The latest San Francisco startup culture drama happened Monday night. And it focused on “the most legendary party that never happened.”
Cluely hoped to throw an afterparty on Monday and Tuesday for a Y-combinator event called AI Startup School. The event attracted the crowd thanks to scheduled speakers like Sam Altman, Satya Nadella and Elon Musk.
Cluely is an AI startup born from controversy and Rage-Bait comedy marketing. True to the form, Lee posted a satirical video to X promoting his afterparty. It shows that he was camped by the famous Y-combinator sign. (Cluely is not a YC startup.)
The tweet promoted the party to his over 100,000 followers and DMed to invite him. Lee tells TechCrunch that he didn’t actually send the invitation to the Horde. “We only invited friends and friends of friends,” he said.
But it became a party and people shared details. When it was set to start, so many people were standing outside the venue, the line was wrapped around the block. “It just exploded unevenly,” says Lee. Something appeared to have appeared, he added.
The big party may have gone out of control, but there was no chance. The line was blocking traffic, so officers showed up and shut it down. “Cluely’s aura is too strong!” Lee hears scream outside as the officers destroy it.
“It would have been the most legendary party in technological history, and I would argue that the reputation of this story could be the most legendary party that never happened,” Lee tells TechCrunch, who was simultaneously proud and upset.
Lee became known in San Francisco and posted a viral tweet to X saying that Columbia University had been suspended after he and his co-founder developed an AI tool that tricked software engineer job interviews.
They turned the tool into a startup and provided hidden browser windows that interviewers and proctors couldn’t see. The startup also went viral for marketing that promised to help people “deceive everything.” In April, Cluely raised a $5.3 million seed round. That marketing is “I need everything I need, before I ask.”
The party and its end mise by law enforcement were, of course, the subject of jokes, memes and original rumors. The description of the crowd outside Lee is probably more boring than what some people imagined. He promises the officers “we’ve done some cleanups, but all the drinks are waiting for the next party.”