Police shut down Cluely’s party, the ‘cheat at everything’ startup
The last San Francisco Startup Culture Drama took place on Monday evening. And it concentrated around ‘the most legendary party that never happened’, Cluely founder and CEO Roy Lee tells WAN.
Cluely had hoped to throw an after-party for a Y-combinator event mentioned on Monday and Tuesday AI Startup School. Thanks to planned speakers such as Sam Altman, Satya Nadella and Elon Musk, the event was busy.
Cluely is an AI-startup born from controversy and anger-axle comedy marketing. Loyal to Vorm Lee placed a satirical video on X advertisement for his after-party. It shows it camped by the famous Y Combinator board -the one with which all YC founders bring selfies. (Cluely is not a YC startup.)
The tweet advertised the party to his more than 100,000 followers and told DM for an invitation. Lee tells WAN that he did not really send invitations to the hordes. “We only invited friends and friends of friends,” he said.
But it became the Party and people shared the details. When it would start to start So many people were outside The location that wrapping the lines around blocks. “It just blew out outside the proportion,” says Lee. What looked like 2,000 people showed up, he added.
A party that was so great may have gotten out of hand, but it didn’t get the chance. The lines blocked the traffic, so the police showed up and closed it. “Cluely’s Aura is just too strong!” Lee heard screaming outside while the police destroyed him.
“It would have been the most legendary party in technical history. And I would claim that the reputation of this story might make it the most legendary party that never happened,” Lee tells WAN, at the same time proud and bummed.
Lee became known in San Francisco then He placed a viral tweet on x Said he was suspended by Columbia University after he and his co-founder had developed an AI tool to cheat on job interviews for software engineers.
They turned that tool into a startup that offers a hidden in browser window that cannot be viewed by an interviewer or proctor. The startup also went viral for his marketing who promised to help people ‘cheat everything’. In April, Cluely collected a $ 5.3 million seed round, and the marketing is now a little less in your face: “Everything you need. Before you ask.”
The party and its downfall due to law enforcement became of course the subject of jokes, memes and inventive rumors. Lee’s explanation about the crowd outside is perhaps more boring than what some people had thought. After the police had shown: “We did something cleaning up, but the drinks are all waiting for the next party,” he promises.
