Home / Business and Economy / Startup CEO Admits Lying About $7M ARR
Startup CEO Admits Lying About $7M ARR
6 Mar
Summary
- Cluely CEO Roy Lee admitted to fabricating $7 million in annual recurring revenue.
- The false claim was initially shared with TechCrunch after a PR-arranged call.
- Cluely, a viral startup, has since rebranded as an AI-powered meeting note-taker.
Cluely co-founder and CEO Roy Lee has officially retracted a previously stated claim of $7 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), admitting the figure was dishonest. Lee initially shared this fabricated ARR figure with TechCrunch last summer. In a recent post on X, Lee downplayed the claim's origin, suggesting he gave a 'bs' number during an unsolicited call.
However, contrary to Lee's account, Cluely's public relations representative had proactively contacted TechCrunch to arrange an interview. Following this arrangement, Lee participated in the interview and provided the false revenue numbers. Cluely gained notoriety in the summer of 2025 as a viral startup offering a tool to secretly look up answers during video calls.
The company, founded after Lee's own suspension from Columbia University for developing a cheating tool, had raised $5.3 million in seed funding. Later, in June 2025, Cluely secured $15 million in Series A funding from Andreessen Horowitz, employing viral marketing tactics and outrageous claims to maintain public attention.
Cluely has since undergone a rebranding and now operates as an AI-powered meeting note-taker. Despite his earlier public assertion at TechCrunch's 2025 Disrupt event advising against sharing revenue numbers prematurely, Lee's recent admission and the sharing of his Stripe account data appear to contradict his own advice.
