The newest San Francisco startup tradition drama occurred on Monday night time. And it centered round “essentially the most legendary occasion that by no means occurred,” Cluely founder and CEO Roy Lee tells TechCrunch.
Cluely had hoped to throw an after-party for a Y Combinator occasion occurring on Monday and Tuesday known as AI Startup College. The occasion drew crowds due to scheduled audio system like Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, and Elon Musk.
Cluely is an AI startup born of controversy and rage-bait comedy advertising and marketing. True to kind, Lee posted a satirical video on X promoting his after-party. It reveals him camped out by the famed Y Combinator signal — the one all of the YC founders take selfies with. (Cluely shouldn’t be a YC startup.)
The tweet marketed the occasion to his greater than 100,000 followers and mentioned to DM for an invitation. Lee tells TechCrunch that he didn’t really ship invitations out to the hordes. “We solely invited associates and associates of associates,” he mentioned.
However it turned the occasion, and other people shared the main points. When it was set to start, so many individuals had been standing outdoors the venue that the strains wrapped round blocks. “It simply blew up means out of proportion,” Lee says. What regarded like 2,000 folks confirmed up, he added.
A celebration that massive may need gotten uncontrolled, but it surely didn’t get the possibility. The strains had been blocking visitors, so the cops confirmed up and shut it down. “Cluely’s aura is simply too sturdy!” Lee was heard shouting outdoors because the cops busted it up.
“It will have been essentially the most legendary occasion in tech historical past. And I’d argue that the fame of this story would possibly simply make it essentially the most legendary occasion that by no means occurred,” Lee tells TechCrunch, concurrently proud and bummed.
Lee turned identified in San Francisco when he posted a viral tweet on X saying he was suspended by Columbia College after he and his co-founder developed an AI device to cheat on job interviews for software program engineers.
They turned that device right into a startup that provides a hidden in-browser window that may’t be considered by an interviewer or proctor. The startup additionally went viral for its advertising and marketing that promised to assist folks “cheat on every part.” In April, Cluely raised a $5.3 million seed spherical, and its advertising and marketing is now rather less in-your-face: “Every part you want. Earlier than you ask.”
The occasion and its demise by regulation enforcement naturally turned the topic of jokes, memes, and creative rumors. Lee’s rationalization of the crowds outdoors is probably extra uninteresting than what some folks imagined. After the cops confirmed, “We did some cleanup, however the drinks are all there ready for the following occasion,” he guarantees.
