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When Cluely, a startup pretending to build a product that helps people “cheat” on everything, announced that he has raised a series of funding from the 3 -million dollars series from Andreessen Horowitz, some people on X Criticized The venture capital company to support the controversial company.
After all, Cluelley does not only offer a product that can have questionable uses; The startup has also become famous for having used what many people call rage marketing.
But Cluelley’s ability to attract attention is precisely what attracted A16z to the startup.
Even before meeting the founder of Cluelley, Roy Lee, the partner of Andreessen Horowitz, Bryan Kim, thought that startups needed new marketing tactics in the AI era.
Kim, like many investors, previously thought that the construction of a superb “craftsman” product with highly desired features was the key to the lasting success of a startup, he explained the last episode of the podcast A16z.
But shortly after the emergence of a generative AI, he noticed that offering an exceptional product may not be enough.
“If you create this thing and Openai or someone builds a new model to include this part in its product, you are finished,” said Kim. “So he couldn’t become this very thoughtful and slow product. It must have been something where the founders moved extremely quickly.”
This achievement led Kim to believe that speed, whether in the marketing or construction of products, is essential to create a successful startup.
Earlier this month, Kim published a post Explaining his theory of reason why, for AI startups oriented by consumers, “Momentum is the gap”.
When Kim met Lee and saw that Cluelley had been able to convert awareness into paid customers, he instantly known that he had discovered a founder on which he had theorized.
“It was so difficult to unravel the noise of everything related to AI, especially in the consumer, and always doing it is actually almost impossible,” said Kim.
How does Lee explain why his polarizing marketing approach generated so much buzz?
“Most people don’t know how to make viral content,” Lee said on the podcast. “Everyone on X tries to [sound] Like the most intellectual and most thoughtful person. But it lacks viral meaning. »»
Lee, instead, had studied why some messages on Tiktok and Instagram exploded.
“Algorithms promote the most controversial things,” he said. “I literally apply the same principles of controversy on X and LinkedIn.”
What many people do not know, said Lee, is that Clueyly had a functional product when the startup was launched in April with its Video produced by Slut From Lee using her hidden AI to lie to a woman of her age and the knowledge of art to an appointment.
Despite having a semblance of a product, the startup has not yet unveiled the solution it has been in force.
“Internet is in a storm saying:” Where is the product? “” Said Lee. “We are earlier than the latest company Lot. However, we generate more views than each of them. ”
Lee is convinced that once the product will be launched, it will generate even more excitement than if Cluelly introduces it without “marketing” the company in the past two months. (The official launch is scheduled for Friday, June 27, it Posted on X.)
Kim considers Cluelley’s approach as a perfect incarnation of her theory of “momentum as pits”.
Since time is essence in AI, the A16Z partner is certain that Cluelley can understand its product on the fly.
“What is important is to try to build an airplane because it comes across the cliff,” said Kim.
We will all soon see if this plane rises or crashes.
