Better.com CEO Mumbles Through a 900‑Person Zoom Layoff
Stan‑style, sticky‑note apologies: Vishal Garg, the bright‑eyed CEO of the mortgage‑tech startup Better.com, has just sent out an email that reads like a confession. Fans of the company, and a viral video of him firing 900 folks in a single Zoom call, have put him in the hot seat.
The Video That Went Viral
- You’ve probably seen the clip: Garg on a locked‑room Zoom, a screen full of smiling employees, then the dreaded “your job is terminated” notification.
- The clip hooked up to social media, and the backlash was immediate. Gurus of job‑fairness called it a mistake in execution.
Garg’s “Blunder” Letter
In a letter posted on Dec 7, the CEO admits, “I realise that the way I communicated this news made a difficult situation worse.”
What followed is a white‑paper of polite remorse, the kind of apology you’d see in a 3‑year‑old’s school diary.
Why 900? The Numbers
- Better.com is a SoftBank‑backed company with 9 % of its workforce kicked loose.
- Employees were let go in the U.S. and India—hard hits for both markets.
The “Reasons” Tossed Into the Crowd
When the CEO lists why the layoff happened, he talks about the market, performance, and productivity of the business. “We needed to tighten the ship for the long haul,” he says. It’s a slick appeal to shareholders that most folks in the office would translate to “I’m sorry you’re out.”
A Nominal Public Offering – No, It’s Not a Sales Pitch
- Back in May, Better.com announced a public offering via a merger with the blank‑check company Aurora Acquisition Corp. The deal crowned the startup at a prophetic $7.7 B.
- Earlier this month, the partnership changed gears: Instead of waiting for the deal’s close, SoftBank agreed to pour in $750 M (half of the $1.5 B commitment) right away. Less of a lull, more of a financial lifeline.
The Foundations
Founded in 2016, headquartered in New York, Better.com markets mortgage and insurance products straight from an online platform. It’s the kind of company that might sound high‑tech, but the human cost of its growth is painfully real.
TL;DR
- 900 people were fired via a Zoom call that blew up online.
- CEO Vishal Garg issued a heartfelt apology.
- He cited market conditions, performance, and productivity as the reason.
- Rarely seen, a SoftBank‑backed company issued a $1.5 B support and a merger valued at $7.7 B.
Do we forgive? Do we move on? Only time will tell—just as the mortgage market continues to breathe, so does every employee’s narrative. Stay tuned.
