AI 'Cheating' App Founder Says Engineers Can't Make Good, Viral Content and That's Why Their Startups Flop (businessinsider.com)
- Reference: 0179917496
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/25/10/30/1942215/ai-cheating-app-founder-says-engineers-cant-make-good-viral-content-and-thats-why-their-startups-flop
- Source link: https://www.businessinsider.com/cluely-cofounder-chungin-roy-lee-engineer-viral-content-2025-10
> "Engineers just cannot make good content," Lee said during a Wednesday interview at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 "There's a bunch of shallow replicas, but I challenge you to find one video you think is like, 'Yo, this is as tough as Cluely,'" he told TechCrunch.
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> Every startup needs to focus more on distribution. And most startups flop because they fail to get seen, even if they have product-market fit, Lee said. Cluely launched earlier this year as a tool to help software engineers cheat on their job interviews, among other use cases. The startup earlier this year posted a tongue-in-cheek video of Lee trying to use Cluely to impress a woman on a date, which went viral.
[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/cluely-cofounder-chungin-roy-lee-engineer-viral-content-2025-10
Stupidficial sometimes "works" (Score:1)
> Cluely [is] a tool to help software engineers cheat on their job interviews, among other use cases...use Cluely to impress a woman on a date, which went viral.
I suspect the Trump Administration is using Cluely to guide policy.
And here I always thought your VC people... (Score:2)
In my experience, your VC people "strongly advise" you to get some marketing people and will yell at you if you're doing it wrong.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, too many people assume that consumers will automatically understand why the new product is better and want to buy it, but if they don't know that it exists, or see the need for it. no sales.
Repackager? (Score:1)
> most startups flop because they fail to get seen, even if they have product-market fit
Couldn't a savvy investor contact the producer of otherwise good products that are not getting traction, and ask for an ownership percent if they market it for them?
By waiting until after the product is clearly flopping, the investor can get a better deal (bigger slice) since the producer no longer has many options for the product.
"This is as tough as Cluely" (Score:2)
He's right. Up until reading this summary, I've never seen or heard anyone mention "Cluely" - whatever it is - in any context at all.
Then there are some startups that should... (Score:2)
Simply fail for being what they are. Between a cheating app and marketing, there are no winners here.
I read the summary (Score:3)
And all I can say is WHAT THE FUCK are they talking about?!?
Re: (Score:2)
It's just some asshat trying to devalue engineering. You don't hire engineers to make viral slop so complaining about engineers not being good at making viral slop will make sure you don't retain engineers good at engineering.
He's not wrong (Score:3)
Sounds like a douchebag, but he isn't wrong.
There's a cliche in SV about that - "First time founders talk product. Second time founders talk distro."
The best product in the world will fail if nobody knows it exists, and depending on who the market is, it can be very hard to get the attention of possible customers. If you're mass-market, well, look at all that noise you need to cut through. If you're some niche enterprise product, identifying customers is easier, but getting their attention is hard, and building enough trust as a new entrant to take a risk on is much harder.
So you need to attract or buy attention, or hire someone who can. And frequently that means making deals with intermediaries, matchmakers, etc.
Dude still sounds insufferable.
Ethics gap ... (Score:1)
I completed separate degrees in Computer Engineering and Computer Science, and the difference in ethics was stark. As an engineer, we were shown videos of failing bridges and made acutely aware that our actions as engineers could directly cause tangible harm. We were forced to consider the consequences of our actions. As a computer scientist ... I was given no such training. But I think it's high time we tried adding it to the CS curriculum. I think the consequence of this gap is that we now have some gra
Marketing is hard (Score:3)
Clearly this guy has big brain. I haven't seen a big brain this big brain since Elon Musk.
I'm assuming this guy will soon have hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts. Because that seems to be the optimal way for big brain to get bigger brain. State the obvious and wait for the government money to roll in.
Re: (Score:1)
if Engineers cannot make good content, it should be equally obvious CEOs cannot make ethical content.