Silicon Valley

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.

After a celebratory party at the Hacker Hostel, Richard and Erlich learn that Peter Gregory won't pay up until they deliver a viable business plan--one that includes a slimmed-downed staff. A desperate Richard hires former Belson underling Jared, and they set about trying to trim the fat. While Gilfoyle and Dinesh prove themselves essential, Big Head's place in the company is less certain.

While Gavin Belson begins to hype Nucleus, a competing compression platform, Richard learns that the name Pied Piper is already registered to a sprinkler company, forcing him to negotiate. Meanwhile, Erlich goes on a vision quest to think up a new company name, and Peter Gregory proves elusive when asked for money by one of his companies.

At a toga party thrown by Peter, Richard drunkenly promises to make Erlich a board-member--a decision he regrets the next morning. After being unassigned at Hooli, Big Head finds others like him, who have made careers out of doing nothing. Richard struggles to put Pied Piper's vision into words for a presentation without Erlich; later, he discovers an interesting connection between Peter and Gavin Belson.

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.

Richard feels threatened when the team hires The Carver, a hacker with a notorious reputation, to help with Pied Piper's cloud. Jared finds himself taken for a ride when he seeks out Peter Gregory's signature. Erlich and Dinesh compete for the attention of Tara, Gilfoyle's visiting girlfriend; later, Dinesh is faced with a sexual dilemma.