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* AmbiguousDisorder: Peter Gregory and his replacement, Laurie Bream, both have NoSocialSkills apparently due to some social disorder, possibly autism. They are both, however, highly successful tech investors. Richard also has shades of this, given his high-strung personality, insecurity, poor social skills and odd habits. Arnold Garris actually thought he had Asperger's, which he denies having.



** Monica launches into an eloquent speech about the entrepreneurial spirit, but she's speaking to Laurie Breem, [[AmbiguousDisorder who doesn't understand Monica's attempt at appealing to emotion]].

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** Monica launches into an eloquent speech about the entrepreneurial spirit, but she's speaking to Laurie Breem, [[AmbiguousDisorder who doesn't understand Monica's attempt at appealing to emotion]].emotion.
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There is an Arby's on El Camino in Sunnyvale, which is probably close enough to where they were to make this no longer an example


* ArtisticLicenseGeography: When Bighead meets the rest of the unassigned employees, they talk about going to lunch at the Arby’s on El Camino, however the closest Arby’s on El Camino would be the one in nearby Menlo Park, but that location closed in 2006 and the only other one on El Camino would be in South San Francisco which has also closed after the episode aired.

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* BrickJoke: In Season 3, Gavin Belson speaks to five Hooli executives about the possibility of firing the 20% of Hooli employees are who underperforming. One of the five executives suddenly announces that he wasn't listening to what Gavin was saying, and the other members of the board glance meaningfully at each other. In the next board meeting, that executive's chair is empty.

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* BrickJoke: The series has several.
* In Season 2, Jared tries to get the office to adopt [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis SWOT analysis], which the rest of the Pied Piper team derides. Later in the episode, Gilfoyle and Dinesh create their own SWOT analysis board, to hilariously dark results.
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In Season 3, Gavin Belson speaks to five Hooli executives about the possibility of firing the 20% of Hooli employees are who underperforming. One of the five executives suddenly announces that he wasn't listening to what Gavin was saying, and the other members of the board glance meaningfully at each other. In the next board meeting, that executive's chair is empty.

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** Big Head is an mediocre, at best, technician with no real specialty, which leads to him leaving Erlich's incubator because he can't contribute to Pied Piper. Gavin Belson decides that Big Head could be a source of inside information and promotes him to a senior position within the Nucleus team with an enormous raise, only to discover that Big Head doesn't know anything useful about Richard's algorithm, leading to Big Head becoming an "unassigned" employee, given no responsibility in the hopes that he'll quit out of shame. Big Head's promoted once again in Season 2 as part of a legal strategy and becomes even more of a load in the process.

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** Big Head is an a mediocre, at best, technician with no real specialty, which leads to him leaving Erlich's incubator because he can't contribute to Pied Piper. Gavin Belson decides that Big Head could be a source of inside information and promotes him to a senior position within the Nucleus team with an enormous raise, only to discover that Big Head doesn't know anything useful about Richard's algorithm, leading to Big Head becoming an "unassigned" employee, given no responsibility in the hopes that he'll quit out of shame. Big Head's promoted once again in Season season 2 as part of a legal strategy and becomes even more of a load in the process.


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* Referenced by Monica at the beginning of season 2 when Laurie Bream is named the new managing partner of Raviga. While Laurie was a strong senior partner and fund manager, Monica brings up the fact that being managing partner is "all about meeting with people and interacting with people" but is brushed off.
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The show follows Richard Hendricks (Creator/ThomasMiddleditch), a meek computer programmer who develops a revolutionary lossless file compression algorithm.[[note]]which he creates when inspiration hits him after listening to his friends discuss the logistics of, ahem, "giving a hand" to several hundred men (hypothetically).[[/note]] His invention quickly sparks a bidding war between Gavin Belson (Creator/MattRoss), the CEO of a Google-like MegaCorp, and Peter Gregory (Creator/ChristopherEvanWelch), a billionaire tech investor. Richard decides to refuse Gavin's quick payout of $10 million and use Gregory's investment capital to create a start-up around his new product. He soon finds himself in over his head as he struggles to build a potential billion-dollar business and beat a vengeful Gavin to market.

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The show follows Richard Hendricks (Creator/ThomasMiddleditch), a meek computer programmer who develops a revolutionary lossless file compression algorithm.[[note]]which he [[note]]He creates the algorithm when inspiration hits him after listening to his friends discuss the logistics of, ahem, "giving a hand" to several hundred men (hypothetically).[[/note]] His invention quickly sparks a bidding war between Gavin Belson (Creator/MattRoss), the CEO of a Google-like MegaCorp, and Peter Gregory (Creator/ChristopherEvanWelch), a billionaire tech investor. Richard decides to refuse Gavin's quick payout of $10 million and use Gregory's investment capital to create a start-up around his new product. He soon finds himself in over his head as he struggles to build a potential billion-dollar business and beat a vengeful Gavin to market.



* RuleOfFunny: In Season 5, Gilfoyle has an automated alert to play an obnoxious sound[[note]]Specifically "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybGOT4d2Hs8 You Suffer]]" by Napalm Death, the shortest metal song in the world.[[/note]] whenever [=BitCoin=] falls above or below a certain price so that he can toggle his data-mining on or off. If he's already rigged up an automated process to track the exchange rate and also has a remote toggling program, why wouldn't he just have the program engage the toggle itself rather than play a sound? Because the sound is a RunningGag for the episode.

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* RuleOfFunny: In Season 5, Gilfoyle has an automated alert to play an a loud, obnoxious sound[[note]]Specifically sound[[note]]specifically "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybGOT4d2Hs8 You Suffer]]" by Napalm Death, Music/NapalmDeath, the shortest metal song in the world.[[/note]] world[[/note]] whenever [=BitCoin=] falls above or below a certain price so that he can toggle his data-mining on or off. If he's already rigged up an automated process to track the exchange rate and also has a remote toggling program, why wouldn't he just have the program engage the toggle itself rather than play a sound? Because the sound is a RunningGag for the episode.
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* MisaimedFandom: InUniverse, when Erlich hires Big Head's students to work on his app, they end up buying him out of it. Citing ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'' as inspiration and even going as far as to call [[VillainProtagonist Mark Zuckerberg]] TheHero of the movie. Needless to say, this is far from the actual point of the movie.
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* QuirkyDoctor: Dr. Crawford is actually pretty good at his job, he just has zero bedside manner and seems to enjoy bullying his patients.

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* AmbiguouslyGay: In the series finale, Gavin Belson is often seen with a male companion and the two act LikeAnOldMarriedCouple. ([[WordOfGod Producer Alec Berg]] [[https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/silicon-valley-series-finale-death-035410199.html said]] this was their intent.) Earlier in the series, Gavin briefly considers having children and says he'll find a surrogate to bear them, and pursuing a relationship with a woman apparently isn't an option.

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* AmbiguouslyGay: In the series finale, Gavin Belson is often seen with a male companion and the two act LikeAnOldMarriedCouple. ([[WordOfGod Producer Alec Berg]] [[https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/silicon-valley-series-finale-death-035410199.html said]] this was their intent.intent was to be ambiguous about their relationship.) Earlier in the series, Gavin briefly considers having children and says he'll find a surrogate to bear them, and with pursuing a relationship with a woman apparently isn't not an option. option.
** In another episode, Denpok feigns ignorance when asked if he knows what Grindr is, then admits he does.
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** Erlich had an app called Avialto that was bought out, giving him an undisclosed amount of money that makes him just wealthy enough to own a decent house in Palo Alto and provide room for a number of coders for his unsuccessful "incubator" but can certainly not spend anywhere near the type of money thrown around by venture capitalist investors in the area. He desperately wants to be seen as a power player, but always falls short.

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** Erlich had an app called Avialto Aviato that was bought out, giving him an undisclosed amount of money that makes him just wealthy enough to own a decent house in Palo Alto and provide room for a number of coders for his unsuccessful "incubator" but can certainly not spend anywhere near the type of money thrown around by venture capitalist investors in the area. He desperately wants to be seen as a power player, but always falls short.



** Gavin yelling “FUCK!!!” and pounding on a one-way mirror from behind.

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** Gavin yelling “FUCK!!!” and pounding on a one-way mirror from behind. In later seasons, it expands to him having trashed his own mansion due to not getting his way - complete with very audible glass underfoot.



* {{Sociopath}}: Jared’s birth parents gave him up for adoption because having a third kid would be inconvenient for their upper middle class lifestyle. Then have another kid shortly after when they realize they actually did want another child. They tell him all this joyfully and about how wonderful his siblings are without even the slightest regard for the trauma they put him through.

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* {{Sociopath}}: Jared’s birth parents gave him up for adoption because having a third kid would be inconvenient for their upper middle class lifestyle. Then have another kid shortly after when they realize they actually did want another child.child (and said child is given Jared's real birth name, Donald, making him into a true "do-over" baby!). They tell him all this joyfully and about how wonderful his siblings are without even the slightest regard for the trauma they put him through. They even pretend that Jared is an ineffective salesman when their adult kids arrive home, instead of introducing him to them as their long-lost brother.



* VomitIndiscretionShot: Happens every time Richard becomes over stressed, and once because Richard was looking at a laptop screen inside a moving vehicle.

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* VomitIndiscretionShot: Happens every time Richard becomes over stressed, and once because Richard was looking at a laptop screen inside a moving vehicle. He even manages to blast the glass wall of his office with it, Exorcist-style, and we see a hapless janitor cleaning it in the next scene.
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** In their epilogue, Gavin and Depok are revealed to have become co-authors of a line of bad romance novels, which they squabble about like an old married couple.

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** In their his epilogue, Gavin and Depok are is revealed to have become co-authors a "co-author" of a line of bad romance novels, novels with Rod Morgenstern, which they squabble about like an old married couple.
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* AIIsACrapshoot: The last two seasons start exploring this in detail, while "machine learning" is mentioned a few times previously. Gilfoyle starts experimenting with AI despite having serious fears of a RobotWar, and a companion company had created Fiona, a limbless torso gynoid that is nonetheless a very sophisticated artificial intelligence. [[spoiler: After integrating an AI into their Piep Piper internet configuration it proved to be the key component that made the system functional. It also proved to be too powerful, as the directive of "make data transfer more efficient" also translated into breaking and bypassing all encryption. They forced themselves to sabotage their network to prevent the technology from being replicated]].

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* AIIsACrapshoot: The last two seasons start exploring this in detail, while "machine learning" is mentioned a few times previously. Gilfoyle starts experimenting with AI despite having serious fears of a RobotWar, and a companion company had created Fiona, a limbless torso gynoid that is nonetheless a very sophisticated artificial intelligence. [[spoiler: After integrating an AI into their Piep Pied Piper internet configuration configuration, it proved to be the key component that made the system functional. It also proved to be too powerful, as the directive of "make data transfer more efficient" also translated into breaking and bypassing all encryption. They forced themselves to sabotage their network to prevent the technology from being replicated]].



* AmbiguousDisorder: Peter Gregory and his replacement Laurie Bream both have NoSocialSkills apparently due to some social disorder, possibly autism. They are both, however, highly successful tech investors. Richard also has shades of this, given his high-strung personality, insecurity, poor social skills and odd habits. Arnold Garris actually thought he had Asperger's, which he denies having.

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* AmbiguousDisorder: Peter Gregory and his replacement replacement, Laurie Bream Bream, both have NoSocialSkills apparently due to some social disorder, possibly autism. They are both, however, highly successful tech investors. Richard also has shades of this, given his high-strung personality, insecurity, poor social skills and odd habits. Arnold Garris actually thought he had Asperger's, which he denies having.



* ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount: Regularly defied. Numerous tech startups manage to score tens of millions of dollars in startup money but implode before they are able to produce anything of value. At a convention Dinesh and Gilfoyle note a colleague who recently got 20 million dollars with a 280 million valuation, but when talking to them he admitted they were about to implode in a month and asked ''them'' for a job.

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* ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount: Regularly defied. Numerous tech startups manage to score tens of millions of dollars in startup money but implode before they are able to produce anything of value. At a convention convention, Dinesh and Gilfoyle note a colleague who recently got 20 million dollars with a 280 million valuation, but when talking to them he admitted they were about to implode in a month and asked ''them'' for a job.
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* AIIsACrapshoot: The last two seasons start exploring this in detail, while "machine learning" is mentioned a few times previously. Gilfoyle starts experimenting with AI despite having serious fears of a RobotWar, and a companion company had created Ariel, a limb-less torso gynoid that is nonetheless a very sophisticated artificial intelligence. [[spoiler: After integrating an AI into their Piep Piper internet configuration it proved to be the key component that made the system functional. It also proved to be too powerful, as the directive of "make data transfer more efficient" also translated into breaking and bypassing all encryption. They forced themselves to sabotage their network to prevent the technology from being replicated]].

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* AIIsACrapshoot: The last two seasons start exploring this in detail, while "machine learning" is mentioned a few times previously. Gilfoyle starts experimenting with AI despite having serious fears of a RobotWar, and a companion company had created Ariel, Fiona, a limb-less limbless torso gynoid that is nonetheless a very sophisticated artificial intelligence. [[spoiler: After integrating an AI into their Piep Piper internet configuration it proved to be the key component that made the system functional. It also proved to be too powerful, as the directive of "make data transfer more efficient" also translated into breaking and bypassing all encryption. They forced themselves to sabotage their network to prevent the technology from being replicated]].
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* AmbiguouslyGay: In the series finale, Gavin Belson is often seen with a male companion and the two act LikeAnOldMarriedCouple. ([[WordOfGod Producer Alec Berg]] [[https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/silicon-valley-series-finale-death-035410199.html said]] this was their intent.) Earlier in the series, Gavin briefly considers having children and says he'll find a surrogate to bear them, and pursuing a relationship with a woman apparently isn't an option.

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* StupidStatementDanceMix: "Two Days of the Condor" has a no-budget version: rather than altering the audio, someone simply plays guitar along with it.
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* InformedAbility: Gavin is stated to be a brilliant CEO who built Hooli into a behemoth. [[spoiler: However he continuously makes horrible errors For example: not checking about the toxic assets of Piper Chat, putting illegal non-compete clauses in employee contracts, comparing the plight of billionaires in America to that of Jews during the Holocaust, etc. And of course the fact that everyone is so terrified of him that they won’t dare tell him anything he doesn’t want to hear even though most of it would be very useful information.]]
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* DidntThinkThisThrough: Gavin “reassigns” guys at Hooli. Which is to say he gives them no responsibilities whatsoever in the hope that the shame will force them to resign, [[https://www.forbes.com/2009/05/09/japan-downsize-mizhuho-merger-zombies-tokyo-dispatch.html?sh=deb36422714c a common practice in Japan]], but to the young hipsters at Hooli it just means they get paid to spend all day hanging out in beautiful California weather surrounded by the most advanced technology in the world!
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** The focus group moderator robotically stating each participant’s name whenever asking a question and/or recording a response
** Gavin yelling “FUCK!!!” and pounding on a one-way mirror from behind.
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** Russ Hanneman does not deliver anything he promises, and ultimately almost sinks the company when he puts his stupid tequila on top of Richard’s delete key.

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