Actual Silicon Valley Startup Gets Inspiration From HBO's 'Silicon Valley' Startup

A eureka moment struck, recalls Mr. Rippel. "Hey, hold on, we could do this for real." The two Ph.D.s quickly decided to try in reality what HBO's fictitious startup was trying on screen. Ever since, the pair of Facebook Inc. alums-turned-startup founders have been living a case of life imitating art imitating life. HBO's comedy series, which began its run in 2014, tells the story of scrappy startup Pied Piper, which hits on a brilliant algorithm for compressing information so it can zip through the pipes of the internet more quickly.