StartUp (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 6 - Bootstrapped - full transcript

One job. You get your shit back,

I don't chase you anymore. How's that?

We need to move on without you, dude,

'cause we landed Benedict Blush for 1.5.
- Yes.

This is good. We back in business.

- There's no "we."
- I reject your offer.

I won't say anything.

- Maddie.
- Please. Phil, don't go!

Not 2.2 here.

Only 1.8.

Someone's hacking my shit!
They're taking all our money!



You said this couldn't
happen! Who's doing it?

- That 300.
- Yeah?

Where's it at? Is it at
your place? I'mma need that.

I'll give you three days.

Well, I think we're done
here. You can go.

She have to die. You
know she have to die.

Phil Rask!

No!

I tried everything.

Traced every packet.

It all leads to this
one signature... "Daewon."

What does that mean?

"Daewon"?

Who?



He's a black hat, Nick.

He's the most
wanted hacker in the world.

He raped us and took all our money.

Why us? I don't even understand.

I mean, we're not a known entity.

It's not like we're holding billions.

Someone had to know.

Someone who'd been following the money.

You said it was safe.

- That's not what I said.
- Yes, you did. Yes, you did.

You said it would be in

- decentralized shell corps, very safe.
- Not from Daewon.

It's not safe from him!
Nothing is safe from him!

Goddammit, man! I trusted you!

Ronald and I both, we really, really trusted you.
- I got beat! Damn!

This isn't a game.

1.5 million. An investor
gave this to us.

Not to mention Ronald's cut, which...

Holy shit! Holy shit!

- We'll get it back.
- I...

I'm gonna figure it out and I'm

- gonna get it back.
- Okay. You better.

I better?

I am on the hook for this money, okay?

You're threatening me?

I am not threatening
you. I am being threatened.

- Get... get out.
- What? What?

- Get out.
- What's your problem?

- Get out. Get out.
- I'm not threatening you!

- Get out.
- I'm being threatened!

I don't care.

Hey, I'm so sorry.

I should have called.

Hey. Where are you?

I was, uh, working.

I was... we were
working on a presentation

and my phone was... it died.

Sorry.

Okay, well, are you coming home?

Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming home very soon.

I'm really sorry.

Well, your friend is here to see you.

He says his name is Ronald.

Oh. He's... there.

Uh... Um...

- Yeah.
- Okay.

All right, I'll be
home... I'll be home right now.

- Okay.
- Okay.

He said he's just gonna
be a couple of minutes.

Izzy?

We'd like to talk to you.

Chica?

Aye, mija.

Izzy.

Por favor, talk to us, please.

Isabelle.

How much do you owe?

A lot.

To whom? Who are these people?

Should we call Miguel?

No. No.

- Marta.
- No.

We're never borrowing
money from them again.

I don't mean for money.

Oh, my god.

Is this what it's like?

Is it?

No. No, no, no. Not really.

Oh, my god, oh, my god, Isabelle!

Mija, I told you, okay?

This is not a game. These
are real consequences.

Mom, I know! Chill!

I know. I... I know, though.

I just gotta talk to them.

I... I... it's gonna be fine.

It's gonna be fine.

I gotta find a way to make quick cash,

I will pay it off eventually,
and we'll square off.

Izzy, what about your
friends from Stanford?

Can... can't they get you a job?

Listen, we'll take a second mortgage.

We'll help you out.

Izzy, what are you
doing? We're talking to you.

- Izzy...
- I'm pinging Maya.

She runs RadCoin.

Uh...

My friend from Stanford.

It's a good idea.

What's up, South Beach?

You just getting home? For real?

You had your woman worried, bruh.

If I go dark on my woman that long,

she'd whoop my damn ass.

Yeah, Taylor and I, we
just been... oh, shit, sorry,

it's Taylor, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, Taylor and I, we
were just speaking about you.

Your ears must have been
burning and shit.

Hey, baby, would you mind
going inside for just a minute?

Hey, no, no, no,
no, she gonna stay here.

What are you doing?

I'm here to talk business.

Well, then I would like my
girlfriend to go inside for the time being.

- Hey, that's your girl, dawg.
- Hey, hey, hey!

This is a private conversation.

And she supposed to be with you.

By your side. Thick and thin.

God damn!

Didn't even tell her you quit your job.

Now sit down.

Why are you here?

I've been thinking it over.

I will take that buyout after all.

And I understand everything with
the banks and cash and all that,

but as soon as you can get that to me...

Ronald.

Aw, man, we have a small problem.

- Word?
- Yeah.

Well, it's actually...
It's actually a...

It's a huge problem.

Uh...

we just got hacked

and someone... this a hacker guy...

I mean, he took all of it.

"All of it." That's what's up?

Uh-huh.

GenCoin. My money.

That Blush dude
money. All of that money?

That money you was gonna
give me yesterday

when you and homegirl fired me...

- Well, we didn't fire you, but yeah.
- Yes, you did, Nick.

You fired my Haitian ass.

- No, no.
- You tried to.

We offered you a buyout.
We didn't fire you.

We didn't even hire you.

You listen to me right now.

You and that mouthy-ass bitch

told me my money was gonna
be safer than it's ever been.

Now what?

Now what?

No, wait! Taylor, no cops! No cops!

No, you don't want to do that, girl.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

You get me my money.

Just 'cause I like you don't
mean I won't put you down.

Thanks for the snacks. You a good girl.

Don't let this nigga forget that.

It's okay.

- I'm sorry.
- Nick.

- I'm sorry.
- Stop it.

- It's okay. I'm...
- Just don't touch me.

I'm sorry.

Oh, gosh.

So you remember Donnie, right?

What?

Yes. The old spark was still there.

Donnie? That's...

Yeah. I never thought
I'd be married this young.

Or at all.

Hm. Well...

It's crazy how fast life
comes at you, right?

Well, how about you?

- Not. Mm-mm.
- No?

No, not for me.

That's okay. That's good. Priorities.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

I'm really glad you called, Izzy.

I've missed you, you know?

You up and bailed on Stanford.

It... it wasn't my jam, I guess.

I know. I get it.

Yeah. Are you hungry?

I'm starving. Want to get some food?

No, I'm good, but... oh, go ahead.

- Excuse me.
- Yeah?

- Hi.
- What can I get for you?

Can I get an order of
the hummus, please?

Sure, sure.

- Coming right up.
- Thanks.

So what have you been up to?

What ever happened to the
cryptocurrency you were writing?

It, uh... it's still a pet project.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

- How's, uh...
- RadCoin.

Yeah, it's going good.

It's been a ride.

You hear we're launching.

Yeah, I saw the animated GIF
thing you guys are advertising with.

- It's super pro, right?
- Mm-hmm.

We launch in 33 days.

Oh, I didn't even tell you this.

We have a meeting with Alex Bell

on Tuesday.

Yeah. He's thinking about investing,

gonna come check out our digs.

It's crazy weird, right?

Have Alex Bell at your conference table?

Come on, Izzy.

You need to jump on this train.

That's, um... That's... that's kind of

what I wanted to talk to you about.

Good.

Wait, are you serious?

Yeah. Well, I mean...

I'd kind of need an
advance on my salary.

I have all these loans
that I need to pay off ASAP.

Okay.

- Huh?
- Well, let's talk about it.

Okay. Well, what, um,
what do partners take home?

Um, so...

you know, uh, "partner"
might be kinda, uh, tricky.

But listen, you would be taken care of.

We... pay our engineers very well.

Hey, dude. It's Nick Talman.

Um, I'm good. I'm good.

Thank you. Uh, I'm really good.
How are things in California?

Wonderful investment
opportunity, but, um,

you would have to move very
quick on it. That's the thing.

No, I know.

I... I will. I... no, okay,
wh... okay, let me just say...

JP, it's Nick Talman.

Excellent. I'm so happy
to... let me tell you.

So, I have an amazing...

I know, this sounds ridiculous, but...

But... but you don't know that.

Dude, are you still in Nashville?

For me, I just feel like
you have to meet this girl.

So, you're in Japan right now?

You'll thank me if you vet the code.

Thank... I... look, I appreciate
you taking the time, and...

You know what? Actually,
I'm gonna call you back.

No, I got m...

Okay, I gotta go. Call you right back.

Hey, Leo.

Nick.

We should talk.

I didn't know what else to do.

I told you I was dealing with it.

Uh-huh. You're in
way over your head, son.

Wanna mix us a couple of drinks?

Okay.

I haven't said anything to Benny.

I appreciate it.

But I'm gonna have to.

Soon.

Otherwise, I can be implicated.

- Really?
- Nick.

Listen very carefully
to what I'm about to say,

'cause I don't think that you have

fully grasped this yet.

Are you listening?

Yeah.

You committed multiple felonies.

We got hacked. I mean...

But you didn't report it.

And I know why, too.

I know this isn't who you are.

You're a good kid. You're
smart, you're caring,

put people first.

And whether you believe this or not,

I've always liked you.

Breaks my heart that
this is happening now.

Maybe she'll forgive you.

My guess is she probably will
'cause she understands you.

She wants you to be happy
'cause she loves you.

And when you love somebody,

that's all that matters.

Not all this.

So, here's what's gonna happen next.

I'm gonna pretend that
Taylor never came to me,

I'm gonna pretend we never had
this conversation, you and me,

and when I see Benny
tomorrow night for poker,

I'm gonna act like everything
is sunshine and puppy dogs.

But soon, very soon,
he's gonna start wondering

what's happening with the million
and a half that he gave ya.

And at that point...

there's nothing I can do to protect you.

Dada?

- Hm?
- Guess what?

Touie wanted me to tell you something.

Guess what it is?

What do you want?

Let's go for a ride.

Hm?

I'll be gone before you get home.

Okay. Good.

Hey.

Yeah. Sure.

Okay. That's fine.

See you there.

I don't have it yet.

I know, South Beach.

That ain't why we're here.

Oh, yeah?

We're here to start a business.

I thought we already tried that.

We tried it the Nick way,

we tried it the Izzy way.

Now we're about to try
it the Ronald way.

How much money you got?

How much money do I... uh...

do you mean on me?

Total. All in.

What you worth?

Man, nothing. I'm in debt.

I've been paying off a
student loan for 10 years.

- Shit!
- I know.

I've been in your
spot. How you pay your rent?

He doesn't. His girl does.

Hey, you know...

Damn, South Beach.

Okay.

Okay, okay. How much you got?

Nothing. I'm broke.

Damn.

You ain't got nothing stashed nowhere?

Not even just a little bit?

I do have a rainy day
fund. I got a small bank account.

- How much in there?
- Uh...

I would have to check,
but I have like $17,000.

- 17?
- Yeah.

All right, I got three G's stashed in
the closet. 17 plus three, that's 20.

We got 20 large liquid.

All right, that's gonna be enough.

What are you saying?

I'm saying...

we've been going about this all wrong.

We were trying to lock
down the big busts

before we even got the swagger right.

You dig?

Swa... Okay, I guess. "The swagger"?

Y'all want to start something?

- Yeah.
- We need to stop looking at this shit

like it's some West Coast,
incubated, garage-type bullshit.

This here Miami, y'all.

A nigga can have the most
revolutionary idea since the Internet,

and ain't nobody
gonna take you seriously

unless you got the swagger.

Okay.

We take our 20 g's,

we find us a cheap space
in Wynwood, act like

we going all fucking
hipster or some shit,

hire up a bunch of interns, some smart,

some just to sit there looking fine,

act like we've been at it
for a minute, you feel me?

Act like we already been
out there raising funds

and shit's going real good, you dig?

Make 'em think when they
walk through that door,

they about to be a part
of something new,

something cuttin' edge,

something folks is begging to invest in.

Izzy, you got the code.

Nick, you know about
money. I know about selling.

Three o' us...

we can own this damn city, y'all.

But if we want folks to
start taking us seriously,

we need to act like we already do.

Stupid kids...

never gave me notice.

Never heard from 'em.

What was their company?

Eh, who the hell knows?

Some dumb, little video game
thing like an app? I don't know.

What do you guys do?

Not thinking about maybe
buying the place, are you?

Uh, no, no.

We were thinking of something
much more short-term.

We're thinking about a month.

Just a month?

Yeah, but, you know, if things go well,

we could maybe... we could
maybe work something out.

One month, 10,000 flat.

We were thinking more like four.

Larry.

Come on, this is free money.

You're not renting this
place out for the month.

All right. Six.

It's gotta be four.

Five.

My man here says four.

All right.

Larry!

Thank you, sir.

All right, y'all.

Let's turn this bitch out.

So why GenCoin?

Cryptocurrency is the next thing, right?

Meaning?

If I can go back in time

and try to own a piece
of Internet, you know?

So, you're doing it for the money?

- Aren't you?
- No.

- How computer savvy are you?
- Oh, I'm pretty savvy.

- Really?
- Pretty savvy, yeah.

- Fantastic.
- Yeah.

Uh, what are... do you
have any coding skills?

- "Code"? What?
- Coding.

- "Coding."
- Do you code at all?

- Your folks rich?
- Sorry?

You come from money? Do they got money?

- I...
- What's your daddy do?

He's a neurosurgeon.

Give me money.

I thought this was an interview.

It's, um, um...

Is it kinda like PayPal?

Um, yes, yes.

Oh boy! I love PayPal!

I've been coding since I was eight.

Built my own rigs and
developed my own software.

- Because you can.
- Right. Because I can.

Can you start tomorrow?

- Yes, ma'am.
- Don't call me that.

Come on, bit-boy, pump it!

That's that feel I like.

It's good. I think it's good.

GenCoin. That's what's up.

A few nibbles, but nothing concrete.

- No word from Blush yet?
- No.

Sooner or later, he's gonna call,

asking where his money is.

Tell him.

- Say what?
- We lost all his money?

No.

This is the point.

We show him his money doing good.

This office.

The youngbloods we got working for us.

If he thinks we're legit, all good.

And then...

we ask him to double down.

No.

- That's...
- That's a brilliant idea.

That's actually a Ponzi scheme.

That's how they do, bro.

Well, that, it might be how it is,

how Bernie Madoff does,
but we're not gonna do that.

That's a brilliant idea.

Look, I know you lookin'
to pussyfoot around Blush,

but it could take weeks
to set up more investments.

And here's what's up.

I got a gun to my head, y'all.

The dogs are circling my house,

where my kids at.

And pretty soon, that hammer gonna drop.

And when it do...

if they don't get their 300 from me...

they comin' for you.

And you.

Oh, man.

You know, what you're proposing
is highly, highly illegal.

Nick, you done lost
a million and a half,

and you didn't tell your investor.

You didn't tell your
investor 'cause you started this thing

with stolen drug money.

And now... you worried about illegal?

Hi, you've reached Benedict Blush.

Leave me a message, and
I'll get back to you.

Fuck.

Have a good day, baby girl.

Bye, Dad.

Hey, Ronnie. What dey do?

Where you headed?

You need something, bro?

I just comin' through to see
what's good with Touie.

Touie at school, bruh.

Fo' sho. Fo' sho.

Fo' sho.

Looks legit, huh?

"Some just to sit there
lookin' fine," huh?

- Hi.
- Hi.

I'm Ben Blush,

and I have a 9:00 appointment.

Yes.

Where's Nick?

That's...

Damn.

Ain't this some shit.

I can't do this. I'm sorry.

I'm not gonna do this.

It's too late, bruh.

He's sitting at the front right now

staring at that sex doll you hired.

A'ight?

What we're doing is fraud.

Nick, my nigga, you in this now.

You been in this.

It can't get no worse.

Is that supposed to make me feel better?

Yeah.

It is.

All right, now stand
up, man, and be a man.

I need to brush my teeth.

This is a selfie.

- Yeah.
- And I...

Benny!

Good to see you, pal.

Hey, Nick. Good to see you.

- Benedict.
- Muah!

- How are you?
- Yeah.

Hey, cool space you picked out here.

You know, very, uh, hipster.

- Mm-hmm.
- That's exactly what it is.

That's exactly what we're going for.

You got that, uh, sort of, uh...

"try to look like I don't care" feel.

That's what's cool in the valley.

And, uh, oh, some pretty faces, too.

Oh, yeah.

I think I know who
picked out that one, yeah?

I have no...

Believe it or not, Izzy.

- Oh, yeah?
- She fought for her.

- Yeah, whatever.
- Yeah?

Yeah.

- So.
- So...

What did you want to discuss?

Um, what we've been doing

is inviting some of our big investors

to come on down and take
a tour of the offices

and, uh, going over monthly projections.

You wanted to see if
I would double down.

Same thing happens with every
startup I've invested in.

They'll have me come in
and hope that I'll fall

for their dog and pony,
and then in the end,

I'll either be excited enough

or dumb enough to re-up.

Right.

I think it's admirable, your generation.

You know, some people
call it "entitlement."

I like to think of it as...

tenacity.

You know what, Benny?

We ain't gonna bullshit you no more.

That is 100% why Nick
called you in here today.

Mm.

And we did have a whole dog
and whatever lined up.

You know, Izzy was gonna
ride in on a white tiger,

but the Animal Rights Association wanted

a whole ton of cash to
look the other way,

so we scratched
that idea like, you know...

Wait, wait, wait, that doesn't mean that

the fireworks show and the
dancing girls is off, does it?

No, no, for sure that's on.

You can't return
that. There are no refunds.

- No refund policy.
- No, no, no, no, no, no.

Hey, but on the real,
though, we just trying to blow

this whole thing out quick.

You know, we want to
stay ahead of the competition.

Absolutely. As you are well aware,

RadCoin launches in a month.

- Mm-hmm. Sure.
- And isn't it you that said,

"Doesn't matter who's best,
only matters who's first"?

Yes, it was me who said that.

Yeah. Also, um...

we've got our whole
marketing PR strategy

ready to go, ready to implement.

We just need to make our
second milestone to pay for it.

So...

who else is on board?

- Um...
- Investors.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
- I mean, when you guys came to me,

you had nothing.

And now, huh, so quickly.

I mean, you must have roped in a
couple of heavy hitters here, huh?

- Mm-hmm.
- Who are they?

- Uh...
- You... You know that

it's not prudent at this juncture

to reveal the names of
the other investors.

- We try to keep that...
- Correct.

Correct. We're keeping it very private.

I think I have a right to know.

I mean, especially since
you're asking me to re-up.

Yeah. I mean, we have a broad overview,

but we don't share investor info here.

We can show you our liquidity,

- our budget, our projections...
- Yeah, yeah.

I set it all up for you.

I... look, I mean, as far as I know,

you could be bringing me in here

because I am literally the only investor

you have right now.

And it wouldn't be a sound decision

to re-up if that were
the case, now would it?

- No.
- No, it wouldn't.

You know what, Blush?

I'mma get you some names.

I'mma call up some
of the other investors,

make sure it's cool that we
disclose their names to you.

I'm also gonna need some
proof of funds from your bank.

Mm-hmm. Sure. Why... why is that?

Well, I want to make sure that

my money isn't getting lonely, you know?

Fair enough, fair
enough. We can do that.

Maybe give us, uh...

We'll probably get that
for ya end of the week?

No, I'd like it right now.

I don't know if we have it that handy.

Uh, Izzy, can we do that?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The business
manager has it,

but she... she's not here today.

Ah. Well...

I'm sure my lawyers can
sort all this out.

Yeah.

I think I'm gonna have him drop by.

- Do it.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Just have him... have him stop by

whenever you want, and we'll
everything ready for you, bruh.

We'll get it prepared.

Hey, Ben, great... Great to see ya.

Hey, Megan, show Blush out.

Okay, all three of us, we're going
to prison for a very long time.

- Shut up.
- We're not going to prison.

We're definitely
going to prison. He knows.

- He doesn't "know" know. He...
- He most definitely knows.

And when he comes with his lawyers,

that's game over.

He wanted to see proof of funds!

Okay, we just have her
fake up some documents.

Oh, my god! Stop! That's
making it worse.

- You got a better idea, Nick?
- No, I don't.

We gotta get him that money.

Jesus.

What day is it today?

What?

I... it's Tuesday.

Shit!

I have an idea.

- Is it a good one?
- Maybe!