Building a Fintech Disruptor: A Fireside Chat with Vishal Garg
When Vishal Garg founded Better.com in 2015, he wasn't just launching a mortgage company – he was embarking on a mission to revolutionize an entire industry. Frustrated by the slow, opaque, and often predatory practices of traditional lenders, Vishal leveraged his background in financial technology to create a better way. Better.com, under his leadership, has become a pioneer in proptech, streamlining the mortgage process for borrowers and lenders alike.
In a fireside chat with Founders Network Founder and CEO Kevin Holmes on July 16, Vishal will share his journey building Better.com into the #1 digital mortgage lender in America. During the event Vishal will detail his strategies for leveraging technology to disrupt the traditional mortgage industry, offering insights for entrepreneurs looking to innovate in established markets.
Opening Remarks @ 9:30am PT
Join us for opening remarks with Dina Fattom, Member Success Manager at Founders Network, to get the latest updates from the Network and opportunities for getting involved.
Keynote Speaker @ 9:40am PT
Vishal Garg is the Founder and CEO of Better, the # 1 digital mortgage lender in America. Better is on a mission to make homeownership faster, cheaper, and just plain better for all Americans by leveraging technology and automation to streamline the home-buying process and remove biases. Since its founding in 2015, Better has originated over $100 billion in home loans, more than $38 billion in insurance, and over $3 billion in real estate transactions, all entirely online and commission-free. In January 2023, the company announced one of its biggest innovations yet with One Day Mortgage, a breakthrough innovation in the real estate industry that allows customers to go online, get pre-approved, lock their rate and get a mortgage Commitment Letter from Better, all within 24 hours. In August 2023, the fintech company went public via SPAC.
Vishal has received numerous awards, including E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year, Housing Wire’s Most Influential Mortgage Executive, and the Golden Pegleg Award for Outstanding Alumni from Stuyvesant High School.
Originally from India, Vishal is a lifelong New Yorker. He grew up in Queens, NY, and graduated from Stuyvesant High School and NYU. Vishal now lives in downtown Manhattan with his loving wife and three kids.
Stage-Based Roundtables @ 10:30am PT
Community Partners:
Jeff leads the Partnerships Team at Forecastr — a leading FP&A software company that helps startups create kick-butt financial models to impress investors, confidently raise capital, and effectively run their businesses better.
Jeff serves on the advisory boards of several startup companies and is an active angel investor. He's passionate about startups and enjoys working with founders and mentoring entrepreneurs.
Jeff is an experienced entrepreneur and was the founder and CEO of a successful consumer goods company that he rapidly grew from $1M in sales its first year to over $40M in annual revenue in its fourth year of operations and was ranked #138 on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies.
Prior to founding his own company, Jeff was a partner at Beanstalk Partners where he led the sales and business development activities. He also served as the National Sales Director for a venture-backed tech startup where he generated over $45M in client contracts and developed the company’s channel partner program.
Jeff has a degree in accounting and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Utah. After receiving his MBA in Finance from the University of Utah he served as the Vice President of Investments for Sentry Financial Corporation.
Cathy is the Managing Partner at FullScope Growth, a global consortium of elite Fractional Executives and Business Acceleration Partners that provide the exact combination of experts that organizations require.
She has cross-functional experience in sales, management, marketing and business planning, client services, network development and operations. Delivers strong results within highly competitive markets.
Guests Are Welcome!
Please bring a guest! Every member can bring one (1) guest to each event. Each guest must be a full-time tech startup founder so they can bring new perspectives, skillsets, and experience to your chapter.
All guests must be full-time tech startup founders and you can register them directly on this function page. See How to Register a Guest here.
Confidentiality Policy:
All information shared within Founders Network is strictly confidential. We are built on a foundation of trust, and the community takes confidentiality seriously. Investors, members, and staff all share experiences and opinions off the record. In this roundtable forum, we continue to model our fnValues of Reciprocity, Humility, Authenticity and Inclusivity.