Stop wasting time preparing for interviews! A 21-year-old college dropout just raised millions for an app that lets you cheat on almost anything.
Roy Lee, who was suspended from Columbia University, announced Sunday that his startup Cluely secured $5.3 million in seed funding from Abstract Ventures and Susa Ventures. What started as a tool to cheat on coding interviews has grown into something much bigger.
"We built this to cheat on everything," Lee told TechCrunch. The app works by creating a hidden browser window invisible to interviewers or test givers, feeding you answers in real-time.
The company isn't shy about its purpose. Their launch video shows Lee using the hidden AI assistant to lie about his age and art knowledge during a date at a fancy restaurant. While some viewers found it clever, others compared it to something from "Black Mirror" (a TV show about technology gone wrong).
But is it really cheating? Cluely argues their tool is no different than calculators or spellcheck - things once considered cheating that are now standard tools. They're targeting what they call "outdated" testing methods like coding exercises on platforms such as LeetCode.
The strategy seems to be working. Lee claims Cluely already reached $3 million in yearly revenue this month.
Both Lee and co-founder Neel Shanmugam have dropped out of Columbia following disciplinary proceedings. Lee even claims he used his own tool to land an internship at Amazon, though Amazon declined to comment on his specific case.
This all raises an important question: Are we heading toward a future where "cheating" becomes the new normal? Or will systems adapt to detect these tools?
Whatever happens, one thing is clear - these college dropouts have turned getting suspended into a multi-million dollar opportunity. What rule will you break today that might just change your life tomorrow?
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