Cluely CEO Admits Lying About $7M ARR Figure While Falsely Claiming TechCrunch Interview Was Unsolicited
Summary
Cluely CEO Roy Lee confesses his $7M ARR figure shared with TechCrunch was a lie, then compounds the scandal by falsely claiming the interview was unsolicited — contradicting records showing his own PR team proactively pitched it.
Key Points
- Cluely CEO Roy Lee publicly admits on X that the $7 million ARR figure he shared with TechCrunch last summer was a lie, calling it the only blatantly dishonest thing he has said publicly online.
- Lee falsely claims in his retraction post that he received a random cold call about revenue numbers, but records show Cluely's own PR team proactively pitched the interview to TechCrunch and confirmed Lee was expecting the call.
- Cluely, originally a viral 'cheat-on-everything' startup that raised $15 million from Andreessen Horowitz, has since rebranded as an AI-powered meeting note-taker, with Lee ironically sharing Stripe account screenshots in his confession despite previously advising founders to never share revenue numbers.