“Daily Active Users” (S03E09)

Laurie hosts a cocktail party at her place to celebrate the five hundred thousandth download of Pied Piper’s platform. Richard calls Monica aside and reveals to her that the number of daily active users is actually very poor, something that only he and Jared know. Realizing that the beta version of the platform was only a success because they only showed it to fellow engineers and tech-savvy users, Richard proposes introducing a series of seminars and tutorials about how to use the platform, which, ironically, is too advanced for regular users. Confronted with this, all of Pied Piper’s recently employed staff quits, including Douglas, a customer service rep, who heads for an interview at Hooli. Sensing an opportunity, Gavin Belson interviews him personally and learns about Pied Piper’s low number of DAU’s. Later, he summons the board to announce that his intention was never to develop a platform, introducing Hooli Endframe’s new director, Jack Barker, and their new product: a box just like the one Barker had planned for Pied Piper. The board gets Belson reinstated as CEO. Facing Pied Piper’s apparent downfall, Richard tells Jared that he will dissolve the company. The following morning, however, the number of daily active users has risen sharply, which unbeknownst to the whole team (including Richard) is only so because Jared has paid for a click farm in Bangladesh to provide daily active users to the platform.