After hearing the free computing credits Richard gave Laurie, which she then gave to someone else, would cost them $1.6 million to buy back, Gilfoyle begins to try to convince Richard they should start their own cryptocurrency as a way to fund Pied Piper instead of the Series B. Gilfoyle pulls out all of the stops and even made a powerpoint presentation to show Richard. Richard is still hesitant because the Series B they would be getting has stability. Gilfoyle views it as a win-win: they either make a bunch of money on their ICO, or they don’t, but get to keep the board seats they would have been surrendering had they taken the Series B and away from Laurie. The last part really hit home to Richard as a way to get away from the woman who once fired him from his own company.
Gavin is desperate to find a cheap way to manufacture the Signature Box III since he lost his Hooli Factory in China. His advisors suggest something quite a bit unorthodox – producing them in America. A manufacturer in North Carolina had recently reached out to them and seemed desperate for business. Gavin, seeing the opportunity to exploit their need for jobs, agrees to meet with the town’s mayor.
Photo Source: Silicon Valley, HBO
Dinesh is pissed because Danny also went out and bought a Tesla. Wanting to be the companies Tesla guy and have the nicest Tesla, Dinesh starts trying to refer people to get a Tesla so that he can get exclusive new wheels for his car. He eventually gets three people to agree, but he ends up offering to pay one employee’s down payment and first six months.
Richard goes to Monica to pitch the idea of an ICO, who responds succinctly: “Are you a fucking moron?” Monica urges Richard not to gamble the entire company by giving up the resources of Bream Hall can offer. She suggests they talk to someone else for advice on the situation – Russ Hanneman.
Richard and Gilfoyle meet with Russ in a garbage dump, where he expresses regret for not investing in Bitcoin. He explains how he converted all 36 of his companies to ICOs — and lost a billion dollars in the process. Only one of his ICOs was successful, garnering $300 million in value, but he stored it all on a thumbdrive and left the drive in a pair of jeans, which his housekeeper threw away. Hence their current meeting locale at the dump. Russ is on a searching to find his $300 million worth of crypto. Despite Russ’ missteps, Gilfoyle asserts: “Again Richard, the math is sound.”
Photo Source: Silicon Valley, HBO
In the small factory town, Gavin preaches American jobs, and blames politicians for recent offshoring, he also claims to have a house near the town – in Bermuda. The mayor expresses concern that the small town cannot meet Gavin’s demands but says he’ll do his best. After returning to Hooli headquarters, Gavin’s advisors inform him that a fire broke out in the factory and the whole place burned to the ground.
Monica meets with Laurie to discuss Pied Piper’s Series B, but notices that Laurie put in the business plan that 70% of the company’s revenue is going to come from ad sales. Monica pushes back that not selling ads is a core value of Pied Piper. Though not in the term sheets, Laurie plans to push Richard on the subject after he signs the paperwork.
Feeling like Laurie still doesn’t treat her as a true business partner, Monica rushes to Richard and urges him not to sign the Series B. She explains there is no way she can protect him against Laurie. As a VC, she didn’t want Pied Piper to launch an ICO, but she believes that Gilfoyle can handle the technical side. She recommends Richard find someone to handle the business side of things. He wants Monica to do the job. After some convincing, she accepts the offer and finally joins the Pied Piper team.
The team launches Pipercoin at a disappointing $0.07. It has to sell at $68 to be equivalent to the Series B offer, but Richard and Gilfoyle remain optimistic.
Overall, this episode was very good. The most important part of this episode is the fact that Monica is now a true member of Pied Piper. It has been something that is in the works for the past five seasons. I have always wanted her to be part of the team so I am super excited about this. I look forward to what she will be able to bring to the team.
Photo Source: Silicon Valley, HBO
The part that was funniest to me is a minor thing in the episode. There has been some noticeable tension between Jared and Richard’s new assistant, Holden. Holden asks Richard to tell Jared that he enjoyed the sandwich that he made for Richard. Richard does so in an awkward way, which leads Jared to believe that he was asked to do so. Then in a horror movie-like scene, while Holden is washing a plate he sees Jared standing behind him. He quickly turns around to find no one there, he relaxes somewhat, but the next time he turns around Jared is standing there watching him.
I’m very excited to see what next weeks episode will bring as it will be the season finale. There are a lot of balls up in the air, including Laurie meeting with the guys who bought Jin-Yangs code from last weeks episode. Do you have any theories as to what’s going to happen next week? If so, leave them in the comments or find me on Twitter @NilesHougaboom and as always, be sure to check out The Game of Nerds for your other nerdy needs.
