Silicon Valley Season 4: Hards-On for everybody!

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Silicon Valley Season 4: Hards-On for everybody!

tarlibone: Aug 1, 2014; Am I a... bad person?
AM I??; Fun Shoe

He might have done the same deal. After all, they (Hooli, now the makers of the box) and their customers (a warehouse in the Twilight Zone where your tour guide is a depressingly sad and ultra-creepy ghost) would have to find some compromise in order to come to a deal of some kind.

And compromise is the shared hypotenuse of the conjoined triangles of success.

# ? Jul 6, 2016 05:43

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 18:24

masterpine: Dec 3, 2014

What if the whole Hooli Box project was based off Gavin and Jack assuming they would acquire Pied Piper tech and they've straight up got nothing.

Cue a full season of Hooli scrambling while Pied resist selling out.

# ? Jul 18, 2016 16:24

emanresu tnuocca: Sep 2, 2011; by Athanatos

Nah it was based on endframe's IP.

# ? Jul 18, 2016 18:28

Solice Kirsk: Jun 1, 2004; .

If this series doesn't end with Richard being bought out for $10mil I'm gonna be very disappointed.

# ? Jul 18, 2016 19:38

BonoMan: Feb 20, 2002; Jade Ear Joe

Solice Kirsk posted:

If this series doesn't end with Richard being bought out for $10mil I'm gonna be very disappointed.

If you think this series will end with anything other than Richard broke walking off hat in hand into the sunset you are a fool.

# ? Jul 18, 2016 21:23

Hed: Mar 31, 2004; Fun Shoe

Knowing Mike Judge Richard will probably take up some other calling and finally be at peace.

Fuckin' A.

# ? Jul 18, 2016 21:36

Solice Kirsk: Jun 1, 2004; .

They'll give all the guys a happy ending. This ain't a gritty realistic show with consequences and what not. The $10mil is probably the closest to a "bad ending" they will go. I would love it if he comes away with absolutely nothing though. That would be way funnier.

# ? Jul 18, 2016 21:38

Colonel Whitey: May 22, 2004; This shit's about to go off.

It's going to basically be the exact same as Office Space, with Richard working construction and Jian Yang accidentally owning Hooli or something.

# ? Jul 18, 2016 22:06

Fellatio del Toro: Mar 21, 2009

Richard and Monica get married, at the wedding Gavin and Action Jack murder the entire Pied Piper crew

# ? Jul 18, 2016 22:13

Electromax: May 6, 2007

It would be better for Monica to just get a cool background boyfriend that irritates the group when they stop by, like Gilfoyle's girlfriend.

# ? Jul 18, 2016 23:27

404notfound: Mar 5, 2006; stop staring at me

Got a bit of a late start on the show, but I'm finally all caught up.

As a software engineer at a large company in Silicon Valley, this show is way too accurate sometimes. In the episode with the ugly jacket, when Dinesh and Gilfoyle are deciding whether to go to the Philz on Middlefield or on Forest, it was a really surreal moment for me, because I've had to make that exact same decision before. My old office was in Palo Alto, roughly equidistant to those two locations. And the exterior and interior shots of the shop itself actually are of the Forest Ave location.

Also, my coworker got one of those flippy ball thingies, and we started chanting "always blue" when he started playing with it. The irony of a bunch of Silicon Valley engineers mimicking what they saw on a show satirizing Silicon Valley engineers was not lost on me.

# ? Jul 19, 2016 02:28

porkface: Dec 29, 2000

Solice Kirsk posted:

I would love it if he comes away with absolutely nothing though. That would be way funnier.

Joke's on you, he'll be broke and HAPPY.

# ? Jul 19, 2016 05:30

smackfu: Jun 7, 2004

I got one of those flippy balls too, straight from China. Pretty much the flimsiest thing ever. Gifted it out right away.

# ? Jul 19, 2016 12:10

mobby_6kl: Aug 9, 2009; by Fluffdaddy

Cross-posting this from D&D startup thread because :laffo:

quote:

Hampton Creek Ran Undercover Project to Buy Up Its Own Vegan Mayo

In late 2014, fledgling entrepreneur Josh Tetrick persuaded investors to plow $90 million into his vegan food startup Hampton Creek Inc. Tetrick had impressed leading Silicon Valley venture capital firms by getting his eggless Just Mayo product into Walmart, Kroger, Safeway, and other top U.S. supermarkets within about three years of starting his company.
What Tetrick and his team neglected to mention is that the startup undertook a large-scale operation to buy back its own mayo, which made the product appear more popular than it really was. At least eight months before the funding round closed, Hampton Creek executives quietly launched a campaign to purchase mass quantities of Just Mayo from stores, according to five former workers and more than 250 receipts, expense reports, cash advances and e-mails reviewed by Bloomberg. In addition to buying up hundreds of jars of the product across the U.S., contractors were told to call store managers pretending they were customers and ask about Just Mayo. Strong demand for a product typically prompts retailers to order more and stock it in additional stores.

Expense reports reviewed by Bloomberg show contractors bought back jars of Just Mayo from Safeway stores. Former workers say Hampton Creek also purchased its own products at Kroger, Costco, Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods locations across the country. While a November 2014 e-mail from the corporate partnerships team said the company would stop store buyouts, three former contractors who worked for the company in 2015 say the practice continued, and directions were given verbally.
�We need you in Safeway buying Just Mayo and our new flavored mayos,� Caroline Love, Hampton Creek�s then director of corporate partnership, wrote in an April 2014 e-mail to contract workers known as Creekers. �And we�re going to pay you for this exciting new project! Below is the list of stores that have been assigned to you.� Love�s memo also referenced a key competitor: �The most important next step with Safeway is huge sales out of the gate. This will ensure we stay on the shelf to put an end to Hellmann�s factory-farmed egg mayo, and spread the word to customers that Just Mayo is their new preferred brand. �
Tetrick, Hampton Creek�s chief executive officer, says the primary purpose of the purchases was to check the quality of the mayonnaise. �Because of this, we now understand the impact of trucking and shipping our product and enabled the system we have today that mitigates the risk of extreme temperatures,� Tetrick wrote in an e-mail. �Assessing the product from the customer perspective, more than anything, gets us out of the bubble of typical manufacturing. This was and always will be the primary purpose of it, which is why we�ll continue doing it.� Melanie Myers, an executive who worked in the company�s corporate partnerships team, says in a statement that the program was primarily for quality-control purposes but �we also thought it might give us a little momentum out of the gate.�

Tetrick says the program has cost about $77,000, representing less than 0.12 percent of the company�s sales. Tetrick provided Bloomberg with 15 e-mails to contractors referencing quality-control assignments. He also presented a database showing surveys Creekers were asked to fill out after going to stores, checking jars for misaligned labels, breakage, or issues involving ingredient separation, which he says occurred when early versions of the jars were exposed to extreme temperatures in transit. The workers were sometimes instructed to purchase substandard merchandise and send it to headquarters, he says.
However, the survey database�containing almost 3,900 entries in 15 states from March 2014 to January 2015�didn�t account for hundreds of Just Mayo purchases by Creekers during that period, according to e-mails, receipts and expense report records seen by Bloomberg. Five former Hampton Creek contractors and two ex-senior staff members say the buyback assignments were separate from quality checks at stores. The ex-contractors say in most cases they were told to simply buy up jars at nearby stores and were free to consume or discard them�not look for quality issues, as the company says.
�It is highly questionable for a company to purchase its own goods,� says David Larcker, a professor of accounting at Stanford Graduate School of Business. �Revenue is an important number for evaluating growing companies, but the companies need to be transparent about the source of that revenue. They also need to be transparent about their growth. If the sales are not generated from legitimate customers, that needs to be disclosed and is important information for investors to evaluate.�
Hampton Creek�s approach to quality control is also unusual. Companies typically ensure the quality of products before they leave the factory, says Kurt Jetta, who runs a retail and consumer data company called Tabs Analytics. If they do find issues in stores, food makers usually don�t buy the products. Instead, they give the retailer a credit. �There�s no legitimate explanation for a manufacturer buying significant quantities of their own product from the shelf,� Jetta says.

Founded in 2011, Hampton Creek marketed itself as a food technology company that ferrets out new plant proteins and uses them to reformulate everyday grocery items like mayonnaise and cookie dough. Tetrick, now 36, went around Silicon Valley vowing to disrupt the food industry and won over such leading VC firms as Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures. Today Hampton Creek says its backers include several billionaires, such as Hong Kong�s Li Ka-shing and Yahoo!�s Jerry Yang. Despite criticism from other investors who say the company is less an innovator than a deftly run marketing machine, Hampton Creek has raised $120 million and turned Just Mayo into a cherished brand among sustainably minded consumers.
Thousands of new packaged food items are introduced each year in the U.S., and a majority of them fail. For a young company, it�s critical to perform in a test market, with those results used by retailers to justify increasing distribution, says Jim Hertel, a grocery industry analyst at Inmar�s Willard Bishop. Sales from a major retailer can also be used as part of the pitch to investors. �If you�re an early-stage company, there�s a lot of pressure to demonstrate results,� Hertel said.
In-store marketing is a crucial way for a young company to build a brand and boost sales. Hampton Creek held Just Mayo tastings and other demonstrations in supermarkets around the U.S. Wearing the required uniform of a black hat and t-shirt with the startup�s three-leaf logo, the Creekers were supposed to persuade shoppers to try the product and then hopefully buy a jar.
In 2014, the job changed, according to five former Creekers who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal. Now they were being asked not simply to promote Just Mayo but to start buying it as well�an initiative the company dubbed �Special Project� or �Buyouts,� they say. Love, who has since been promoted to Hampton Creek�s vice president of mission, suggested how Creekers could do this most effectively in an April 2014 e-mail to a contractor. �I might go through the self-checkout lanes, or make several transactions going to different cashiers each time to avoid questions like, �Why are you buying so much mayo?!�� Love wrote. �Make sure you are not wearing your HC gear when you go into Safeway. This is an undercover project.�
In interviews this week at Hampton Creek�s San Francisco headquarters, executives emphasized that quality control was the main goal of the buyback program. �These folks did an awesome job for us, primarily in helping us improve our quality,� Love says in a statement provided by Hampton Creek. �They were our eyes and ears on the ground. I�m proud of what we did and how we continue to do it.�

One former contractor assigned to buy Hampton Creek products provided receipts showing purchases of more than 140 jars of Just Mayo in a day. Another contractor described buying at least 20 jars per store and says Hampton Creek gave workers directions to visit over a dozen stores in less than a week. Ex-Creekers say they were told to do whatever they wanted with the product after finishing the job. Some donated the supply to food shelters or handed them out to friends and family, but most say they threw it in the trash. E-mails from Love show the buybacks took place in the Mid-Atlantic, Southwest and Pacific regions. The five former Creekers say they happened all over the country.
Hampton Creek also paid contractors to pretend they were customers and call store managers of Whole Foods, Safeway, and Kroger locations to stoke demand, according to e-mails reviewed by Bloomberg. �You will be calling Whole Foods Market locations as a customer to create buzz and increase demand for Just Mayo flavors and Just Cookie Dough in these stores, putting pressure on the Regional Buyer,� says a March 2015 correspondence signed by Melanie Myers of Hampton Creek�s corporate partnerships team. E-mails from Myers list some 100 store locations for each contractor to call in places such as Arkansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Texas.
The e-mails also directed contractors to conceal their identities and fib if questioned on the calls. �Remember, you are calling as a customer,� says an e-mail addressed to a contractor and signed by Myers, whose title now is Ingredient Sourcer. �The conversation should go something like this: Hi, I�m doing some catering and I�m looking to pick up this new mayonnaise. I think it�s called Just Mayo ...� In another script, contractors were told to say, "Hi! I�m hoping you can help me out. I�m planning a Back to School event and I�m looking to pick up this new mayonnaise. I think it�s called Just Mayo ...�
Two ex-contractors for Hampton Creek, who sued their former employer in February 2016 seeking unpaid wages, reference an assignment to �buy out shelves� of the company�s products in a lawsuit filed in a federal district court in New York. The suit also says Hampton Creek failed to provide them with detailed documentation of their compensation and work-related expenses for tax-reporting purposes as required by state law. In an e-mail, Tetrick says that team of contractors helped improve quality control and �gave us a push when we landed in our first conventional account, which is why all of us will always be proud of their work. A handful of folks don�t represent the views of everyone.�
In at least some cases, Hampton Creek lumped in expenses related to buying its own products with wages paid to contractors, according to five former workers. All five said money they were given to buy jars of Just Mayo were treated as taxable income, making them liable for a higher tax bill than their actual earnings would require. One former contractor provided H&R Block tax records showing this to be the case. Another Creeker asked the company in an e-mail to separate the expenses from taxable income. But the request was ignored, the contractor said. Hampton creek declined to comment about the alleged practice.
�Treating reimbursement of business expenses creates a compliance burden to the contracted employee,� says Joseph Carcello, a University of Tennessee professor who sits on the Securities and Exchange Commission�s investor advisory committee. �There�s no way this reimbursement approach is in the best interest of the contractor, and there are limitations to what the contractor can deduct.�

Two former senior staff who worked closely with Tetrick in 2014 and 2015 say the Hampton Creek CEO initiated the buyouts partly to make sales look better to potential investors. One says Tetrick didn�t disclose the practice to would-be backers during fundraising pitches in 2014. Fundraising pitch decks reviewed by Bloomberg do not reference the buyouts. �We always comply with our disclosure obligations to prospective investors,� Tetrick says in an e-mail.
Earlier this year, Hampton Creek was looking to raise additional funds to help pay for an ambitious vision that imagined as many as 560 new plant-based products, which could include vegan �oysters,� �blue cheese� and an egg-substitute product it calls �Just Patty,� according to an investor presentation reviewed by Bloomberg. The company is still trying to close the round and is seeking investors in Asia, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Emphasis mine. Certainly reminds me of a particular plot point this season, except that these guys ran with it :v:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-04/food-startup-ran-undercover-project-to-buy-up-its-own-products

# ? Aug 7, 2016 19:20

FuriousxGeorge: Aug 8, 2007; We've been the best team all year.

They're just finding out.

Funny, because Just Mayo really is a good product. It's just the market for vegan mayo isn't really that huge.

# ? Aug 7, 2016 19:38

Echo Chamber: Oct 16, 2008; best username/post combo

"Facebook wants Snapchat. Snapchat won't sell. Facebook's Snapchat clone app doesn't take off. But Facebook then adds a Snapchat clone as a new feature of Instagram."

I already seen so many personalities who use both Instragram and Snapchat admit they'll just migrate entirely to IG despite it being an obvious and cynical SC clone now because it's easier.

The tech industry doesn't even hide how predictable it is.

# ? Aug 7, 2016 22:06

Cojawfee: May 31, 2006; I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius

"Put an end to Hellman's" That is truly hilarious. No one is going to take down Unilever. What a moron.

# ? Aug 7, 2016 22:06

evobatman: Jul 30, 2006; it means nothing, but says everything!; Pillbug

FuriousxGeorge posted:

Funny, because Just Mayo really is a good product. It's just the market for vegan mayo isn't really that huge.

They should have gone for gluten free mayo.

# ? Aug 9, 2016 12:29

mrmcd: Feb 22, 2003; Pictured: The only good cop (a fictional one).

Cojawfee posted:

"Put an end to Hellman's" That is truly hilarious. No one is going to take down Unilever. What a moron.

They have it at my work, and it's fine, but I can't imagine anyone being that excited about mayo.

# ? Aug 9, 2016 12:45

mobby_6kl: Aug 9, 2009; by Fluffdaddy

evobatman posted:

They should have gone for gluten free mayo.

Or, better yet, disrupt the poo poo out of the market with mayo-free mayo

Cojawfee posted:

"Put an end to Hellman's" That is truly hilarious. No one is going to take down Unilever. What a moron.

Dream big or go home!

# ? Aug 9, 2016 13:09

Solice Kirsk: Jun 1, 2004; .

I like Just Mayo and I'm not even a vegan/vegetarian. It didn't work in deviled eggs though. It was almost as bad as a deviled egg made with Miracle Whip. I guess it's just one of those things I can only eat if it's made with real mayonnaise.

# ? Aug 9, 2016 13:45

Cojawfee: May 31, 2006; I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius

Weren't they the ones who got in trouble with the FDA because you're not allowed to call something mayonaise unless it is made out of egg, oil, and vinegar?

# ? Aug 9, 2016 14:14

Henchman of Santa: Aug 21, 2010

Cojawfee posted:

Weren't they the ones who got in trouble with the FDA because you're not allowed to call something mayonaise unless it is made out of egg, oil, and vinegar?

Yes.

# ? Aug 9, 2016 14:34

Poppyseed Poundcake: Feb 23, 2007

Also their logo is a symbol of poultry oppression

# ? Aug 9, 2016 15:52

Rexides: Jul 25, 2011

Cojawfee posted:

"Put an end to Hellman's" That is truly hilarious. No one is going to take down Unilever. What a moron.

Doesn't matter. You can't just sell a product any more. You have to sell a cause. I don't think that people care that Hellman's is just a brand name.

# ? Aug 9, 2016 21:14

drunkill: Sep 25, 2007; me @ ur posting; Fallen Rib

This is essentially new season 3 footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZB2s3-Q15s

# ? Oct 5, 2016 07:51

Josh Lyman: May 24, 2009

Finally caught up after 6 months and

Fellatio del Toro posted:

Richard and Monica get married, at the wedding Gavin and Action Jack murder the entire Pied Piper crew

Richard is crap and Monica can do better. :colbert:

# ? Nov 15, 2016 14:58

Solice Kirsk: Jun 1, 2004; .

I still have a bad feeling they're gonna start that garbage up again this next season. I hope Monica winds up with Gabe though.

# ? Nov 15, 2016 19:18

bring back old gbs: Feb 28, 2007; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

Solice Kirsk posted:

I still have a bad feeling they're gonna start that garbage up again this next season. I hope Monica winds up with Gabe though.

no single lover could ever tame gabe

# ? Nov 15, 2016 19:36

DrBouvenstein: Feb 28, 2007; I think I'm a doctor, but that doesn't make me a doctor. This fancy avatar does.

Looks like Russ has a new car, with a new type of door, to buy:
http://jalopnik.com/the-crazy-doors-on-the-rezvani-beast-are-the-first-trul-1789088283

I'm curious how that kind of door is demonstrated via moving one's arms...

# ? Nov 17, 2016 18:16

BonoMan: Feb 20, 2002; Jade Ear Joe

DrBouvenstein posted:

Looks like Russ has a new car, with a new type of door, to buy:
http://jalopnik.com/the-crazy-doors-on-the-rezvani-beast-are-the-first-trul-1789088283

I'm curious how that kind of door is demonstrated via moving one's arms...

# ? Nov 17, 2016 18:21

Mike N Eich: Jan 27, 2007; This might just be the year

I basically just marathoned this entire show. Gilfoyle and Dinesh are an incredible pair. Carla needs to come back. Also so does Fake Mark Cuban. I'm not sure how long they can keep the script of "there's an almost certain fatal crisis and theres a miraculous deus ex machina at the end" formula going, but its given 3 fantastic seasons.

I'm happy Big Head is with the original team again.

# ? Nov 24, 2016 00:29

Propaganda Machine: Jan 2, 2005; Truthiness!

I hope you don't mean Peter Gregory (?) from season 1. He died irl.

# ? Nov 25, 2016 11:21

MiddleOne: Feb 17, 2011

With Big Head he means Big Head. :v:

# ? Nov 25, 2016 11:24

Propaganda Machine: Jan 2, 2005; Truthiness!

Fake Mark Cuban, though?

# ? Nov 25, 2016 13:40

Rexides: Jul 25, 2011

Rush Hanneman, the Tres Commas guy

# ? Nov 25, 2016 13:47

Mike N Eich: Jan 27, 2007; This might just be the year

Yeah I meant Russ Hanneman. It was a tease that they brought back him and Carla for just real short scenes in the 3rd season.

# ? Nov 25, 2016 17:59

OctaviusBeaver: Apr 30, 2009; Say what now?

MiddleOne posted:

With Big Head he means Big Head.

Ah yes, good old Bag Head.

# ? Nov 25, 2016 19:52

Vintersorg: Mar 3, 2004; President of
the Brendan Fraser
Fan Club

Where's the loving jackets??

# ? Nov 25, 2016 22:46

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 18:24

get that OUT of my face: Feb 10, 2007

I didn't know that Russ Hanneman = Mark Cuban until I read an article matching Silicon Valley characters with their real-life counterparts. Their quotes about where they were when they made their first billion are almost identical, which says a lot about Cuban.

# ? Nov 26, 2016 06:15

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