The most recent San Francisco startup tradition drama occurred on Monday evening. And it centered round βessentially the most legendary occasion that by no means occurred,β Cluely founder and CEO Roy Lee tells Trendster.
Cluely had hoped to throw an after-party for a Y Combinator occasion occurring on Monday and Tuesday known as AI Startup Faculty. 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 type, Lee posted a satirical video on X promoting his after-party. It reveals him camped out by the famed Y Combinator signal β the one all of the YC founders take selfies with. (Cluely just isn’t a YC startup.)
The tweet marketed the occasion to his greater than 100,000 followers and mentioned to DM for an invitation. Lee tells Trendster that he didnβt really ship invitations out to the hordes. βWe solely invited pals and pals of pals,β he mentioned.
However it turned the occasion, and folks shared the main points. When it was set to start, so many individuals have been standing exterior the venue that the traces wrapped round blocks. βIt simply blew up method out of proportion,β Lee says. What regarded like 2,000 individuals confirmed up, he added.
A celebration that massive might need gotten uncontrolled, however it didnβt get the possibility. The traces have been blocking site visitors, so the cops confirmed up and shut it down. βCluelyβs aura is simply too sturdy!βΒ Lee was heard shouting exterior because the cops busted it up.
βIt might have been essentially the most legendary occasion in tech historical past. And I might argue that the status of this story would possibly simply make it essentially the most legendary occasion that by no means occurred,β Lee tells Trendster, 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 software to cheat on job interviews for software program engineers.
They turned that software right into a startup that gives a hidden in-browser window that mayβt be considered by an interviewer or proctor. The startup additionally went viral for its advertising and marketing that promised to assist individuals βcheat on every little thing.β In April, Cluely raised a $5.3 million seed spherical, and its advertising and marketing is now rather less in-your-face: βEvery thing you want. Earlier than you ask.βΒ
The occasion and its demise by legislation enforcement naturally turned the topic of jokes, memes, and ingenious rumors. Leeβs clarification of the crowds exterior is probably extra uninteresting than what some individuals imagined.Β After the cops confirmed, βWe did some cleanup, however the drinks are all there ready for the following occasion,β he guarantees.
