Series draws comedy from Valley’s startup culture

In HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” a group of eccentric, tech-savvy individuals work together to build up their startup, Pied Piper, into a successful company. While the show’s comedy may make the plot seem like pure fiction, these stories are familiar to those of us who live here in the Bay Area, and even more so to some students who have worked at startups themselves.

Since last June, senior Kabir Manghnani has worked at Ar Pax Lab, a Bay Area startup that specializes in manufacturing hoverboard engines. Manghnani said the show is not far from the truth.

For example, much of the comedy from the show arises from problems stemming from time crunches that occur often in tech fields.

“Startup life is really fast-paced,” Manghnani said. “There’s something brand new to tackle every day.”

Pied Piper’s setting is also quite accurate, operating out of the garage of a home in Palo Alto. While Manghnani’s startup has an office, he says garage startups are not uncommon, adding that he has a friend who worked at a startup operating primarily out of the co-founder’s home.

Many of the characters in the show are also parallels of real-life Silicon Valley figures and companies.

According to senior Aakash Thumaty, who has worked at EchoDevices and EverAlbum, one of the companies in the show, Hooli, is a parody of Google and the main investor of the show, Peter Gregory, is a parody of investor Peter Thiel.

The actions of those at Pied Piper are also similar to those of real-life Bay Area startup employees.

In one episode, the characters employ the help of a high school-age hacker to help them reach a goal in a short time frame. Thumaty said that this is similar to real-life startups, which hire teenagers to help assist them with certain projects.

“‘Silicon Valley’ is really similar to real startups,”  Thumaty said. “I think that’s why people in the Bay Area like the show so much.”