Case 01 · Cluely
Chungin "Roy" Lee — got kicked out, raised $30M.
21-year-old dropped out of Columbia after building an AI that whispers answers into your ear during interviews. Went viral on X, raised from a16z within weeks. His moat isn't the tech — it's the audacity.
- →One post. One demo. Millions of views in 48 hours.
- →The tech: a Whisper transcript + GPT prompt + a stealth overlay.
- →Lesson: distribution + a spicy demo > 10 years of R&D.
- →You could rebuild v1 of Cluely in a weekend.