In a remarkable turn of events, Cluely, a Silicon Valley startup, has seen its revenue soar to approximately $7 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) following the launch of its new enterprise product just a week ago. The company, founded by Roy Lee, has garnered significant attention in the tech world, with its AI-powered tools that analyze online conversations, provide real-time notes, context, and suggested questions during meetings or interviews.

Lee attributes the surge in interest to both consumers and businesses, who have flocked to test out Cluely's innovative offerings. The startup made headlines when Lee revealed that Cluely's ARR had surpassed $3 million and that the company was profitable even before the product launch.

Cluely's origins are rooted in controversy. Lee was suspended from Columbia University for developing a tool to cheat on job interviews for software engineers. He then turned this technology into a product and startup, initially marketing it with the provocative tagline "cheat on everything." With backing from high-profile venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz, Abstract Ventures, and Susa Ventures, Cluely has since softened its marketing stance to "Everything You Need. Before You Ask. … This feels like cheating."

Despite its controversial past, Cluely's product has piqued the interest of businesses, with Lee claiming that a public company recently doubled its annual contract with Cluely to $2.5 million. The enterprise version of Cluely's product offers additional features such as team management and enhanced security settings, catering to business use cases like sales calls, customer support, and remote tutoring.

The most compelling feature of Cluely, according to Lee, is its real-time note-taking capability. "Meeting notes have been a proven very sticky, very interesting AI use case," he said, criticizing competitors' post-call note-taking products. "You want to look back at them in the middle of a meeting, and that is what we offer."

However, Cluely's real-time notetaker may face competition from free, open-source alternatives. Pickle, a company that bills itself as a digital clone factory, recently announced the launch of Glass, a product with similar functionality to Cluely. Within a day, Glass had already received over 850 stars and been forked nearly 150 times, indicating that the open-source developer community is exploring this free alternative.

As Cluely's meteoric rise continues, it remains to be seen whether it can withstand the competition from free copycat products like Glass and maintain its position as a Silicon Valley sensation.