''
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
'' is an American
comedy television series
A list of comedy television series by country of origin.
Argentina
Argentinan Comedies
Australia
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
* '' Viza za budućnost''
Brazil
Canada
China
*'' Miracle Star''
*'' Number One Surprise''
Chile
* ...
created by
Mike Judge
Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for being the creator of the animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' (1993–1997, 2011, 2022–present). He ...
,
John Altschuler and
Dave Krinsky. The series stars
Thomas Middleditch
Thomas Steven Middleditch (born March 10, 1982) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his role as Richard Hendricks in the HBO series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019), earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in ...
,
T.J. Miller,
Josh Brener
Josh Brener (born October 1, 1984) is an American actor. He played the roles of Kyle on the IFC series ''Maron'', Nelson "Big Head" Bighetti on the HBO series ''Silicon Valley'', and Alan Zweibel in the film '' Saturday Night''. In animation, ...
,
Martin Starr,
Kumail Nanjiani
Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ; Urdu: کمیل علی نانجیانی; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-writi ...
,
Christopher Evan Welch,
Amanda Crew,
Zach Woods
Zach Woods (born September 25, 1984) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles as a series regular for three seasons as Gabe Lewis on the NBC sitcom '' The Office'', as Jared Dunn on the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley ...
,
Matt Ross,
Suzanne Cryer
Suzanne Rossell Cryer (born January 13, 1967) is an American actress known for her roles as Ashley on the ABC sitcom '' Two Guys and a Girl'' and as Laurie Bream on the HBO original series ''Silicon Valley''. She featured in " The Yada Yada", a ...
,
Jimmy O. Yang,
Stephen Tobolowsky
Stephen Harold Tobolowsky (born May 30, 1951) is an American character actor and writer. He is known for film roles such as insurance agent Ned Ryerson in ''Groundhog Day'' and amnesiac Sammy Jankis in '' Memento'', as well as such television ch ...
, and
Chris Diamantopoulos. The series premiered on
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
on April 6, 2014.
Overview
Main characters
Richard Hendricks
Richard Hendricks, portrayed by
Thomas Middleditch
Thomas Steven Middleditch (born March 10, 1982) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his role as Richard Hendricks in the HBO series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019), earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in ...
, is a Stanford dropout and
coder at tech company Hooli. Richard quits his job to pursue his
compression application Pied Piper. The company initially starts out as a simple data compression platform, but when this, and a videochat that Dinesh created with the algorithm fails, Richard pivots toward creating a new, decentralized internet, called PiperNet. For the most part, Richard is
shy and weak-willed, and does not have much of a temper, but when he finally reaches his limit, is prone to explosions of anger. Richard is constantly struggling with the demands of the business world, preferring instead to disappear into the coding of his application, but realizes that as
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
he must do more.
Throughout most of the series, Richard is determined to make Pied Piper a company different from the dreary Hooli and the condescending,
aloof Gavin Belson, but as the series progresses, it becomes clear that the many trials and tribulations of trying to get his business to succeed have made him
cynical
Cynicism is an attitude characterized by a general distrust of the motives of others. A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals, and opinions that a cynic p ...
,
narcissistic
Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...
and unappeasable, in much the same vein as the man from whom he once sought to distinguish himself. This is exemplified in the season 5 premiere, wherein Richard uses Gavin's tactic of spending large amounts of company money and resources to
bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...
two weaker, recently merged companies, ostensibly to acquire their coders, but in reality to get petty vengeance on the two CEOs, who had tried to screw him over. Richard has also grown more
aggressive
Aggression is behavior aimed at opposing or attacking something or someone. Though often done with the intent to cause harm, some might channel it into creative and practical outlets. It may occur either reactively or without provocation. In h ...
and outspoken toward his friends, even insulting Gilfoyle without fear. However, Richard has also grown more competent and prideful in business by season 5, effectively using Gavin's ego to stall his 51% attack on Pied Piper and gain back 51% of the company, allowing Richard to finally release PiperNet the way he wants it without more interference.
In season 6, Richard once again struggles between executing business tactics and not compromising his own moral values. He proclaims in front of the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
that Pied Piper will not collect user data and the implementation of a decentralized internet will prevent such actions from taking place, but soon finds that one of Pied Piper's developers, Collin, is actively mining user data. He attempts to blackmail Collin by using APIs to collect his phone calls, but the plan backfires when Collin shows off the technology to interested investors. Collin would later join Chilean billionaire Maximo Reyes's alliance with YaoNet, Pied Piper's main competitor after Richard turned down an offer from Reyes to purchase a $1 billion stake in Pied Piper because Richard refused to collect user data. Pied Piper is able to fend off YaoNet when they purchase the cash-strapped Hooli by going around Gavin Belson and convinces his board to sign on. Later, Belson, forced into retirement, publishes a code of conduct known as "Tethics" for all major companies to sign on. Richard refused initially out of anger at Belson's blatant hypocrisy, but soon discovers that Belson had plagiarized from the mission statements of companies such as
Applebee's
Applebee's Restaurants LLC. is an American company that develops, franchises, and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurant chain. The Applebee's concept focuses on casual dining, with mainstream American dishes such as salads, ...
and
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...
. Richard then attempts to close a deal with
AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
but was turned down initially. While running the internet service at Russ Hanneman's RussFest, Richard discovers YaoNet's presence at the festival. He and the team initially fend off YaoNet, but soon learns from Laurie Bream that YaoNet was only observing the performance of PiperNet and that it is not more advanced compared to YaoNet. Richard initially breaks down at the revelation, but later reverts the system with
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
, leading to success at RussFest and a $100 million deal with AT&T. However, days before PiperNet's launch, Richard discovers that the network's AI has become so advanced that it can bypass advanced encryptions, meaning that it can potentially end privacy if implemented on a large scale. Although initially reluctant, Richard agrees to intentionally sabotage PiperNet in order to prevent the AI from potentially ending internet privacy. After PiperNet's launch caused thousands of rats to emerge onto streets all over the country, Richard shuts down Pied Piper in shame. He would later travel the world and is revealed to have become a "Gavin Belson Professor of Technology Ethics" at
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
ten years after the initial PiperNet launch.
Erlich Bachman
Erlich Bachman, portrayed by
T.J. Miller (seasons 1–4), is an arrogant entrepreneur who founded an
innovation incubator in his home after the purchase of his
airfare An airfare (otherwise known as a fare) is the fee paid by a passenger for air transport. It consists of the charge for a passenger to fly from an origin to a destination and includes the conditions, rules, and restrictions for travelling on the air ...
collator Aviato. Erlich still holds on to his glory days in the valley, wearing Aviato T-shirts and driving a
Ford Escape
The Ford Escape is a compact crossover SUV manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company since the 2001 model year. The first Ford SUV derived from a car platform, the Escape fell below the Ford Explorer#Second generation (UN105/150; 1995), F ...
adorned with Aviato logos. Under the incubator agreement, Erlich owns 10% of Pied Piper, and is later appointed to the company's
board of directors
A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency.
The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
after Richard realizes how important Erlich is to the business. Erlich is a frequent user of
marijuana
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
. It is revealed in the season 2 finale that Erlich no longer codes because of severe
carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a nerve compression syndrome associated with the collected signs and symptoms of Pathophysiology of nerve entrapment#Compression, compression of the median nerve at the carpal tunnel in the wrist. Carpal tunn ...
. Despite being relatively unsuccessful in his own entrepreneurial ventures, he is a charismatic public speaker and negotiator, and is often seen as the "face" of Pied Piper. In season 3 he begins to have a less active role in Pied Piper. He begins to start his own VC firm with Big Head but then declares bankruptcy.
After selling his Pied Piper shares to cover his debts, he gets rehired into the company as a PR representative. When Richard starts his new company using the Pied Piper trademark, Erlich then owns 10% of the new company while keeping his PR job at the old company which is eventually deleted. Erlich then decides to focus on Jian-Yang's product which also fails. After another failed deal with Kenan Feldspar and quitting his job at Bream-Hall, Erlich then decides that he and Richard will never be successful and moves away to
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
to join Gavin Belson at a monastery at the end of season 4. When Gavin is informed that Jack Barker is being held hostage, he immediately proceeds to take Erlich with him to leave Tibet. However, Erlich then becomes intoxicated upon consuming
opium
Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
at an inn, and Gavin pays the innkeeper enough money to take care of Erlich for five years.
Erlich is never heard from again afterward, although Richard reveals in "
Exit Event" that he tried to look for Erlich in Tibet.
Nelson "Big Head" Bighetti
Nelson "Big Head" Bighetti, portrayed by
Josh Brener
Josh Brener (born October 1, 1984) is an American actor. He played the roles of Kyle on the IFC series ''Maron'', Nelson "Big Head" Bighetti on the HBO series ''Silicon Valley'', and Alan Zweibel in the film '' Saturday Night''. In animation, ...
, is a former tenant of Erlich's incubator and Richard's best friend who also works at Hooli. He is unintelligent and
naïve
Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may ...
, but still manages to acquire a significant role as a result of the struggle between Hooli and Pied Piper. After work on Pied Piper commences, Big Head is offered a huge raise and promotion by Gavin Belson to help Hooli develop its copycat
software
Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications.
The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
, Nucleus, out of spite and because Richard was forced to limit his staff. He is continually promoted so rapidly that buzz develops about him, and he ends up on the cover of ''
Wired
Wired may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976
* ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993
* ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017
* "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street''
* "Wired ...
'' magazine.
He is later removed from the Nucleus project due to his lack of technical knowledge, and has absolutely no responsibilities at Hooli. He was later promoted further to make it appear that he was the actual creator of Pied Piper while working at Hooli, but he is unaware of this. After a disastrous binding arbitration with Pied Piper, Gavin makes Big Head redundant and pays him $20 million in severance, which he blows through very quickly when Erlich tricks him into entering into a business arrangement with him, naming their firm, "Bachmanity". Big Head then buys a majority stake in PiperChat following the sale of a technology blog he and Erlich owned. Due to his poor business skills, his father takes over control of his share on his behalf.
In season 4, Big Head takes a position as a Computer Science instructor at
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
. In season 5, after discovering that he never formally severed his arrangement with Erlich, Big Head is legally Erlich's next-of-kin and gains ownership of Erlich's house and 10% ownership of Pied Piper from Jian-Yang. Big Head moves into Erlich's house but keeps in touch with Jian-Yang, allowing him to move back into the house after Jian-Yang loses everything in China.
In season 6, Big Head continues to run the Hacker Hostel with Jian-Yang but is aloof to his unethical activities. After Jian-Yang refused to give Pied Piper the backdoor key of his algorithm, Big Head reveals that he has recited it and gives it to Richard. In the series finale "
Exit Event", it is revealed that Big Head's father's stake has been bought by Russ Hanneman, although Big Head himself is unaware of it. Ten years after PiperNet's launch, Big Head has become the President of
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
and has hired Richard to work as a "Gavin Belson Professor of Technology Ethics".
Bertram Gilfoyle
Bertram Gilfoyle, portrayed by
Martin Starr, is a
LaVeyan Satanist network engineer
A network administrator is a person designated in an organization whose responsibility includes maintaining computer infrastructures with emphasis on local area networks (LANs) up to wide area networks (WANs). Responsibilities may vary between org ...
and system architect. Initially an undocumented immigrant from
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, Gilfoyle successfully applied for a visa after being pressured by Dinesh. Gilfoyle credits himself as an online security expert, and as such is responsible for system administration and server configuration at Pied Piper. Gilfoyle has a girlfriend Tara (
Milana Vayntrub
Milana Aleksandrovna Vayntrub ( , Russian: ; born March 8, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, and activist. She began her career as a child actress and came to prominence for her appearances in AT&T television commercials as saleswoman L ...
) who is also a LaVeyan Satanist, with the two having an open and long-standing relationship, though Tara still lies to Gilfoyle about sleeping with other men. Gilfoyle often plays mocking pranks on Dinesh, but the two do appear to be friends or at most, frenemies despite this, with the two often bonding over their shared moral ambiguity.
While he is usually indifferent to Richard and lacks loyalty toward him, Gilfoyle highly respects Richard as a coder and admits that Pied Piper is nothing without Richard. Like Dinesh, Gilfoyle is quick-witted and merciless, but in contrast, highly
apathetic
Apathy, also referred to as indifference, is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic i ...
,
sardonic
Sardonicism is form of wit or humour, where being sardonic often involves expressing an uncomfortable truth in a clever and not necessarily malicious way, often with a degree of distrust or skepticism; or behavior disdainfully, cynically humoro ...
and brutally honest. He acts as the
systems architect
The systems architect is an information and communications technology professional. Systems architects define the architecture of a computerized system (i.e., a system composed of software and hardware) in order to fulfill certain requirements ...
of Pied Piper.
Gilfoyle is very confident in his abilities and has proven his worth to the Pied Piper team on multiple occasions, such as building the server farm "Anton", to save the company the struggle of paying for generic, mediocre servers in an office space. Due to this, Gilfoyle takes great pride in his security tech, becoming very nervous and confused whenever his tech is compromised. In season 5, Gilfoyle is promoted to senior management along with Dinesh with the title of "Chief Systems Architect".
By Season 6, Gilfoyle is promoted to
VP of Architecture at Pied Piper but refuses to take anyone under his management, preferring to work on the Systems Architecture by himself. This leads to continual conflict with Head of HR Tracy Robertson. After Pied Piper is shut down, Gilfoyle and Dinesh begin to run a large cybersecurity firm together.
Dinesh Chugtai
Dinesh Chugtai, portrayed by
Kumail Nanjiani
Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ; Urdu: کمیل علی نانجیانی; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-writi ...
, is a talented programmer specializing in
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
originally from
Karachi
Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
who is typically the victim of Gilfoyle's embarrassing games and pranks. Dinesh exhibits a quick-witted and merciless temperament toward everyone on the team, and often behaves in a deceitful and unhelpful manner, such as when he plots the death of a man who was dating the girl that he liked. Dinesh is also shown to be especially materialistic and uncomfortable with women. Dinesh always seems to run into bad luck, which Gilfoyle credits as karma for Dinesh being a bad person.
Like Gilfoyle, Dinesh usually lacks loyalty to Richard, exemplified in season 4, when Dinesh was briefly CEO of PiperChat, he refused to give Richard algorithm usage data in exchange for use of the algorithm as promised. Dinesh has proven that when given the opportunity or a small stream of good luck, he is more than willing to ditch his friends. However, Richard keeps Dinesh on account that despite his disloyal acts, Dinesh is still very good at what he does. In season 5, Dinesh is promoted to senior management along with Gilfoyle and gains an obsession with being the "top
Tesla driver" in the company. In Season 6, Dinesh is promoted to VP of Engineering but is usually disrespected by his employees. In the series finale "
Exit Event", Dinesh initially recuses himself from participating in the Pied Piper team's attempt to sabotage the launch of PiperNet, believing that his pride and greed will be in the way. However, when he is notified that the faulty code meant to disrupt PiperNet was reverted, Dinesh personally walked to the top of the
Salesforce Tower
Salesforce Tower, formerly known as Transbay Tower, is a 61-story supertall skyscraper at 415 Mission Street, between First and Fremont Street, in the South of Market, San Francisco, South of Market district of downtown San Francisco. Its main ...
to install the faulty code, successfully crashing PiperNet. After Pied Piper closed, Dinesh and Gilfoyle began to run a large cybersecurity firm together.
Peter Gregory
Peter Gregory, portrayed by
Christopher Evan Welch (season 1), is the billionaire founder and CEO of Raviga Capital as well a 5% equity owner of Pied Piper after his $200,000
investment
Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...
. Gregory is extremely intelligent, but socially awkward,
eccentric and fastidious. Historically, Gregory and Gavin Belson were friends, however their relationship soured as each went to run their own competing tech companies, making interactions between them awkward.
Welch died after the fifth episode of season 1 was completed, but the character remained present off-screen for the remainder of the season. Gregory later died in the season 2 premiere. Monica is saddened by Gregory's death and still highly reveres him, becoming very disappointed whenever the values Gregory believed in and instilled in the Valley are dishonored, notably by Laurie Bream's profit-motivated approach to business.
In season 4 it is revealed that Peter Gregory theorized decentralized internet years before Richard Hendricks did, but he was limited by the technology of his time.
Monica Hall
Monica Hall, portrayed by
Amanda Crew, is an employee of Raviga Capital and associate partner under both Peter Gregory and later Laurie Bream. Monica is often charged with engaging with clients on a more personable and approachable way than either Gregory or Bream are, and as such forms a close friendship with Richard after she convinces him to launch Pied Piper on his own. In season 4, Monica was demoted by Laurie after she voted against selling Pied Piper to the highest bidder, which turns out to be Erlich's company Bachmanity rather than Hooli. Later, Monica realizes that Ed Chen, an up-and-coming colleague at Raviga, is attempting to remove Laurie, she notifies her, earning Laurie's trust in the process. They soon both depart Raviga to form a new VC firm, Bream/Hall and proceeds to fund Pied Piper. In season 5, upon realizing that Laurie plans to take advantage of Pied Piper once they get their Series B funding, Monica finally severs all business ties with her and moves to Pied Piper as its new
chief financial officer
A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...
. In season 6, Monica continues to assist and advise Richard on business affairs and helped in Pied Piper's successful acquisition of Hooli. In "
Exit Event", ten years after PiperNet's launch, Monica has moved to
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
and is working for a "
think tank
A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
", although it is later indicated that she is in fact working for the
NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
.
Donald "Jared" Dunn
Donald "Jared" Dunn, portrayed by
Zach Woods
Zach Woods (born September 25, 1984) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles as a series regular for three seasons as Gabe Lewis on the NBC sitcom '' The Office'', as Jared Dunn on the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley ...
, is an ex-
VP of Hooli who quits the company in order to join the Pied Piper team as its COO and business advisor. Like Richard, Jared is
anxious and vulnerable, but gains confidence as the series progresses and the company's success necessitates it. Jared is a graduate of
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...
and provides the business skills that the largely engineering-oriented team lacks, which Gilfoyle admits is very helpful due to their disdain for the business side of startups, providing business strategies to the team such as
scrum and
SWOT analysis
In strategic planning and strategic management, SWOT analysis (also known as the SWOT matrix, TOWS, WOTS, , and Situation analysis, situational analysis) is a decision-making technique that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, ...
. He is also exceedingly
optimistic
Optimism is the attitude or mindset of expecting events to lead to particularly positive, favorable, desirable, and hopeful outcomes. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass filled with water to the halfway poin ...
, kind-hearted and staunchly loyal to Richard, sacrificing his high-paying and financially secure job at Hooli to lend his business expertise to Pied Piper.
His birth name is Donald, but his former boss, Gavin, once referred to him as Jared, and the nickname stuck, despite the Pied Piper team knowing it's not his real name. He is frequently
roasted
Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat where hot air covers the food, cooking it evenly on all sides with temperatures of at least from an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting can enhance the flavor through caramelizat ...
by the other employees of Pied Piper, aside from Richard who often protects him, though he tends to be oblivious of this or too uptight to actually understand the insult. Jared is usually depicted as the most
empathetic person on the team, given most of the team's moral ambiguity. Over the course of the series, Jared drops bits and pieces of his considerably dark backstory, such as being the product of a forced adoption to finding his biological father in the
Ozarks
The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...
. In season 5, Jared is promoted to
chief operating officer
A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...
of Pied Piper. In season 6, Jared leaves Pied Piper, feeling that it is no longer the company he loved and has refocused his efforts to advising developers at the incubator. His loyalty and respect for Richard have deteriorated following this decision. Jared later returns to help Pied Piper successfully acquire Hooli, but request that he and Gwart, the coder he is mentoring, be released from their contracts. Gwart would later leave to work for Laurie Bream. Later on Jared tracks down his birth parents, and learns that they gave him up for adoption because they thought they don't have enough room for a third child, only to discover later that they do. The experience traumatized Jared, causing him to become increasingly committed to helping other people. In the finale "
Exit Event", Jared convinces Richard to sabotage PiperNet by using the example of
J. Robert Oppenheimer
J. Robert Oppenheimer (born Julius Robert Oppenheimer ; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physics, theoretical physicist who served as the director of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World ...
's regret for developing the
atomic bomb
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...
. After Pied Piper closed, Jared begins to work at a nursing home.
Gavin Belson
Gavin Belson, portrayed by
Matt Ross (recurring season 1, starring season 2–6), is the
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
and founder of tech giant Hooli and the series' main antagonist, who embodies the soulless
corporate culture
Organizational culture encompasses the shared norms, values, corporate language and behaviors - observed in schools, universities, not-for-profit groups, government agencies, and businesses - reflecting their core values and strategic direction. ...
that Richard is desperate to avoid with Pied Piper. Belson constantly spews forth
pseudo-philosophical rants to his employees, who remain enamored with his work, but at the same time demonstrates complete ignorance and a mean spirit. Belson later goes on to publish a code of ethics in technology business. After the ending, it is revealed Belson has become an author and released best selling novels.
Jian-Yang
Jian-Yang, portrayed by
Jimmy O. Yang (recurring season 1, starring season 2–6), is another tenant of Erlich's incubator, and the only person who lives there that is not involved with Pied Piper in any capacity. He speaks English with a mixed Cantonese-Mandarin accent. Jian-Yang and Erlich have frequent disagreements, given Erlich's racist bullying from the start. In general, Jian-Yang appears to play naive, but then takes advantage of Erlich's naïveté or stupidity. For example, after Erlich complains how difficult it is for a landowner to evict a tenant, Jian-Yang decides to take advantage of this fact and lives rent-free in Erlich's house for a year. As payback for Erlich's racist abuse, Jian-Yang often insults and makes prank calls to Erlich, and takes a sadistic enjoyment in tormenting him. At the end of the show, Jian-Yang has assumed Erlich's identity.
Laurie Bream
Laurie Bream, portrayed by
Suzanne Cryer
Suzanne Rossell Cryer (born January 13, 1967) is an American actress known for her roles as Ashley on the ABC sitcom '' Two Guys and a Girl'' and as Laurie Bream on the HBO original series ''Silicon Valley''. She featured in " The Yada Yada", a ...
(season 2–6), is the replacement for Peter Gregory as CEO of Raviga Capital, and later co-founder of Bream Hall Capital with Monica. Like her predecessor, Laurie is highly intelligent and socially inept, but appears to rely more on tangible metrics than Peter. Further, unlike him, she is completely devoid of empathy, emotion or any kind of idealism, concerning herself only with making a profit. Little is known about Laurie's personal life, except that she's recently had her fourth child, and is taking low dose MDMA for severe post-partum depression.
In season 2, Laurie initially offers Pied Piper $20 million in Series A funding at a $100 million valuation, but Richard instead takes half of Laurie's offer upon advice from Monica. After Hooli files a lawsuit against Richard, Laurie drops Pied Piper from Raviga's portfolio. After Richard won against Hooli in binding arbitration, Laurie buys Russ Hanneman's stake and three board seats in Pied Piper, and immediately removes Richard as CEO in an emergency board meeting.
In season 3, Laurie offers Richard to stay on as
CTO and reserve his board seat, which Richard initially refuses until he met with Jack Barker, Laurie's choice for CEO. After a disagreement between the Pied Piper team and Jack on what platform to develop, Laurie sides with Pied Piper upon realizing the value of their platform and fires Barker, later reinstalling Richard as CEO. After it was discovered that Jared had been using
click farm
A click farm is a form of click fraud where a large group of low-paid workers are hired to click on links or buttons for the click fraudster (click farm master or click farmer). The workers click the links, surf the target website for a period ...
s to increase Pied Piper's
Daily Active Users (DAU), Laurie proceeds to sell Pied Piper to the highest bidder. Initially thought to be Hooli, Laurie later sells Pied Piper to Bachmanity, owned by Erlich and Big Head, after they outbid Hooli by one dollar. However, Monica is demoted as a result for voting against Laurie.
In season 4, Laurie becomes pregnant with her fourth child and faces a hostile takeover from Ed Chen. She proceeds to partner with Monica upon learning her loyalty and forms a new VC called Bream-Hall together, later agreeing to fund Pied Piper once again after its concept of a decentralized internet was successfully proven. In season 5, Laurie initially offers Pied Piper $30 million in series B funding, but later reveals that she plans to leverage them into collecting user data and other actions, leading to Pied Piper pulling out and fund itself through its ICO, PiperCoin. Laurie later partners up with Yao, a Chinese businessman who owns YaoNet, the version of Pied Piper developed by Jian-Yang, and attempts a failed hostile takeover of Pied Piper's network.
In season 6, Laurie is revealed to have split from Yao and has moved YaoNet's operations to the U.S. She later partners with Maximo Reyes, the Chilean businessman who attempted to buy a $1 billion stake in Pied Piper. The Pied Piper team later found her at RussFest, where she revealed that she was spying on PiperNet's abilities. In the series finale "
Exit Event", Laurie is revealed to be in prison ten years after the initial PiperNet launch, although the reason for her imprisonment was never told.
Russ Hanneman
Russ Hanneman, portrayed by
Chris Diamantopoulos (recurring season 2–3, starring season 4 and 6, guest season 5), is a brash, loud and fiery
billionaire
A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...
investor who provides Pied Piper with their
Series A
A series A is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. It can be followed by the word round, investment or financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in exchan ...
funding. He initially earned his fortune by "putting radio on the internet" (a parody of how
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American businessman and television personality. He is the former principal owner and current minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and co-owner of 2929 Entertain ...
earned his wealth), and is very protective of his billionaire identity. At the end of season 2, Russ sells his share of Pied Piper to Raviga Capital after it won against Hooli in binding arbitration, helping him to become a billionaire again. Russ is later found broke due to putting all of his money into 36 ICOs, with only one of them being successful but losing the thumb drive containing the coin. In season 6, Russ approaches Richard and helps him avoid investigation from the
Attorney General of California
The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the government of California. The officer must ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" ( Constitution of California, Article V, Section 13). ...
through his possession of dirt on the attorney general, and in exchange, Richard agrees to provide internet for Russ's three-day festival in the
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
desert, RussFest. Although there were initial issues, the Pied Piper team successfully implemented a large decentralized service through
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
, leading to Russ purchasing a stake in Pied Piper before the launch of PiperNet. In the series finale "
Exit Event", Russ reveals in a documentary produced ten years after PiperNet's launch that he has managed to earn his wealth back by investing in
hair transplants.
Jack Barker
"Action" Jack Barker, portrayed by
Stephen Tobolowsky
Stephen Harold Tobolowsky (born May 30, 1951) is an American character actor and writer. He is known for film roles such as insurance agent Ned Ryerson in ''Groundhog Day'' and amnesiac Sammy Jankis in '' Memento'', as well as such television ch ...
(recurring season 3, starring season 4), is briefly the CEO of Pied Piper and later Hooli. He has a self-designed business model called the "Conjoined Triangles of Success", and often applies it in his career. In season 3, Jack is picked by Laurie Bream as the new CEO of Pied Piper, which Richard initially opposes until Barker tells him that he will turn down Laurie's offer if Richard leaves as well. The Pied Piper team, however, soon becomes disillusioned with his business approach, including his excessive spending on a new office and sales team. Barker later demands the Pied Piper team to make a data storage box, which the team initially tries to sabotage until it was inadvertently discovered by him. After discovering his attempts to undermine her, Laurie fires Jack as CEO. After running into Gavin Belson at an airport, Jack is hired as Hooli's head of development and immediately begins to work on the box he had planned to produce with Pied Piper with Endframe.
In season 4, Jack and Gavin secure a deal with Chinese producers to make the Hooli-Endframe boxes. But on their way back, Jack requested the pilot to drop him off first at
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men) is a valley between the Gros Ventre Range, Gros Ventre and Teton Range, Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County, Wyoming, T ...
instead of
Mountain View. Upon finding out that the route caused him to travel a longer distance, Gavin is enraged. In retaliation, he moves Jack's office to the data storage room. Despite this, Jack remains optimistic, leading Gavin to track down his call history with his grandchildren. After Gavin is fired following the numerous
COPPA Coppa or COPPA may refer to:
* '' Coppa'' or ''capocollo'', a type of Italian pork cold cut
* Montonico bianco, a white Italian wine grape variety grown in the Calabria region of southern Italy
* Coppa (surname)
* Coppa Italia, a domestic Italian l ...
violations in PiperChat, Jack replaces him as CEO and finds a way around the COPPA fines. After the Hooli boxes suffer a setback in their rollout at HooliCon, Jack acquires the
VR company owned by Kennan Feldspar and uses it for a demo at the conference. However, the mobile demo, along with the unbeknownst installment of Pied Piper's internet, causes numerous Hooli phones to explode at HooliCon and elsewhere. Instead of a firmware update, Barker orders for 9 million Hooli phones to be replaced in a three-day span. He travels to Hooli's factory in China and attempts to boost production through a motivational speech, but is instead taken hostage by the workers. Gavin, who is in Tibet, learns of Hooli's failures and Barker's hostage situation and heads to the factory to successfully negotiate Jack's release. This helps Gavin regains the Hooli board's trust, and he regains his position as CEO and ousts Jack.
Recurring characters
* Aly Mawji as Aly Dutta/Naveen Dutt (seasons 1–3), a Hooli coder who bullies Richard and Big Head. He is charged with working on Nucleus as a lead engineer.
* Brian Tiechnell as Jason Winter (seasons 1–3), a Hooli programmer who bullies Richard and Big Head. He is also charged with working on Nucleus as a lead engineer. He along with Aly quits Hooli after being fed up with Gavin's antics.
* Jill E. Alexander as Patrice (seasons 1–3, 5), a Hooli employee. She is fired by Gavin after showing distaste toward his animal abuse.
*
Andy Daly
Andrew Daly (born April 15, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He starred as Forrest MacNeil on the Comedy Central series ''Review'', and had a supporting role in the HBO comedy series '' Eastbound & Down'' as Terrence Cutler. He has also ...
as Dr. Crawford, a Silicon Valley doctor whom Richard regularly sees.
*
Ben Feldman
Benjamin Feldman (born May 27, 1980) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has undertaken roles on stage, including the Broadway play ''The Graduate'', along with more prominent roles in television series such as his role as Jonah S ...
as Ron LaFlamme, Pied Piper's young, laid-back but competent outside counsel.
* Gabriel Tigerman as Gary Irving (seasons 1–3), the
human resources
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...
manager at Hooli.
*
Bernard White as Denpok, Gavin's manipulative spiritual advisor.
*
Kara Swisher
Kara Anne Swisher ( ; born December 11, 1962) is an American journalist. She has covered the business of the internet since 1994. As of 2023, Swisher was a contributing editor at ''New York (magazine), New York Magazine'', the host of the podcast ...
as herself, a tech journalist who often interviews some of the show's characters.
*
Matt McCoy as Pete Monahan (seasons 2–4), a disgraced former lawyer who represents Richard, Erlich and Pied Piper at the
binding arbitration
Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a third party neutral who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral (the 'arbitrator', 'arbiter' or 'arbitral tribunal') renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitrati ...
of the Hooli lawsuit.
* Jake Broder as Dan Melcher (seasons 1, 4), a former TechCrunch Judge who is kicked out after he beats up Bachman for sleeping with his wife. He later returns in season four as the
CTO of an insurance company.
*
Alice Wetterlund as Carla Walton (seasons 2–3), a programmer and friend of Gilfoyle and Dinesh's who joins the Pied Piper team. She later quits along with the other new hires after the failures with Homicide and Intersite. She later blackmails Pied Piper to pay her in exchange for non-disclosure of Pied Piper's "Skunkworks" plan but refusing to return to the team.
*
Chris Williams as Hoover (season 3–6), Hooli's head
security officer. He admires Gavin and is determined to make each of his requests, though Gavin often disregards him. He is a veteran.
* Annie Sertich as C.J. Cantwell (season 3), a tech blogger. Erlich buys her blog after she is coerced into revealing Big Head was her source. Later the blog is bought out by Gavin himself after she hears about Gavin's illegal dumping of an elephant in the San Francisco Bay.
*
Ken Lerner as Arthur, Big Head's business manager when he creates an incubator. He is later found to have embezzled money from Bachmanity.
*
Henry Phillips as John Stafford, the downtrodden datacenter employee who shows other characters to their new underground offices, and offers to show the main cast individual racks where their "box" might be located once it is created.
*
Haley Joel Osment
Haley Joel Osment (born April 10, 1988) is an American actor. Beginning his career as a child actor, Osment's role in the comedy-drama film ''Forrest Gump'' (1994) won him a Young Artist Award. His breakthrough came with the psychological thr ...
as Keenan Feldspar (season 4), the developer of a VR headset who tries to buy out Pied Piper. When Richard rejects the deal, he signs with Hooli.
*
Tim Chiou as Ed Chen (season 4), a venture capitalist that works at Raviga who currently serves as the firm's Managing Director.
*
Emily Chang as herself (seasons 3–6), a journalist who interviews various characters.
*
Tzi Ma
Tzi Ma (;) is a Hong Kong-American actor. He has appeared in television shows including '' The Man in the High Castle'' and '' 24'', and films including ''Dante's Peak'', ''Rush Hour'', ''Rush Hour 3'', '' Arrival'', '' The Farewell'', ''Tiger ...
as Yao (season 5), a Chinese businessman and manufacturing plant owner who works with Belson and Laurie.
*
Aaron Sanders
Aaron Sanders (born April 16, 1996) is an American actor, known for his roles as Morgan Corinthos in the soap-opera ''General Hospital'' and as Ethan in the movie ''No Greater Love (2010 film), No Greater Love''. He has a younger brother, Cameron ...
(seasons 5–6) as Holden, the much-abused protege of Jared.
*
Aristotle Athari
Aristotle Athari (born 1991), also known as Aristotle Athiras, is an American comedian and actor. Athari was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' during its 47th season between 2021 and 2022.
Career
After sta ...
(seasons 5–6) as Gabe, a Pied Piper employee who works in
quality assurance
Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to assure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...
and annoys Dinesh. He has an
Archelis wearable chair.
*
Helen Hong as Tracy (season 6), the head of
Human resources
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...
at Pied Piper.
*
Arturo Castro as Maximo Reyes (season 6), a
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
an billionaire who purchased a stake in Pied Piper in season 6. He is later found to have a dark past.
*
Avi Nash
Avi Nash is an American actor. He played Siddiq in the AMC television series '' The Walking Dead'' (2017–2020) and Lukas Kyle in the Apple TV+ series ''Silo'' (2023-)
Early life
Nash's father is Indo-Guyanese and his mother is from Mumbai ...
as Wajeed (seasons 2 and 6), Dinesh's cousin and founder of Bro.
* Nandini Bapat as Gwart (season 6), an eccentric, mute programmer initially living in the Hacker Hostel who ends up working for Pied Piper and later YaoNet.
References
{{Silicon Valley (TV series)
Characters
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...