Silicon Valley: Articles of Incorporation, Review

When you’re building a company, finding the right name is everything. Clean, simple names stick. Think Apple, Nike, Hooli and so on. That one choice could be the difference between multi-millions and multiple lawsuits. 

In Silicon Valley’s third episode “Articles of Incorporation” the gang wrestles with renaming Pied Piper. Richard is convinced it’s the next big brand. Gilfoyle and Dinesh aren’t as keen on naming the company after a fairy tale and Jared even looked the story up. It’s about a predator that “murders children in a cave.” 

Even if Richard wanted to continue with Piped Piper, he has one problem; there’s already a Pied Piper operating in California. When a problem like this comes up, you need your strongest decision maker to step up. Unfortunately, the company’s CEO is still adjusting to life in the fast line. So while Richard insists on recovering the Pied Piper name, Erlich take it upon himself to find the next “Google.” 

As a Silicon Valley veteran, Erlich knows the only way to come up with the next innovative name is to eat a bunch of shrooms and wander around a desert. That bright idea gives us a few of the series’ funniest moments to date, as Erlich ends up in a gas station bathroom smearing shit all over the walls and eventually kidnapping a small boy.

Though Erlich doesn’t come up with the perfect name while tripping, the gang finds solace in Pied Piper. It’s not so much that they became comfortable with the name, but the way they got it shows that the company is heading in the right direction. When the owner of the sprinkler system company “Pied Piper” threatens to go back on the name deal, Richard stands his ground and cements his place as the leader of the company. Somewhere Steve Jobs is smiling. 

Notes and Quotes:

Christopher Evan Welch absolutely kills me with his delivery. Peter Gregory needs his own spin-off show. 

I’m all for the original Pied Piper logo. Any time you can incorporate a regular dick and a “snack dick” into your logo you know you’ve picked a winner.

Gilfoyle and Dinesh haven’t been much more than a peanut gallery, meaning there’s still plenty of character development to be had.

“Inferior products win out all the time, like Jesus over Satan.” – Gilfoyle

“Hitler played the bassoon. So technically Hitler was the Hitler of music.” – Jared 

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