Who is Roy Lee?
Jul 25, 2025
How Roy Lee Got Kicked Out of Columbia and Raised $15M—All Before Turning 22
When I first stumbled across Roy Lee’s story, I thought it was fake.
Some college kid builds an AI app to cheat coding interviews, goes viral on X, gets kicked out of an Ivy League school, blacklisted by Big Tech—and then raises $15 million for his startup?
Sounds made up.
But it’s not. And the real story is even crazier. So let’s talk about Roy Lee: the 21-year-old who turned chaos, controversy, and clever code into a fast-growing AI company backed by a16z.
Harvard Rejection, Columbia Suspension — and a Chip on His Shoulder
Roy grew up in a high-pressure household. His parents ran a college admissions consultancy, so from a young age, he was deep in the world of grades, applications, and elite expectations. He got into Harvard. Then lost it.
A high school incident (not publicly detailed) led to his acceptance being rescinded. Huge blow. But he moved on, enrolled at Columbia, and studied computer science.
There, things got weird again.
He spent 600+ hours grinding LeetCode to prep for technical interviews. Landed in the top 2% of users. But he hated every minute of it.
“The 600 most miserable hours of my life,” he later said.
He felt the whole interview system was broken—more about memorizing puzzles than writing useful code. So, instead of just complaining, he did something that would turn his life upside down.
Interview Coder: The Tool That Broke the Internet (and Some Rules)
In early 2025, Roy built a tool called Interview Coder. It was a desktop app that quietly gave you AI-generated solutions to coding problems during live interviews. A cheat code, basically.
The branding?
Bold. Borderline insane.
“f*ck LeetCode”
That tagline alone lit up X and Reddit. Developers frustrated by pointless interview questions rallied behind him. And then Roy took it a step further.
He filmed himself using the app to ace real interviews at Amazon, Meta, and TikTok, and posted the footage on YouTube. The video exploded (then got taken down). But the damage—or the marketing win—was done.
Companies weren’t happy.
Amazon blacklisted him.
Columbia suspended him.
LinkedIn deleted his profile.
Most people would disappear after that. Roy went the other way.
“When’s the Last Time Someone Got Kicked Out of an Ivy League and Raised $5M?”
That’s what he posted. And he meant it.
Instead of hiding, he leaned into the chaos. Started posting on X, TikTok, LinkedIn. Unfiltered. Sharp. Occasionally unhinged. But very good at grabbing attention.
He built a following of over 100K on X. Became one of the most talked-about young founders in tech. And more importantly—he started his next company.
Cluely AI: Real-Time Notes for Real Conversations
After Interview Coder, Roy co-founded Cluely AI, a tool that adds a translucent overlay on your screen during interviews or meetings.
Think:
Suggested questions
Real-time notes
Context on the person you’re talking to
All without breaking eye contact.
Instead of building quietly, they launched loud. Roy focused on distribution first—getting people to try it, talk about it, and share their feedback fast.
The strategy worked:
ARR jumped from $3M to $7M in weeks
Backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
Raised $15M in 10 weeks
Meanwhile, the dev community started comparing Cluely to Pickle’s Glass, a similar open-source tool. But Roy kept innovating, using what he calls his “small intersection” of knowledge—how social algorithms work + how tech insiders think—to keep Cluely in the spotlight.
Roy’s Rules: Troll Big Tech, Ship Fast, Stay Real
One thing’s clear: Roy doesn’t care about playing by the old rules.
He wants to stir things up.
He wants to call out flaws in broken systems.
And he’s good at using controversy to his advantage—without going completely off the rails.
His thoughts on modern marketing?
“If any company has a head of marketing that doesn’t have 100K followers, replace them.”
Harsh? Maybe. But in an age where attention is currency, he’s not wrong. Roy believes people are tired of fake-sounding brands. He bets on speed, transparency, and bold product drops.
So far, that bet’s paying off.
What’s Next for Roy?
Roy’s said he has no plans to return to Columbia. No regrets about the bridges burned. He’s in New York, focused on growing Cluely, testing new features, and posting hot takes online.
He’s also made it clear: he’s not done “trolling Big Tech.”
But behind the trolling is a deeper point—one that matters:
Technical interviews don’t test real skills.
AI is going to change how hiring works.
And maybe, the loudest voices in the room should be the ones calling it out.
At just 21, Roy Lee is building tools people actually use, questioning the way things have always been done, and showing how a bit of chaos—if done right—can be a pretty solid growth strategy.
You don’t have to agree with everything he does.
But it’s hard not to be curious about what he’ll do next.
Follow Roy on X @im_roy_lee
Check out Cluely AI cluely.ai