Jill E. Alexander

Series Premiere. Attending an elaborate launch party, Richard and his computer programmer friends--Big Head, Dinesh and Gilfoyle--dream of making it big. Instead, they're living in a communal Hacker Hostel owned by former programmer Erlich, who gets to claim 10% of anything they invent there. When it becomes clear that Richard has developed a powerful compression algorithm for his website, Pied Piper, he finds himself courted by his egomaniacal corporate boss Gavin Belson, who offers a $10 million buyout by his firm, Hooli. But Richard holds back when well-known investor Peter Gregory makes a counter-offer.

Erlich convinces a graffiti artist to create Pied Piper's logo, with controversial results. Jared tries to make the company more efficient. After Gavin Belson and Peter Gregory unexpectedly come face to face, Richard learns he only has eight weeks to prepare for a live demo at TechCrunch Disrupt.

At TechCrunch Disrupt, Richard feels the pressure to finish his demo, but finds himself distracted by a girl he dated briefly who's spreading rumors about him. Jared worries that Monica is taking his place in the company; Dinesh develops a crush on a girl at a neighboring booth; Erlich's scandalous past connection to one of the judges threatens Pied Piper's chances.

On Valentine’s Day, Jess tries to convince the gang that she is perfectly content being single. Meanwhile, Schmidt competes for a big promotion and Winston’s proposal plans to Aly are expedited.

When Richard takes pity on a competitor, he accidentally sparks a feud that finds him paranoid about security. Facing pressure from board members, Gavin looks to place responsibility elsewhere. Jian-Yang and Erlich try to get a foot in the door at Raviga, and discover Monica's dirty secret.