Sheldon is frustrated to discover that East Texas Tech is moving forward with his grant database idea without him. He discovers another student (Sam) is programming the database under Dr. Linkletter , who claims credit for the idea. Sheldon attempts to build it on his own but lacks the necessary mainframe computer. This leads him to meet Gary O'Brien (played by guest star Dave Foley ), a cutthroat businessman whose mantra "if you're not ruthless, you're toothless" gives the episode its name.
Sheldon is frustrated to discover that East Texas Tech is moving forward with his grant database idea without him. He discovers another student (Sam) is programming the database under Dr. Linkletter , who claims credit for the idea. Sheldon attempts to build it on his own but lacks the necessary mainframe computer. This leads him to meet Gary O'Brien (played by guest star Dave Foley ), a cutthroat businessman whose mantra "if you're not ruthless, you're toothless" gives the episode its name.