Cluely CEO Roy Lee admits to publicly lying about revenue numbers last year

Roy Lee, the co-founder and CEO of Cluely, has publicly acknowledged that the $7 million in annual recurring revenue he reported to TechCrunch last summer was inaccurate. In a candid post on X, Lee described this misrepresentation as the "only blatantly dishonest thing I've said publicly online," and proceeded to issue a formal retraction. However, his statement also raised questions about the context in which he provided those figures. Lee claimed that he received an unexpected cold call from a woman inquiring about Cluely's revenue numbers and admitted to sharing some misleading information without anticipating it would lead to a published article. Yet, the reality is more complex: Cluely's public relations team had proactively contacted TechCrunch, offering Lee for an interview. On June 27, 2025, Cluely’s PR representative reached out to reporter Marina Temkin, expressing interest in arranging an interview to discuss the company’s trajectory. After a few attempts, Lee participated in the scheduled conversation, during which he provided the figures that would later come under scrutiny. Cluely had gained significant attention in the summer of 2025, becoming known as the “cheat-on-everything” startup, which allowed users to secretly look up answers during video calls. This notoriety stemmed in part from Lee’s own viral post on X, where he shared the story of his suspension from Columbia University for developing a tool aimed at helping users cheat in job interviews. With $5.3 million in seed funding from investors like Abstract Ventures and Susa Ventures, Cluely sought to commercialize the controversial tool that had caused them trouble. The company was even poised to create a market for detection tools aimed at identifying users of their product. In June, Cluely successfully raised a $15 million Series A from Andreessen Horowitz. By that time, the startup had perfected the art of viral marketing, using sensational stunts and claims to maintain public interest and grow its user base. Lee had previously discussed the effectiveness of such aggressive marketing strategies at TechCrunch's 2025 Disrupt event. Despite declining to provide updated revenue figures at the event, he advised the audience against sharing revenue numbers, highlighting the importance of building a sustainable business beyond marketing hype. Now, with his recent admission and the disclosure of actual revenue figures from his Stripe account, Lee seems to have overlooked his own guidance on the matter.