Once a viral marketing sensation in Silicon Valley! Cluely's founder admits to falsifying revenue

AI Startup Cluely Co-Founder and CEO Roy Lee Recently Admitted on Social Platform X That the Company Revenue Data He Previously Shared with the Media Was Not Accurate. He Said That the $7 Million Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) Told to TechCrunch Last Summer Was a Fabricated Number and That It Was His Only Public Lie, So He Decided to Officially Withdraw It.

Media Response: That Was a PR-Arranged Interview by Cluely

Roy Lee stated on X that he received a call from an unfamiliar person asking about the company’s revenue, and he casually provided a number, not expecting it to turn into an article. However, reports indicate that the call was initiated by Cluely’s PR team contacting TechCrunch to arrange an interview.

According to TechCrunch reporter Marina Temkin, Cluely’s PR sent an email on June 27, 2025, at 8:38 AM proposing to schedule an interview with Roy Lee. The email said, “We’re happy to arrange an interview with Roy to discuss Cluely’s next phase of development or share his new perspectives on the product vision.”

Temkin agreed to the interview arrangement, and the PR team provided Lee’s phone number, confirming he was informed and waiting for the call. After several attempts, Lee answered the phone and completed the pre-arranged interview.

Startup Cluely, Gaining Fame with a “Cheat Tool”

TechCrunch was interested in Cluely because the company went viral online in the summer of 2025. Cluely’s product was called the “Cheat-on-Everything” tool, allowing users to secretly look up answers during video calls without being detected.

(Online interviews can also be cheated: How Cluely AI Tricks Interviewers and Rewrites Recruitment Modes?)

The startup itself was highly controversial. Lee posted on X that he and the co-founder were suspended from Columbia University for developing a tool that helped software engineers cheat during interviews. The post quickly went viral, making Cluely a hot topic in Silicon Valley discussions. The two later commercialized the technology, launching Cluely, which was positioned as a tool for online interviewees or anyone to secretly query answers during conversations.

Cluely Embraces the “Black and Red Are Also Red” Mindset

Cluely has continued to make headlines due to its provocative marketing strategies. The company is skilled at using controversial content (rage-bait marketing) to attract traffic and new users, becoming a popular case study in Silicon Valley startup circles. Roy Lee even publicly stated at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 that such controversial marketing methods can indeed quickly attract early users.

(The Best Case of Viral Marketing: How AI Startup Cluely’s Founder Raised $15 Million in Three Months)

He advised entrepreneurs, “One thing I’ve learned is that you should never publicly disclose your revenue figures.” However, after the revenue fabrication incident, he also posted on Twitter a Stripe interface to prove the company’s actual current income. Now, Cluely has repositioned its product, transforming into an AI meeting notes tool.

This article, which went viral in Silicon Valley with its viral marketing approach, originally appeared on Chain News ABMedia.