Cluely’s Roy Lee on the rage bait strategy for startup marketing

Cluely’s Roy Lee has a message for startup founders: it is best to think harder about tips on how to get popular.

“Generally speaking, if you’re not into high-tech, you need to focus on distribution in a discreet way,” Lee told the audience at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025.

However, he also made it clear that not everyone is cut out for any such viral marketing.

“If you’re good at engineering, you’re probably not funny and you probably won’t become a content creator because it’s not in your blood. Realistically, most of these people have no chance of making it on the internet.”

Cluely’s AI assistant shot to fame in April this 12 months because of a viral claim that its undetectable windows could “help you cheat on anything” – a claim that was quickly debunked when a variety of monitoring services showed they may, in fact, detect use of the AI ​​assistant. But inside months, the company raised $15 million from Andreessen Horowitz, becoming one of the most visible products in the crowded AI assistant space.

As Lee presents it, this is a part of his knack for gaining popularity, which regularly means many people get indignant with him. “I think I’m particularly good at presenting myself in a controversial way,” he said on stage. “I do a lot of other things. And everything I do is different, I frame it through the filter of my voice. And my voice is naturally very annoying to a lot of people.”

For Lee, it’s a part of a broader theory of social media where the only currency is attention.

“Reputation is a thing of the past,” Lee said. “You can try to be the New York Times and protect your steely reputation, but realistically, on your timeline, you have Sam Altman talking about handsome guys and Elon Musk is going crazy — going crazy.”

“You just have to realize that the world is going in a different direction,” he continued, “where you have to be extreme, you have to be authentic and you have to be personal.”

However, it’s hard to say how well this strategy works. When asked about Cluely’s revenue or user numbers, Lee declined.

“I’ve learned that you should never share revenue numbers because if you’re doing well, no one will talk about how well you’re doing. And if you’re doing poorly, people will only talk about how poorly you’re doing,” Lee said. “I will say we’re doing better than I expected, but it’s not the fastest-growing company of all time.”