F*ck Leetcode: The Marketing Stunt That Went Viral (feat. Interview Coder)

Roy Lee, the creator of Interview Coder, developed a tool that challenges the traditional technical interview process (Leetcode) used by major tech companies like Facebook, Amazon, and others.

The tool’s marketing copy is bold and unapologetic, with phrases like “f*ck LeetCode” making its stance clear.

Every senior software engineer hates LeetCode as it is a completely different skillset than doing the actual job.

Interview Coder positions itself as an invisible assistant, designed to help candidates solve coding problems during interviews without detection.

Lee’s personal success story adds credibility to the tool.

He used Interview Coder to secure a job offer at Amazon, documenting the entire process in a YouTube video titled “I used AI to pass my Amazon Interview (real footage)”. It got ~100k views.

This video not only showcases the tool’s effectiveness but also serves as a testament to its potential to disrupt the hiring process.

How Interview Coder Outsmarts Technical Interviews

Interview Coder operates across multiple platforms commonly used in technical interviews, including Zoom, HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, Chime, and Microsoft Teams.

The tool detects when a candidate’s screen is being shared and automatically solves coding problems in real-time. This feature makes it a powerful ally for candidates who struggle with the pressure of live coding assessments.

Free Code, Paid Precision

The tool is open-source, with less than 10,000 lines of code. It uses a waterfall approach to problem-solving. If the primary model, o3-mini-high, cannot solve a problem, the tool defaults to a secondary model, DeepSeek r1. This layered approach ensures a higher success rate.

The open-source version doesn't get you o3-mini-high as you need to be tier-5 in OpenAI API (spent more than $1000 on OpenAI's API) so you have to pay to Interview Coder to get the correct answers since o3-mini-high essentially solves a coding problem in one-shot.

Viral Success and Revenue: From $0 to $20,000 in 24 Hours

Interview Coder achieved remarkable success in a short period.

Within 24 hours of its launch, the tool generated $20,000 in revenue and garnered 5 million impressions.

Its rapid rise caught the attention of Amazon executives, particularly in India, where headlines highlighted its impact. One such headline read, “Columbia student creates tool to secure offers from Amazon, Meta, TikTok, and more.”

Every single tweet of Lee goes viral. This one got ~500k views.

The tool’s ability to bypass technical interviews resonated with many, especially those frustrated with the LeetCode-dominated hiring process.

Its viral success was fueled by its innovative approach and the growing dissatisfaction with traditional interview methods. Developers hate LeetCode.

Lee’s rapid rise placed him (ranked #7) among the top accounts on X, with only crypto pump-and-dump schemes ranking higher. These schemes, often fueled by purchased followers, are closely monitored by Leak Me, a platform that tracks Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) on the platform.

Stirring the Pot in Tech Hiring

Despite its success, Interview Coder faced significant backlash from big X accounts like Kache which made it go even more viral.

Roy Lee’s LinkedIn profile was banned after he listed multiple internships at prestigious companies like Capital One, Amazon, TikTok, and Meta.

Funny incidents like this drew media attention, with outlets like Business Insider covering the story under headlines such as “Amazon Loves AI, Except When Candidates Use It in Job Interviews.”

The controversy spread to social media, where prominent influencers amplified the discussion.

Aiden Bai’s tweet about the tool garnered 833,500 views, while Deedy’s tweet reached 1.4 million views.

Both posts echoed the anti-LeetCode sentiment that resonated with senior developers and VC-backed entrepreneurs.

Many experienced developers are frustrated with the LeetCode-focused interview process, arguing that it fails to assess real-world coding skills. This common sentiment made the tool go viral every time.

Interview Coder represents a significant shift in how technical interviews are approached. By leveraging AI to solve coding problems in real-time, the tool challenges the dominance of LeetCode-style assessments in the hiring process. Its success highlights the growing frustration with traditional interview methods and the potential for AI to disrupt established practices.

While the tool has sparked controversy, it has also opened up a broader conversation about the effectiveness of technical interviews. As more candidates and companies question the value of LeetCode, tools like Interview Coder may pave the way for a more equitable and practical hiring process.

The tool is on track to generate $100,000 in revenue. With mass layoffs affecting software developers, Interview Coder's potential for widespread adoption is significant.

Top Tweets of the day

1/

To get a client for your agency business, you can follow this script to a T.

Help without expectations and if your advice is really good plus the client has more money than time, then you can easily close them.

Its extremely easy to close a whale when you are competent and have social proof.

2/

Fun fact: Most SaaS companies have 80-90% margins so even if you ask for 50% discount, they are still making 40% margins.

3/

Competitors are actually great teachers for the market.

One of the smartest moves you can make is to build a self-funded alternative in a large market dominated by venture capital-backed competitors. This way, you won't need to overcharge to satisfy investors, and you can achieve a modest $1 million per month with impressive profit margins.

However, this path is incredibly challenging. It requires investing your own money or a significant amount of time if funds are limited.

Take, for example, cloning a company like Gumloop, which has raised $20 million in venture capital. Gumloop is similar to Zapier or Make but focused on AI-first workflows. It has a strong competitive advantage (MOAT), so it can't be cloned in 1 month. With a large total addressable market (TAM), there are plenty of customers willing to pay substantial amounts like $1,000 per month. As a B2B SaaS, you only need 1,000 customers paying $1,000 per month to make it a $1m per month business. But cloning it demands a lot of hard work. The upside is that in a decade, it will be an extremely stable business. Heck, call it 3-5 years since AI, specifically AI Agents, speeds development work. Since the platform is complex, Gumloop needs to create many educational videos and tutorials. When competitors emerge, the educational burden is shared.

With $20 million in funding, Gumloop can attract top talent and invest heavily in paid advertising. As a self-funded competitor, you'd need at least $500,000 to $1 million (or a lot of time) to compete and build a substantial platform.

The reward for doing it right is a stable business that major companies will rely on. The downside is the immense effort required, which deters many from even trying. Few people are willing to undertake such challenging tasks because the rewards take time to materialize.

Only those building simple businesses or those who have stopped growing fear competition. The former bracket includes Indiehackers who build startups that can be cloned in 7 days and the latter bracket includes startups like ConvertKit and Buffer who didn't innovate for a decade until competitors like Beehiiv and Typefully took their marketshare. As Dave Chappelle wisely said, "Young man, don't ever come between a man and his meal. Taking a man's livelihood away from him is akin to killing him." That's why you see founders of startups like ConvertKit use sneaky strategies that they once accused competitors (Beehiiv) of using as it came down to their livelihood and massive profit margins. A stable business makes you less insecure.

Rabbit Holes

1. Obsidian for Beginners: Start HERE — How to Use the Obsidian App for Notes by Linking Your Thinking

2. The Instagram DM Funnel (v1.0) by Sean

3. How to Be Great? Just Be Good, Repeatably by Steph Smith

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