What moonlighting king Soham Parekh's story tells us about remote work

Startups are salty, and Soham Parekh is the reason.

The 22-year-old Indian software engineer has found himself at the centre of a massive moonlighting controversy after being accused of holding down multiple remote jobs at once and allegedly doing it quite well. Founders are fuming, but former Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy might be smiling somewhere: the man did say young people should work 70–90 hours a week. Soham, it seems, took that very seriously and worked well over a 100 hours each week.

Soham Parekh was accused of working for multiple startups at the same time

His name first popped up when a US-based startup founder Suhail took to X to share a post accusing Soham of working multiple full-time jobs across startups without disclosing it.

But the drama truly kicked off when Soham, who cheekily describes himself as "everyone’s favorite founding engineer" on X, responded. Rather than hide, he clapped back, laying out his side of the story, pushing back against what he sees as hypocrisy in startup culture.

And that’s where things get interesting.

Because at the heart of this scandal is a broader conversation about remote work, labour expectations, and the double standards baked into startup culture.

Why is moonlighting only a problem when employees do it?

If founders can be CEOs, angel investors, podcasters, and "LinkedIn influencers" all at once, why is it unacceptable for a developer to have more than one job (except for violating contracts of course)?

Remote work was supposed to be about flexibility and freedom. But now that employees are exercising that flexibility, there’s pushback. The truth is: many companies still measure productivity by presence, not output. But if being present guaranteed quality, then explain why half your colleagues are still peacocking on Slack while delivering little.

Moonlighting isn't new, but the scale and boldness of it in the remote era has rattled some employers. The difference now is that remote work has unlocked possibilities that were previously unthinkable, especially for skilled workers who can balance multiple roles efficiently. For many, it's about maximising income and reducing their reliance on a single employer in an unstable job market. Of course, CEOs and founders would not want us doing that.

Everyone might blame remote work but it is more than that

Soham’s story may have shocked founders, but it also exposes the flaws in how companies manage remote talent. Instead of clamping down on workers, maybe it’s time to ask: Are job expectations realistic? Are workers being fairly compensated? Is performance being judged on output or face-time?

The remote work model offers undeniable upsides like flexibility, autonomy, global talent access, work-life integration. For many, remote work makes life feel more balanced.

Soham Parekh may be a lightning rod in this debate, but how much blame really falls on him? He chose to maximise his skills and reap the rewards and it all came crashing down because one founder decided to blow the whistle.

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