Cluely CEO Roy Lee admitted to lying about revenue numbers after falsely claiming $7 million in annual recurring revenue during a TechCrunch interview.
San Francisco: Cluely co-founder and CEO Roy Lee admitted on Thursday that he lied about the company’s revenue last year. He originally told TechCrunch he had $7 million in yearly income from subscriptions. Lee says this was the only time he publicly told a big lie online and wanted to correct it.
Lee tried to explain he got a random phone call asking about numbers and just made something up. But the truth is different. Cluely’s public relations person emailed TechCrunch and asked if the reporter wanted to talk to Lee about the company. The reporter agreed to the interview. The PR person gave Lee’s phone number and made sure he was ready for the call.
After a few tries, Lee answered and gave the interview as planned. Lee later said he shouldn’t share revenue numbers because it can lead to problems. His mistake shows how tricky it can be when startup founders talk about company growth.