Better.com
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
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Sections to complete：02 · 05
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
This record covers the same company as 'Better' in this batch: Better.com, the New York digital mortgage lender founded in 2016 by Vishal Garg. It moved the whole mortgage process online - digital applications, instant rate quotes, minute-fast pre-approval, commission-free loan officers - and expanded into real estate services, title insurance and homeowners insurance. Backed by SoftBank (about $900 million raised, peak valuation $7.7 billion), it funded $24.2 billion in mortgages in 2020. Its CEO became infamous in December 2021 for firing 900 employees over a Zoom call. After repeated delays, it went public in August 2023 via a SPAC merger with Aurora Acquisition Corp. The company continued operating, though it endured further layoffs and heavy losses in 2023-2024.
02 / FAILURE REASONS
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Vishal Garg founded Better Mortgage in New York, a fully digital lender with commission-free loan officers.
- Zoom layoffs
In December 2021 CEO Vishal Garg fired 900 employees over a Zoom call, a video that went viral and drew widespread criticism.
- SPAC listing
After delays, Better went public in August 2023 via a SPAC merger with Aurora Acquisition Corp; the company kept operating through layoffs and heavy losses.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN / AFTERMATH
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.