Daily Crunch: Since December 2021, Better.com has laid off nearly half of its workforce

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The TechCrunch Top 3

• Better.com times are not ahead: We’re back with another installment of “What’s happening over at Better.com?” From our previous episodes, you might remember that the digital mortgage company began performing layoffs in December, and not in the most empathetic of ways. Today, further decline in the mortgage market prompted Better to execute yet another round of layoffs in less than five months, cutting its original headcount in half. What’s different this time? Employees will receive “one-on-one” phone calls instead of learning about it on a Zoom call or via a paycheck.
• Brex wastes no time in going after what it wants: In other news from the fabulous Mary Ann, Brex took no time after saying it was getting into software before announcing its first splash with the acquisition of Pry Financials. Mary Ann calls paying $90 million for a 10-person company that only raised $4 million over its lifespan “a bold move,” yet with the number of customers it has in common, also seems like a good fit.
• What am I worth, part 1: That’s a difficult question right now as the market makes corrections and companies make their own corrections vis a vis their valuations. Alex looks at Databricks, a company perhaps on the cusp of going public, and opines about what it might mean if it’s worth less today than it was in 2021, and comes to the conclusion that an IPO can wait. You can read more about what startups are worth in the TechCrunch+ section below.

Startups and VC

We have a lot of new venture funds for you today. Tokio Marine launched a corporate venture fund in Japan. In LatAm, top SoftBank partners found their own shop. Square Peg Capital is investing $550 million in Southeast Asia.

Baukunst raised its inaugural fund to invest in creative technologists, and Conductive Venture closed a third fund to invest into entrepreneurs. Fast-food chains are given the runs for their money with a $50 million venture fund by the company.

In her piece on TC+,Natasha wonders why she wrote about the launch of something that seems an awful lot like a Y Combinator clone.

The top of the crop.

What am I worth now?

Farmers don't get embarrassed when the price of corn goes down, and there's no reason for startup founders to lose their joy because publicly traded tech stocks are taking a haircut.

Accepting a down round or a smaller seed check is not a sign of failure, as the Bible says.

The market has quickly turned to favor the buyers, but the good news is that it isn't broken.

They share a calculator for using growth metrics and public market valuations that can help founding teams triangulate to a more company-specific enterprise value.

The IPO window is closed for most of the strong candidates.

If you have an idea for a product or service that might be valuable to others, it's not a good idea to spend your days working for someone else.

Techcrunch+ helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.

What am I worth now?

Big Tech Inc.

If you haven't already checked out the new Mercedes Benz SUV, you should because we can't get enough of it. The new concept car from AUDI has rear-access doors leading to a private cocoon with reclining seats and a television screen. As we report that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is investigating the automaker, Jaclyn gives some predictions for its upcoming first-quarter earnings. The decision that its drivers were not obligated to mask up was made by a number of public transportation entities.

The first production center in Africa was opened by the search engine giant. The U.S. government warned that a North Korean state-backed hacker group is targeting organizations that use the distributed ledger technology. 30 countries can now take advantage of the ability to create and donate to nonprofits.

For your reading pleasure.