How Cluely, Cursor, and Lovable.dev Engineered Developer-Led Growth

The AI productivity tool that turned viral controversy into $7M ARR and a16z backing.

1. Controversy as a channel
   Cluely engineered virality by leading with provocation “cheat on everything” turning founder Roy Lee’s expulsion from Columbia into a growth asset. The resulting attention brought in 70K+ paying users at $20/mo before a product page even existed.
   

2. Creator-operators, not marketers
   Every growth hire is either an engineer with 100K+ followers or a viral content creator. They're scaling with 50+ “growth interns” whose only job is to hit a billion TikTok views. No playbooks: just reach, speed, and distribution incentives.
   

3. Short-form video as GTM core
   Cluely’s main user acquisition comes from TikTok and Reels showing 5-second “cheats” (e.g., job interviews, homework, Excel). These clips don’t explain: they shock, then convert directly from the link.
   

Takeaway:
 Cluely didn’t find distribution: they built it through engineered controversy, creator-led scale, and productized virality. Attention is their GTM engine.

An AI-native coding environment that played with the strategy of showing and not telling: What AI can do for developers.

1. Short demos that drive millions of views
   Cursor invested heavily in TikToks and Twitter videos, often under 30 seconds, showing how real “prompt → code” workflows are. One video showcasing an AI-built app led to $300k in sales from weekend traffic alone.
   

2. The #CursorX challenge created a user-content loop
   They started a challenge on Twitter and everyone followed. Their branded hashtag campaign generated thousands of developer-made videos and a 40% spike in referrals,  with zero paid distribution.
   

3. Proof-first Twitter threads with real stats
   Their threads include hard data (e.g. 36% paid conversion, 1M users) and GIFs of Cursor solving tasks — no storytelling, just receipts.

Takeaway:
 If you can show your product doing magic in under 20 seconds, you’ll never need an ad budget.

The playful, visual coding playground turning early-stage developers into loud superfans.

1. High-retention product clips that sell on their own
   Their team made 30-60 second demo videos that have over 85% viewer retention by showing surprising use cases that make you say, “Wait! you can do that?”
   

2. Partnerships with mid-tier creators outperform ads 3x
   Instead of big-name influencers, Lovable.dev bets on creators with 5K–50K dev followers, leading to better engagement and deeper trust.
   

3. Weekly showcases fuel platform credibility
   Lovable.dev traffic surged to 22M visits/mo (+19% MoM), driven by weekly posts featuring real user builds and this gives us a takeaway to start any structured series post like “Showcase Fridays” series that helps us increase the virality factor. 

Takeaway:
You don’t need a content strategy — you need a content system that mirrors your community’s humor, struggles, and pride.