stopped a year later. No more excuses." Parekh has responded to the allegations by saying, "I'm not proud of what I've done. But, you know, financial circumstances, essentially. No one really likes to work 140 hours a week, right? But I had to do this out of necessity. I was in extremely dire financial circumstances". He also added that he did all the work without the assistance of AI or other engineers. Parekh has also announced that he has taken up a job at an AI firm, Darwin, a new startup based in San Francisco in the United States. He also clarified that he will not be taking up any more additional jobs. Sanjit Juneja, Darwin's CEO and founder reinforced his support towards Parekh and said, "Soham is an incredibly talented engineer, and we believe in his abilities to help bring our products to market." On June 3rd, he posted on X, "I've been isolated, written off and shut out by nearly everyone I've known and every company I've worked at. But building is the only thing I've ever truly known, and it's what I'll keep doing."
India Today
2 days ago
- Business
- India Today
Indian techie faked drone strike during Op Sindoor to shirk work, claims ex-boss
Indian tech professional Soham Parekh, who has been at the centre of a row for moonlighting at multiple Silicon Valley companies, emotionally manipulated Leaping AI co-founder, Arkadiy Telegin, by invoking the India-Pakistan military conflict in May, Telegin has AI co-founder Telegin, took to X to make the claim, days after the Indian techie admitted to simultaneously working at multiple companies without claimed that Parekh misled him by pretending to be in a "conflict" area during the "India-Pakistan thing", despite actually being in Mumbai, all that while. The US-based Starup co-founder alleged that the techie "guilt-tripped" him for taking too long to get work SHARES SCREENSHOT OF HIS CHAT WITH SOHAM PAREK "Soham used to guilt-trip me for being slow on PRs (a step in coding carried out by a coder) when the India-Pakistan thing was going on, all while he was in Mumbai. The next person should hire him for the Chief Intelligence Officer role," Telegin wrote in a post on X along with the screenshots of his chat with claimed the chat with Parekh was from the time in May when India and Pakistan were engaged in an intense military stand-off after New Delhi launched Operation Sindoor. The precise Indian strikes on terror heavens in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir resulted in Islamabad launching a barrage of missiles and drones across the international border and the Line of Control. Pakistan targeted Indian military installations and civilian sent a message to Telegin, claiming, "Drone shot down 10 minutes away". When Telegin asked about Parekh's well-being, Parekh lied that a building close to his home was damaged in the FOR 34 STARTUPS: FOUNDERSuhail Doshi, former CEO of Mixpanel, earlier posted on X alleging that Parekh was employed by "34 startups at the same time" and had deceived Y Combinator-backed firms. Y Combinator-backed firms are startups that get money, support, and advice from the startup accelerator to grow their further said he terminated Parekh within a week after discovering the overlapping founders backed up Doshi's warning, prompting one to call off Parekh's trial last week, while another disclosed they had recently interviewed him -- only to discover his involvement with multiple responded to the allegations during an interview on the tech show TBPN, openly acknowledging the truth behind the accusations."It is true," he admitted, adding, "I'm not proud of what I've done. But, you know, financial circumstances, essentially. No one really likes to work 140 hours a week, right? But I had to do this out of necessity. I was in extremely dire financial circumstances".He clarified that he personally handled all assigned work without the help of other engineers or AI PAREKH SAYS GETS NEW JOB AT DARWINSoham Parek, the India-based techie has now announced that he's joining an AI firm, Darwin, which is a new startup based in San Francisco in the however, said that, this time, he won't be taking on any additional founder and CEO, Sanjit Juneja, also issued a statement expressing confidence in Parekh's skills."Soham is an incredibly talented engineer, and we believe in his abilities to help bring our products to market," Juneja the series of allegations and controversies, Parekh on June 3 responded on his X account."I've been isolated, written off and shut out by nearly everyone I've known and every company I've worked at. But building is the only thing I've ever truly known, and it's what I'll keep doing."He confirmed that he has wrapped up all other job commitments and has now signed an exclusive deal with Darwin.- Ends
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
'Drone shot down 10 mins away': AI founder shares Soham Parekh's Operation Sindoor guilt-trip texts
As the controversy around Soham Parekh deepens, a US-based AI startup founder has shared screenshots of his conversations with the Indian techie, claiming that he used tensions between India and Pakistan during Operation Sindoor to emotionally manipulate him. Leaping AI founder Arkadiy Telegin took to X to reveal messages exchanged with Soham Parekh.(X/@akyshnik) Leaping AI founder Arkadiy Telegin took to X (formerly Twitter) to reveal messages exchanged with Parekh. He said that the techie guilt-tripped him for taking too long on pull requests while the latter claimed to be caught in the middle of a conflict zone. 'Soham used to guilt-trip me for being slow on PRs when the India-Pakistan thing was going on, all while he was in Mumbai. The next person should hire him for the Chief Intelligence Officer role,' Telegin wrote. Take a look at the post here: In the screenshots, dated during the peak of Operation Sindoor, Parekh messaged Telegin at 2.29 AM saying, 'Drone shot down 10 minutes away.' Telegin, appearing alarmed, asked if Parekh was okay. Parekh replied that a building near his home had been damaged. Telegin's post was met with a mix of concern and criticism. One user accused him of seeking 'cheap labour,' to which the founder responded by saying he had offered Parekh a compensation package ranging from $150,000 to $200,000, along with equity in the company. Multiple startup CEOs have now come forward to accuse Parekh of moonlighting across several firms. Flo Crivello, founder and CEO of Lindy, said, 'Holy sh*t. We hired this guy a week ago. Fired this morning. He did so incredibly well in interviews, must have a lot of training. Careful out there.' Others, including Antimetal CEO Matthew Parkhurst, Fleet AI co-founder Nicolai Ouporov and Mosaic founder Adish Jain, confirmed Parekh had worked at their companies simultaneously and impressed during interviews.
