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Cluely
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Source
Researched profile. Starter Story's AI research system compiled this page from 66 public sources — the founder didn't write it. Automated research can misread or misattribute a source, so treat figures as best-effort. How this works →
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How Cluely Grew

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How did Cluely grow?

Summary of the sourced claims below

Cluely grew by creating a large volume of short-form videos, following a '100 to 1' rule where 100 videos are made to produce one viral hit. They employed many interns to produce hundreds of videos daily, effectively industrializing virality. Their marketing strategy included framing the app controversially to gain tens of millions of views and leveraging mass short-form user-generated content as an effective approach.

Channels

7 channels · grouped by how Cluely grows

  • Word of mouth

    · 1 mention
    “I think the intention of the video was to evoke a strong reaction out of people, even though in all honesty, what we're doing is pretty standard. We hire a few managerial interns and we hire a bunch of content creators.”
    medium

  • Pay Per Click Advertising

    · 1 mention
    “By framing the app with a super controversial spin on it, we were able to get tens of millions of views.”
    high

  • Optimize Landing Pages

    · 1 mention
    “We've gotten over a million installs just from short form alone in the last two months.”
    high

  • TikTok Influencer Marketing

    · 1 mention
    “Mass short-form UGC is hands-down the most effective marketing strategy for app founders right now.”
    high

  • Promoted Listings

    · 1 mention
    “The secret was a content factory that operates on what they call the '100 to 1' rule: make 100 different videos, and one will go viral.”
    medium

  • In-Feed Units

    · 1 mention
    “The operation is staggering in its scale: 50 interns creating 4 videos each per day (200 videos daily)...”
    medium

  • In-Ad

    · 1 mention
    “They've essentially industrialized virality.”
    medium

How 2,669 businesses grow

Of businesses with mapped growth channels, the share using each — Cluely’s highlighted.
  • Referral/Word-of-mouth
    68% ◀
  • Social media
    58% ◀
  • Search/SEO
    57% ◀
  • Email
    47%
  • Community
    33%
  • Content/Inbound
    31%
  • Partnerships
    30%
  • Paid ads
    24% ◀
  • Events
    24%
  • Press/PR
    18%
  • Outbound/Sales
    16%
  • Marketplaces/App stores
    8%
  • Brand Authenticity
    2%
  • Product expansion
    2%
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