- Offboard
- Posts
- Cheaters are prospering - just not equally. Roy Lee vs. Soham
Cheaters are prospering - just not equally. Roy Lee vs. Soham
VC double standards, government-backed job gains, and 3 AI tools to help you outsmart the system. This week, we’re not playing fair; we’re playing to win.
In partnership with
👋 Welcome, Jobseekers
"Overthinking is underdoing with better vocabulary."Cheaters are prospering, just not equally. In this issue, we dive into the Roy Lee vs. Soham hypocrisy that’s torching Silicon Valley’s moral compass, show how healthcare and government are propping up a sagging job market, and drop tools to help you interview sharper, network faster, and hack your job hunt with AI. Buckle up — the system’s rigged, but you don’t have to play fair to win.
📉 Layoff Report: Intel will lay off 529 Oregon workers in initial cuts, ByteDance, Subtl.ai
🧑✈️ Career CoPilot: Roy Lee vs. Soham: Cheaters Prosper - If VCs Like You
📈 Trends & Data: Health & Government Carry the Load
🔧 Jobseeker Tools: InterviewBoss, WonsultingAI, aiApply
Discuss this newsletter in the Offboard community Slack!
Anything and everything we talk about here can be further discussed in our Slack Community (among many other job-seeking-related topics). Just look for the #newsletter channel to find specific topics to talk about!
Learn AI in 5 minutes a day
This is the easiest way for a busy person wanting to learn AI in as little time as possible:
Sign up for The Rundown AI newsletter
They send you 5-minute email updates on the latest AI news and how to use it
You learn how to become 2x more productive by leveraging AI
📉 Intel will lay off 529 Oregon workers in initial cuts
Source: TrueUp
Roy Lee vs. Soham: Cheaters Prosper - If VCs Like You
Overview
Silicon Valley cheers founders who bend the rules but scorches workers who play the same game. This week’s face‑off makes the double standard impossible to ignore.
Roy Lee’s Playbook — Cheat Loud, Cash In
A16Z’s $15 million endorsement fuels Cluely, an AI tool that literally teaches users to “cheat on everything.”
Hype at scale: 50 TikTok interns blast 200 clips a day, turning provocation into growth.
Myth‑making as moat: Stories of lap‑dance demos and college expulsions are recast as rebellious genius.
Boardroom applause: VCs label Lee “visionary,” rewarding the hustle with press and preferential term sheets.
Soham Parekh’s Playbook — Cheat Quiet, Get Burned
Multi‑gig maestro: Juggled 3‑4 YC‑backed jobs, pulling in roughly ₹2.5 lakh/day (~$30K month) by leveraging remote work and AI.
Public pillory: Outed on X by founders, instantly tagged a "scammer" and terminated.
No safety net: Zero soft‑landing term sheets only a digital scarlet letter and industry blackballing.
Same logic, opposite verdict: Parekh maximized output‑per‑hour just like Lee, but without VC blessing, the hustle becomes a hanging offense.
Why It Matters
Leverage, don’t languish. Remote work enables income stacking, but reading every non‑compete (and guarding your calendar) is mandatory.
Output beats optics. Whether shipping code for one boss or three, value is problems solved, not hours online.
Trust tax is real. As surveillance software spreads, "quiet over‑employment" grows riskier. Build a war chest or new skills before pushing limits.
In a world where hustle porn funds some and fires others, controlling your narrative and your leverage is the only winning play.
Health & Government Carry the Load
Overview
June’s job gains look solid on paper, but almost all the new roles came from just two places.
The Details
147 k jobs added in June—94 % from healthcare, social services, and state/local government (mostly public-school hires).
Unemployment dipped to 4.1 %, yet the average job search now lasts 23 weeks.
Hiring pace: 150 k per month on a 3-month average—slower than 2019’s 166 k and far below 2023’s 216 k boom.
Prime-age participation: 83.5 %, still under last year’s 83.8 % peak.
Past months’ totals got a +16 k revision—helpful, but not a game-changer.
Why it Matters
If you’re outside healthcare or government, openings are getting scarcer and competition is rising. Trim the scatter-shot applications: target sectors that are still hiring, show transferable skills (e.g., AI or data security that hospitals and schools need), and keep networking so you’re first in line when roles do pop up. Staying focused and flexible beats waiting for the tide to lift all boats.
InterviewBoss
Practise the interview! Smash the real thing…
Create unlimited mock interviews instantly. Auto generate personalised questions, feedback, and coaching tips for you.
WonsultingAI
Grow your network at the speed of AI
Land more interviews with NetworkAI. Find recruiters, hiring managers, and industry pros on LinkedIn, and get a fast pass to their email inbox with our cold emailing feature.
aiApply
AI Didn't Take Your Job. But It Can Help You Get One.
Access 1M+ unique job posts and AI-powered tools to accelerate your path to senior roles.
Reply