Vishal Garg built the fastest-growing digital mortgage company in America, originating $58 billion in loans in 2021. Then interest rates doubled, volume collapsed, and he fired 900 people on a single Zoom call that the entire internet watched in horror. The SPAC that was supposed to take Better public at $7.7 billion eventually closed at a fraction of that. Garg became the poster child for everything wrong with the ZIRP-era startup boom: grow at all costs, raise billions from SoftBank, then implode when free money disappears. Better.com is still alive. Whether it is actually better remains an open question.
Founded
2016
HQ
New York, New York
Total Raised
$900 million
Founder
Vishal Garg
Status
Public (Nasdaq: BETR)
Website
www.better.comTHE ORIGIN STORY
Vishal Garg founded Better.com (originally Better Mortgage) in 2016 after his own frustrating experience getting a mortgage. The process was slow, opaque, and full of hidden fees.
Garg built a platform that let borrowers apply, get approved, and close a mortgage entirely online. The company grew explosively during the low-rate era of 2020-2021, originating $58 billion in mortgages.
SoftBank invested hundreds of millions. Better announced a SPAC deal to go public at a $7.7 billion valuation in May 2021.
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO
Better.com is a digital mortgage lender that aims to remove the middlemen — loan officers, commissions, unnecessary fees — from the home buying process. The pitch: get a mortgage entirely online, faster and cheaper than traditional lenders.
Revenue comes from loan origination fees and selling loans on the secondary market. The company originated $58 billion in loans in 2021.
Then interest rates rose, volume cratered, and CEO Vishal Garg became infamous for firing 900 employees over a Zoom call.
THE PRODUCTS
Better Mortgage (digital mortgage origination), Better Real Estate (agent services), Better Insurance (homeowners insurance), Better Cover (title insurance), Better Settlement Services
HOW THEY GREW
Survive until rates come down. Better.com has slashed costs, reduced headcount from 10,000+ to under 1,000, and focused on profitability over growth.
The company also expanded into insurance (Better Insurance), real estate (Better Real Estate), and home equity lines of credit. The strategy now is to be a lean digital mortgage operation ready to scale again when the rate environment improves.
THE HARD PART
Everything. Better.com is a case study in what happens when rates rise.
Mortgage volume collapsed when rates went from 3% to 7%. The company went from originating $58 billion in 2021 to a fraction of that.
Garg fired 900 people over a single Zoom call in December 2021 — a video that went viral and made him one of the most hated CEOs in tech. Multiple rounds of layoffs followed.
The SPAC merger was delayed repeatedly. The company finally went public in August 2023 at a fraction of its previous valuation.
The stock immediately dropped further.
MONEY TRAIL
Series B
2018 · Led by
$15M raised
Series C
2019 · Led by
$160M raised
Series D
2021 · Led by
$500.0B raised
SPAC/IPO
2023 · Led by
$0 raised
WHO BACKED THEM
SoftBank, Activant Capital, Goldman Sachs, Kleiner Perkins, Pine Brook Partners
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