tech
March 6, 2026
Cluely CEO Roy Lee admits to publicly lying about revenue numbers last year
The $7 million in annual recurring revenue that Cluely CEO Roy Lee shared last summer was a lie, its founder and CEO Roy Lee admitted on Thursday on X.
TL;DR
- Cluely CEO Roy Lee admitted on X that he lied about the company's $7 million annual recurring revenue (ARR) shared with TechCrunch.
- Lee initially claimed the figures were a fabricated response to a cold call, but Cluely's PR team had arranged the interview with TechCrunch.
- Cluely gained viral attention as a tool to cheat on video calls and interviews, funded by $5.3 million in seed funding and later a $15 million Series A.
- The company, which used provocative content and stunts for marketing, has since rebranded as an AI-powered meeting note-taker.
- Lee previously advised against sharing revenue numbers publicly, a piece of advice he seemingly forgot when admitting the lie.
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