Better founder Vishal Garg details Tinman AI platform shift

Better founder Vishal Garg sat down with HousingWire President Diego Sanchez on the PowerHouse podcast today to unpack his proxy victory, the company’s shift away from ad-driven direct-to-consumer lending and a plan to turn its Tinman AI platform into shared infrastructure for brokers, IMBs and fintech partners. In the wide-ranging conversation, Garg talked first about his proxy fight to return to the company he founded. “The odds of a founder CEO coming back and removing the entire board — that happens 1.7% of the time successfully in the history of proxy fights. So, I didn’t know that going in, apparently, but like 60-to-one odds against,” Garg said. Garg was removed as Better’s CEO in early August, replaced on an interim basis by Daniel Lewis. Garg then launched a campaign to replace members of the board, winning over enough shareholders to regain control of the company. He says shareholders backed him because they buy into Better’s mission to make homeownership “cheaper, faster and easier,” and because they see early results from Tinman AI, the company’s mortgage manufacturing engine. In his short time away, Garg said he reflected on the mistakes he made as CEO. “The biggest th...