Building Cluely: The Viral AI Startup that raised $15M in 10 Weeks
The a16z Show25 Jun 2025

Building Cluely: The Viral AI Startup that raised $15M in 10 Weeks

What if virality wasn’t a tactic — but the entire product?

In this episode, a16z General Partners Erik Torenberg and Bryan Kim sit down with Roy Lee, cofounder and CEO of Cluely, one of the most talked-about consumer AI startups of 2025. Cluely didn’t raise a mega round or drop a feature suite to get traction - it broke through by turning distribution into design: launching viral short-form videos, pushing polarizing product drops, and building in public with speed and spectacle.

We cover:

– Why virality is Cluely’s moat

– Building a brand-native AI interface

– The Gen Z founder mindset

– What most startups get wrong about attention

– Why creators are the new product managers

– Cluely’s long-term vision for ambient AI

Cluely is a glimpse at the next generation of startups, where the line between product and performance is disappearing.

Timecodes:

00:00 Introduction

01:07 Early Success

02:02 Roy's Journey: From College Kid to Tech Universe

04:37 The Turning Point: Harvard and Beyond

06:57 Building Cluey: The Early Days

08:27 The Viral Strategy: Mastering Algorithms

13:56 The 50 Interns Experiment

15:30 The Investment Journey: Roy and Bryan's Partnership

19:20 Momentum as a Moat: The Future of AI Companies

20:32 The Evolution of Product Strategy in the AI Era

21:19 The Importance of Speed and Adaptability

22:48 The Role of Distribution in Modern Startups

24:26 Roy's Journey and Product Development

25:25 The Power of User Data and Feedback

26:58 Innovative Marketing and Distribution Tactics

28:25 The Future of AI Integration and Translucent Overlays

32:15 Controversial Marketing and Authenticity

34:01 The Impact of Radical Transparency

36:42 The Changing Landscape of Professionalism

38:26 Concluding Thoughts and Future Vision


Resources:

Find Roy on X: https://x.com/im_roy_lee

Find Bryan on X: https://x.com/kirbyman01

Learn more about Cluely: http://cluely.com/

Stay Updated:

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube

Find a16z on X

Find a16z on LinkedIn

Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify

Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts

Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(1000)

Jensen Huang and Arthur Mensch on Winning the Global AI Race

Jensen Huang and Arthur Mensch on Winning the Global AI Race

The global race for AI leadership is no longer just about companies—it’s about nations. AI isn’t just computing infrastructure; it’s cultural infrastructure, economic strategy, and national security a...

21 Mar 202555min

Why AI Voice Feels More Human Than Ever

Why AI Voice Feels More Human Than Ever

AI voice technology has been around for years — think Siri or Alexa — but the magic has been missing. That’s changing, and quickly!In this episode, Anish Acharya, General Partner at a16z, and Olivia M...

18 Mar 202543min

From Thesis to Meme to Fund: Building American Dynamism

From Thesis to Meme to Fund: Building American Dynamism

For over a century, the United States has been the birthplace of world-changing innovation – from the Wright brothers’ first flight to the invention of the transistor, the moon landing, and the birth ...

11 Mar 202542min

What Founders Get Wrong About Scaling – With Carta’s CEO

What Founders Get Wrong About Scaling – With Carta’s CEO

Henry Ward, cofounder and CEO of Carta, has spent over a decade scaling his company from an early-stage startup to a 2,000-person industry leader. In this a16z Speedrun conversation with Games partner...

7 Mar 202540min

Creativity vs Control: Where AI Fits in the Creative Toolbox

Creativity vs Control: Where AI Fits in the Creative Toolbox

Being a creator in 2025 is tough—but building for creators is even harder. Perhaps no one understands this conundrum better than Scott Belsky. As the founder of Behance, a longtime executive at Adobe,...

25 Feb 202542min

Who Will Own the Internet? a16z’s Chris Dixon on AI and Crypto

Who Will Own the Internet? a16z’s Chris Dixon on AI and Crypto

Technology doesn’t grow in isolation—it evolves in waves. Just as mobile, cloud, and SaaS shaped the internet of the past 20 years, so too could crypto, AI, and new hardware usher in an era of the int...

20 Feb 202532min

The Critical Technology in Finding Critical Materials

The Critical Technology in Finding Critical Materials

Critical materials like copper, lithium, and gallium have been mined for decades, but their role in core technologies, geopolitics, and the energy transition have come to a height in recent years.In t...

11 Feb 202542min

DeepSeek: America’s Sputnik Moment for AI?

DeepSeek: America’s Sputnik Moment for AI?

Two words have caught the Internet by storm. DeepSeek. The Chinese reasoning model r1 is rivaling others at the frontier with an open-source MIT license, methods that some claim may be 45x more effici...

6 Feb 202543min

Populært innen Business og økonomi

stopp-verden
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
dine-penger-pengeradet
e24-podden
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
rss-borsmorgen-okonominyhetene
rss-skravla-gar
rss-pa-konto
pengesnakk
utbytte
pengepodden-2
tid-er-penger-en-podcast-med-peter-warren
finansredaksjonen
stormkast-med-valebrokk-stordalen
morgenkaffen-med-finansavisen
livet-pa-veien-med-jan-erik-larssen
rss-sunn-okonomi
liberal-halvtime
rss-markedspuls-2
lederpodden