StartUp (2016) s02e07 Episode Script

Growth Hacking

I almost died today.
- Goddamn.
- Whoa, wait! Someone tried to kill you? These Russians thought I put a virus in their software.
All I could think about was you and how much I love you.
There is a man in jail.
He killed my partner.
He's in prison for it now.
And you a bitch-ass, Dacey! - Touie ain't here no more 'cause of him.
- Well, Wes Chandler's in.
While you were committing corporate espionage and getting kidnapped, I closed that deal.
You're welcome.
- We got some competition.
- Kazankov family.
They ain't gonna stop until she dead.
You're all gonna be living on the island with me.
I'm gonna send 'em away, someplace safe.
So, how do you see yourself fitting in? Can you protect my investment? Talking about Izzy.
This ArakNet shit, I'm gonna see it through, 'cause that's all I got right here.
Hey, breakfast is ready.
- Dude! - Sorry! We a family here.
Gotta be, 'cause family all about trust - Hey.
- all about loyalty, and those are the things we depend on.
'Cause what we doing here is far too important.
What we working on is a highly encrypted new version of the dark web.
Can't nobody know about it.
Anybody ask, Izzy Morales, she don't exist.
ArakNet's creator: anonymous.
LOCATION: unknown.
Everyday, just like today, you are to report to the spot that we set up.
Me or one of my crew, we show up, we drive you the rest of the way.
There are plenty of people out there who want to see us fail, some that even want to hurt us, so it's damn important that you follow protocol.
We not playing, y'all need to understand that.
We will sweat together.
We will bleed together, 'cause we a family and that's what families do.
But security is tops, 'cause the stakes is way too high here.
And if you stray, I will find you and I will break your neck.
A'ight? Welcome aboard! Dad? - Hi.
- Hi.
I'm gonna get the nurse, okay? Okay.
Be right back.
So, look, growth is really good.
We should be really happy about that.
Word of mouth is strong.
Umm, I mean, it's not enough to top Guizer, but, uh Guizer's expected to hit their first million this week.
- Where are we? - 20K.
Yeah, but we're trending upward really quickly.
You know, um, I'm done looking at this, you know? When your competitor takes a piece of the pie, it's not just that his piece of the pie gets bigger, it's that the whole pie gets smaller until he's the pie.
So, what do we do? I need inspiring.
You know, I'm I'm I'm a little underwhelmed right now.
- I need to be whelmed.
- Uh, well, Mara and I have been talking, - and, uh - What we're doing is working slow, steadily.
That's how all great networks started.
Yeah, but that was a different time.
Now we need to be aggressive.
You're either the only or you're nothing.
She's right.
We gotta move fast.
BuzzTech Miami is next week, and I think we can go and make some inroads.
Wait.
Pause.
What? Nothing fancy, no booth or anything.
Just going to get in people's ears.
Software developers, app makers we need to get them to start using our network.
This is good.
I like this.
- I'm whelmed.
- It's a terrible idea.
- Why? - Developers are not gonna buy into the dark net.
- Not now.
- The dark net sounds terrible.
- It sounds illegal.
- We're gonna reframe it.
ArakNet needs to be a household name.
No one's gonna say, "I'm on the dark net.
" They're gonna say, "I'm on ArakNet.
" And lots of companies have been looking, actually, since net neutrality's been compromised.
Yeah, KolPart, YapGrab.
- Those are all falling apart.
- Exactly.
That's why they need us.
Yeah, they keep getting hacked.
Trust is evaporating.
- This is good.
- I mean, all they need to do is download ArakNet, get people talking, people share.
Overwhelmed.
Dumbest shit I've heard this whole meeting.
You wanna go to BuzzTech? Underwhelmed.
- What'd I say? - I'll go.
I'll go.
Izzy.
I want that tiny bitch out.
This isn't just her.
- BuzzTech? - Yeah, it's a huge opportunity.
- We're trying to stay hid.
- Okay, you stay here with Ronald, - I will go with Mara.
- Hah! I'm not scared of getting capped, Nick.
- I - That's not the problem.
I'm worried about making ArakNet a public thing.
But it is a public thing.
People are writing blogs about it and having Reddit forums about it.
This is how it spreads.
This is what we want.
Yeah, through through word of mouth, not through some I don't know, some PR bullshit.
What are you doing? What is this? - What do you mean? What? - I mean, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? Is this not what you wanted? To win? I'm just saying we don't need some big conference.
- Yes, we do.
- No.
No.
Our platform is better.
It's it's bigger.
It's huge.
- People are gonna see that.
- But Wes Wes is also right.
Guizer is gonna scoop up these developers.
And? Our speed is up, our encryption is huge, - our hops are more efficient.
- We're gonna go.
- I'm CEO.
It's my call.
- You're gonna make that call? - Yeah.
- 'Cause you're CEO? You can't keep playing that card! I am going to play that card right now because if not, what are we doing? We're just spinning our wheels.
That's all we're doing.
- We're supposed to be a team.
- We are a team, meaning this isn't just about you! Meaning there are other people sacrificing as well sacrificing careers and sacrificing lives.
How about that? Potentially sacrificing lives.
I want that tiny bitch gone.
Oh my God.
We talked about this.
The only way that we get out of this alive is if we're too big to fail, so myself and that tiny bitch are going.
Thanks.
Nice job.
partnerships in Hong Kong - Jing-Shen.
- Mr.
Bell.
- Oh.
- Good to see you.
Vera, chat? - Would you excuse me? - Oh.
Absolutely.
Thank you.
Very gracious.
Help yourself to a drink.
We can use BuzzTech as a way to hand over the company publicly.
Okay? I'll just explain that I need some time - to work on my next project.
- The conference is tomorrow, Alex.
Why are you doing this right now? 'Cause I'm done, okay? I want a buyout.
You still have two years left.
Guizer has a million users.
It is on cruise control because of me.
Vera.
Guizer is winning.
It is unstoppable.
I I earned my take.
What are you ? - What is this? - The conditions of your buyout.
- Ten million users? - Our second milestone.
- No! No! - Alex! We need your face at BuzzTech.
We need your face at Disrupt in San Francisco.
We need you at the summit in Tokyo.
And by then, you're right, Guizer will be bulletproof.
GenCoin will be a ubiquitous global currency.
We'll have horizontal integration across the dark web, and you can take a comfortable buyout and become a passive earner in the largest tech revolution in history.
Hey.
You have 'em? Yup.
Hey.
You guys are really doing this, huh? What if Vera tries something? With that many people? I doubt it.
I don't know.
You know this is our best shot.
Deep down, I know you know that.
Wish us luck.
Hey, Nevin.
- Oh my gosh.
- How are you? - How are you? - Good to see you.
- Nick Talman.
- Hi, Zack.
How can we help you? Zack, nice to meet you.
- Nick Talman.
Can we chat for a sec? - Sure.
There is so much red tape and so many unexpected roadblocks, and that's the beauty of ArakNet.
It's gonna give you the power to expand globally, without restriction.
I know you guys are looking to be in China by 2018.
Is that correct? - Yeah, 2017, 2018.
- Great, but there's no way you're gonna be able to do that without a dark web network like ourselves.
Nevin, I'm Nick Talman, I'm with ArakNet.
- I believe Mara spoke to you? - Yeah, what's up? This isn't a new platform, guys.
This is a revolution.
Your users are gonna eat up this sort of freedom, - the lack of regulation.
- Maybe.
Guizer isn't just the future of the dark net.
It is the future of the Internet.
Wasn't blown away by the interface.
- Well - So, you guys are amazing, but with Guizer, the world is your playground.
Look, I sat down with Alex Bell last night, and he got me thinking.
And with each of their companies becoming exclusive to our platform, we will be the ubiquitous dark web access point for generations to come.
Paul? Good to see you, man.
- You you got your prototype? - Yeah.
- Where'd you get the funding? - Lucas Fein.
He called me back in when they found out I wasn't - Sure.
- with you anymore.
- I see.
- That all sounds great.
The thing is, we just agreed to the same thing with Guizer.
All right.
If we're gonna do this sort of thing, it's gonna be with him.
Okay.
I see.
We're here.
We're born.
Thank you, everybody.
How about this? Mara.
- Mm-hmm? - Okay.
You help me get up in that, - All right.
Go fuck yourself.
- I'm all yours, bro.
I'm not sure if you guys are aware, but we're getting a really good ass-whupping.
Guizer's got over a mill, we've barely reached 20K.
Um, the configuration that we tested last night, actually outperformed their up/down.
Yeah.
Yeah, we've got their decryption totally beat since I souped up that cipher, so.
So we have a better configuration, and our exit is faster.
They still have the drop on us.
It's because our front end sucks.
Our front end doesn't suck.
Our front end is as clumsy as a bag of dicks, girl.
Is it? Because I built that front end.
I know you did, and that's why I'm saying, maybe we should get somebody who does this kind of thing.
It could help.
It's not the interface, Rance.
- I'm gonna pitch them my idea.
- No, don't.
- It's too risky.
They're not gonna - Cassi? - Hmm? - You have an idea? - Uh - Spit it.
Okay, I was just thinking I don't know I I I I could write a virus that hijacks the app review plug-ins and turns them into advertisements for us.
Beautiful.
- Like classy, like cooler - I love it.
like, just the ArakNet logo.
Like like a spider crawls across their screen.
Like - Just a little - Yeah, right.
Like real cool and cryptic.
It would make people wonder, you know? Yeah, it's it's it's an interesting idea, but it's illegal, so it's it's - Well, yeah - It's a great idea, and it's only illegal if you get caught.
- Don't get caught, Cassi.
- Okay.
- Okay.
- Izz.
- I'm good.
- Okay, whatever.
Meeting adjourned.
Time to work.
She ain't tell you what's going on here, did she? Yeah, she told me.
And you're still here.
I just needed a change.
You know? That's one hell of a damn change, that's for sure.
You have no idea.
So, why aren't you living out on the island with the rest of us? Y'all ain't the only people I gotta look out for.
Have you always worked in private security? I mean, he has an entire media machine.
It's very hard to compete with that.
- Sit down.
- No, thank you.
You're driving me nuts.
Sit.
- Have one of these, please.
- I don't smoke.
It's not smoking.
It's a cigar.
Just give me just give me a scotch.
I'm gonna take it tomorrow at BuzzTech the coffees, the meetings.
- Look, I I really feel - Nick.
- Yeah? - Please.
It's what I do.
I paid good money for that stuff.
It ain't poisoned.
I'm sorry if I annoy you.
No, I don't get you.
First you stand me off.
Like, okay, that's class.
Hey, this is Tam.
Leave me a message, and I'll get back to you.
- Hey, Big Ron.
- How you do, Marv? Eh.
Keep the change.
What's going on around here? What's the matter with you? That man is after me.
You gotta stop him.
He's after me again.
Where you from, Kantavious? - Charlotte.
- Charlotte.
So, how long you been with these guys? - Since the beginning.
- Fantastic.
- Yeah.
- They put you in a suite, right? Not a suite, but No? - That's fantastic, man.
- Yeah.
And they canned you? - Um, well, kinda, yeah.
- Yeah, but it was for the best, - 'cause now we got this.
- Wow.
- So, why Guizer? - Alex Bell.
- Mmm.
- Great reputation.
I mean, yeah.
We saw that they had killer bandwidth speed.
We're not talking about scramjets and smart homes.
I mean, we're talking anonymity here, man.
We're talking freedom.
Let me tell you something about Alex Bell, okay? He had three companies that failed miserably.
Wants to be the next Elon Musk? He's not Elon Musk.
He could eat the peanuts out of my shit.
- What? - Let me ask you a question.
Would you buy ad-block software from Mark Zuckerberg? - No.
- If you wanna trust a corporate-run, publicly traded company like Axis with the future of digital democracy, well, then you go right the fuck ahead.
Listen to what I just said.
I mean, heck, say it say it yourself a couple of times.
It's basically satire.
They've got billion-dollar contracts with Samsung, Amazon, with Microsoft.
You think your investment's gonna be safe using their cloud? I mean, I'm just saying, you know? I I I might be wrong.
I hope I'm not out of line, you know? But, um, fuck them! - Big Ronnie.
- 'Sup, Mickey? - Yeah.
- Yeah.
Hey.
So sorry, friend.
Condoléances from me, Nadia, both.
- Yeah, thanks.
- Cool.
- Yeah, all right, bruh.
- Are you hungry? - Oh yeah, yeah.
- What can I get you? All right.
Uh I got real nice fried cod tonight.
- You change the menu, bruh? - Yeah.
- Thought it was time, you know? - Okay.
- You know - Let me get that cod then.
- Sure thing.
- If that's what's up, let me get that damn cod.
- Yeah, it's good.
- You got a new chef back there too? - New chef.
Everything new.
- Oh goddamn, bruh.
- A Coke? - Yeah, let me get a Coke.
Thanks, bruh.
I'm gonna grab a smoke right quick.
Right.
Hey, say, uh, Mickey.
Maybe a cold beer to go with this? Go good with the cod, right? - Sure.
- Yeah, all right.
Thanks, bruh.
Thanks, bruh.
Maybe a little rum to go with that? Just a little Just a little finger.
Just thanks.
Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm! That's good, bruh.
That's real good.
Thanks.
- Yeah? - E? Mick.
Mmm! Hi.
Good to see you.
Thank you so much for visiting.
Thanks for, um, inviting me.
Sorry, I was just in the middle of Would you like some? - There's plenty going.
- Oh.
No? This is actually not bad.
I would come back just for the food.
- Thanks, no.
- No? You know, the weird part is, it's not even gonna come out of my ass.
'Cause your boy's bullet ripped through my small intestine, my own shit started leaking into my bloodstream, went septic.
So it wouldn't even have been the bullet that killed me.
It would've been my own shit.
You believe that? Mmm.
My own shit.
Anyhoo, I figured you'd be wondering where on God's green Earth I'd been for the past few weeks, so I thought I'd give you a call.
How are you? Grigory is going to come to his senses.
Oh, I'm sure he is, yeah.
Umm He will be released from prison and Agent Pierce's murder case will be reopened.
I'm not sure what you thought was gonna happen.
That's fair.
So when I take the stand, I'll be telling them about the cover-up with Delfia Morales and the attempted murder and kidnapping of Izzy, and all the other financial shenanigans that you've had going on for the past five or six years, with which I could sink you like a stone.
I thought I should let you know that.
- Yeah.
- Are we clear? - Yeah.
- Good.
I've finished talking now.
You can go.
Mm.
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
My niggas.
You know who I am? - What? - I said, do you know who I am? No, man.
Mmm? Do you know who I am? What my name is? What my name mean in this 'hood? - No, man.
- You don't know me, nigga? No.
We just came to get a beer.
Oh, you came to get a fucking beer.
- Yeah.
- You niggas came to get beers, huh? - Mm, mm.
- Yeah.
You wanted to see what the 'hood like, right? - Hmm? - No, we just No.
You, what, thought you'd be hard for a night, huh? You wanna be tough? You gotta get hurt, bruh.
That's a rule.
- That's a rule, bruh.
- Chill, man.
What'd you say? You steppin' to me, nigga? You in the 305 right now.
Motherfuckers come to the 305, they get hurt.
- It's what happen, bruh.
- We're just just - Y'all wanna get hurt? - No.
Hmm? Yo! Yo! Hold up! Hey, hey, hey.
Leave him alone! Get the cops up here, man.
Ron! Yo, Ronnie, man! Hey! - Hey, stop hitting him, man.
- Hey, hold him.
Get off! Hey, get off me, bruh! Yo, man, chill out! - Brother - He came here to get hurt! Starting shit! Oh no, he's talkin' all kinds of shit! Talkin' all kinds of shit, man! Easy.
Now just sleep it off, man.
Just gotta sleep it off, man.
Hey, hey, hey, chill, chill, chill, man.
We got you.
We got you.
No, no, no, no.
Chill, bruh.
We got you, man.
Now tell us, man, what it take to make you better, man.
Huh? We got you, man.
Whatever you need, bruh.
We your fam.
You know? We got you, man.
We your day ones, all right? We your day ones, bruh.
You good.
You hear me? We your day ones.
All right? Know that.
Well, we definitely shook things up the other day, because early this morning, we broke 300,000 users.
That's a quarter-million people in just a couple of days.
All because of you, Wes.
He put on a clinic at BuzzTech.
Ahh.
You lubed 'em up for me pretty good, kid.
You really did.
And, Izzy, your code star of the show, man.
It's all anybody can talk about.
I also should say that, you know, none of this would've happened if Ronald didn't get us started.
Ronald.
Well done, man.
- Hey, you.
- Hey, babe.
You looked like you were passing out for a second.
I am.
You should really let Sal and Cassi help more.
And me.
Izzy.
Baby, I just want it to be perfect.
I don't, actually.
I don't want it to be perfect.
I want it to be the best.
What? What would you do if you were still part of GenCoin? All that success? And what if ArakNet is just as successful? I mean, would you even enjoy that? Where's this coming from? You know, maybe take your nice little corner office? Vacation time? - Stella, why are you - Well? It's scary when all the noise stops, isn't it? Wow.
You talking to Nick? Izzy, you almost died a few weeks ago.
You don't even wanna talk about it? And that guy who saved you, you don't even Do you even know if he's okay? Baby girl, why does it matter? I'm I'm I'm not worried about that.
Stells, I'm trying to move on.
I'm worrying about us.
Look at this.
- Yeah, okay, look.
- What? I wanna be with you, whether we're working together or if we're just together, but listen, if you just keep all this shit bottled up inside - What shit? - "What shit?" Really? Stells, a lot of shit happened this past year.
You become numb.
Exactly.
- Help! Help! - Get him.
- Gotcha.
- Help! Help! Help! Stop! Stop!
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