EMERGENCY POD: Shaan Reacts to Better.com CEO Firing 900 Employees

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**Ben** (0:26)
Hey everyone, this is Ben. Just wanted to let you know that today's podcast is a little bit different. You may have seen the video come out, it went viral on Twitter of thebetter.com CEO firing over 900 employees.
I did a really poor job of it, and it was just really ugly and went super viral. So Shaan recorded a quick reaction video to it, and that's done well on YouTube and on Twitter. So we wanted you who listened to the podcast to be able to hear it as well.
He makes a couple of references to visuals from the video. So if you want to see what he's talking about, just click on the link in the show notes. That will take you to the YouTube of Shaan's reaction video. Otherwise, you can just listen to the audio here. Enjoy.

**Shaan Puri** (1:18)
Emergency, emergency podcast. Had to do this. Saw this video the other day. I was scrolling TikTok late into the night, as I do.
Saw this TikTok, couldn't believe it. I almost got out of bed right then to come record this. But we're doing it now. Okay, this is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. This guy is gonna be skewered for this. That's my prediction. This guy is gonna get, he might get fired for this, but he is definitely gonna get wrecked on all of social media for this.
Let's just, let's listen to this. So this is the CEO of a company called better.com. They've raised, like, I don't know, $750 million. It's a big company. They do, I don't know, mortgages or some shit like that on the internet. So here's the CEO. Let's just, let's just take a listen.
No, no, what's this? Take a listen.

**Vishal Garg** (2:10)
Hi, everyone. Thank you for joining.

**Shaan Puri** (2:16)
Already looks like a funeral.

**Vishal Garg** (2:19)
I come to you with not great news. The market has changed, as you know, and we have to move with it in order to survive, so that hopefully we can continue to thrive.

**Shaan Puri** (2:34)
And okay, the market has moved.
The market has moved. What are you talking about? You have all your employees on a Zoom call right now. Obviously, you have some quote, not great news to share.
Lesson number one, and by the way, how does this guy become a CEO of such a big company? And rule number one, if you're letting someone go or you're laying them off, and you go into the meeting, you got to rip the bandaid off in the first minute. In the first three things you say, one of them has to be, we're going to be letting you go today.
And then you start to explain everything. When you do this, you do this long-winded buildup, people are A, confused, and B, they get really pissed off. And it's just self-serving. You're trying to buffer the blow. You're trying to prevent the blow from hitting you. You can't even say it. You're not even willing to say it. So ridiculous. Okay, so the market has moved, and we have to move with it so we can survive. What is it? Is you shutting down the company? What's going on?

**SPEAKER_4** (3:38)
Deliver on a mission.

**Shaan Puri** (3:40)
Deliver on a mission. What mission?

**Vishal Garg** (3:41)
This is the news that you're going to want to hear, but ultimately it was my decision, and I wanted you to hear from me.

**Shaan Puri** (3:54)
Looks at his notes. Dude, you still haven't said it?

**Vishal Garg** (3:57)
It's been a really, really challenging decision to make.

**Shaan Puri** (4:00)
Are you okay? Has it been hard for you?

**Vishal Garg** (4:06)
This is the second time in my career I'm doing this, and I do not want to do this. The last time I did it, I cried.

**SPEAKER_4** (4:13)
This time, I hope to be stronger.

**Shaan Puri** (4:18)
Oh my God, what are you thinking, dude? I get what he's thinking. He's thinking, I want them to know that this is hard for me.
But, dude, you don't understand what people are feeling right now. They don't, first of all, they don't know what you're saying. You haven't said it.