'Genius' Soham Parekh gets support from Redditor amid moonlighting row: 'Narayana Murthy's dream employee'

Amid vehement criticism against Soham Parekh for moonlighting at US startups, a Redditor has voiced their support for the Indian techie, calling him an “absolute genius.” The Redditor added that while most people struggle to handle one job, Parekh managed to work "140 hours a week."

“What he did is not legally ethical, but whatever it is, he is an absolute genius! People are tired of one job, and that dude was juggling FIVE YC startups, working 140 hours a week. That's like Narayana Murthy's dream employee and worst nightmare at the same time. Watched his interview on TBPN. Hollywood should make a movie on him. He messed up once; I won't call him a scammer or anything. He deserves a second chance,” the Redditor said.

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Parekh has admitted to working at multiple US firms simultaneously due to financial constraints. In an interview with TBPN, he claimed to have worked for about 140 hours a week.

“So an average day... an average week for you, it feels like basically you sleep for 6 to 8 hours, and you’re programming for 12 to 14 hours every single day for seven days a week,” one of the interviewers asked.

'He'll prove everyone wrong'

The software engineer has found a new full-time job opportunity with Darwin Studios, based in San Francisco. In this new role as a founding engineer, he will help build an AI-powered video remixing platform called Wayve.

In a statement, Darwin’s CEO and founder Sanjit Juneja commended the techie, who was accused of juggling multiple jobs at once, and suggested that there is “something even greater to prove than just his love for software.”

Calling Parekh a “10x engineer,” he defended his recruitment and said, "Soham is an incredibly talented engineer, and we believe in his abilities to help bring our products to market." He suggested that there is “something even greater to prove than just his love for software.” Meanwhile, Soham Parekh admitted that he will no longer be taking on multiple jobs.

Founder of AI company HyperSpell, Conor Brennan-Burke, also offered an engineering role to Parekh in his company and said that he believes in second chances. Sharing the email, Burke wrote, “He's definitely learned his lesson now and is going to work insanely hard to prove everyone wrong. Massive opportunity to bring on top talent with a chip on their shoulder.”