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When Michael White struck out on his own after stints at DoorDash and Square, his plan was to help tech employees access the value of their equity while their companies were still private. But as White and his cofounder Gautam Gupta enabled workers to get a line of credit, they found that most people were using it to finance a home purchase. It makes sense, White says. That’s a big reason people seek liquidityor that’s one of the first things that people do if they have an exit. So it really led us to dive deeper into that and ultimately pivot. In 2024, White and Gupta relaunched their company Multiply Mortgage as an employee benefit that helps aspiring homeowners secure a mortgage. The company is licensed to originate mortgage loans in 19 states and works with mortgage brokers in nearly every other state. Through Multiply, workers can access expert advisors and discounted mortgage interest ratesand more recently, the company has also expanded to include more comprehensive education resources about financial wellness. For now, the benefit will remain a free service for employers, owing to Multiplys business model in which the company earns a commission on mortgage origination from all of its lender partners. (White does, however, note that the company might start charging companies down the road, as we build out more of the value that we’re providing companies.) Working with employers also gives Multiply a built-in pool of potential customers and lowers the steep cost of customer acquisition across the mortgage industry. Beyond that, building an AI-powered platform has enabled Multiply to reduce its labor costs while continuing to bolster crucial elements of the business; the company recently closed a $23.5 million Series A round led by Kleiner Perkins that will go toward getting its product in front of more workers and improving on its personalized services. We’re not building a self-serve mortgage, White says. For as complicated and stressful as this transaction can be, having a really high level of client service can make it go a lot more smoothly. So we’re really investing heavily in our team of mortgage advisors. In the past decade, companies have started offering workplace benefits that help support employees through various personal experiences, from fertility treatments to mental health support and menopause-related care. At the moment, many benefits managers and HR teams are daunted by the rising costs of healthcare, not to mention the overwhelming number of niche employee benefits now on the market. If medical insurance is going to consume basically all of your budget, companies have to make some pretty hard choices in other places, White says. Multiplys pitch to companies like Rampthe booming fintech startup that is one of its customersis certainly appealing from a financial perspective, but the return-to-office movement has also created an environment in which some employers are looking for ways to lure their workers back to the office or court prospective employees. Another buzzy tech startup is currently using Multiply in part because its employees are expected to relocate to cities that are not traditional tech hubs. “They are in the process of building out those teams with engineers that wouldn’t typically live in those places,” White says. “So what we’ve seen them doing with us is including us in their recruiting materials and really highlighting how this might not have been where you were otherwise going to livebut look at the quality of life that you can have. Look at what you’re able to afford from a home perspective; you can buy a home here, and here’s a resource that you can use to make that even more attainable. Some fully remote employers, on the other hand, are offering Multiplys services because of the geographic range the platform promises. The fact that we can help their employees in Michigan just as well as we can help their employees in California makes a big difference for them, White says. Companies have also found that providing Multiply as an employee benefit has encouraged some people to consider buying a home even if they previously assumed it was out of reachor, at a minimum, use the service to evaluate their options. “One thing that’s been really cool is how much employees are just exploring what homeownership could look like for them, evaluating how much they could afford [and] renting versus buying,” White says. “They’re able to take advantage of this resource, as well. They have unlimited access to those advisors.” For some clients, the lower interest rates they secured through Multiplywhich can be discounted by up to 0.75% and save them an average of $5,100 annuallyhave made all the difference in terms of being able to afford home ownership. Like other players in the workplace-benefits space, White also makes the case that may be most appealing to companies and HR teams who are sifting through a dizzying array of potential offerings. Going through a divorce or buying a home can be a lengthy, emotionally taxing experience, one that inevitably bleeds into the workplace. “If you know what to expect and you know how to adequately prepare for it, you can take a lot of the stress out of the processwhich is great from the company’s perspective,” White says. “If you have this big thing happening outside of work that’s stressful and distracting, then that’s going to degrade performance at work.”
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E-Commerce
For years, Tesla made the worlds best-selling electric vehiclesbut thats begun to change. As a response to Elon Musks apparent Nazi salute and his involvement in dismantling key federal agencies, both Tesla stock and sales have declined. Tesla Takedown protests have popped up across the country (and the world), and even the value of used Teslas is depreciating. But EVs arent the only electric product Tesla makes. The company has also been a big player in the solar industry, with its Powerwall home batteries, traditional solar panels, and Solar Roof, in which the roof tiles themselves contain the solar panels. And early data hints at how Musks public reputation may be hurting this business, too. EnergySage has begun to notice some of those impacts. As an online marketplace for the solar industry, EnergySage connects solar-curious homeowners with installers to get quotes, or to its own advisors to field questions. Its reportedly the most visited website for the solar industry, and recently, its been hearing from both customers and installers about their desire to stay away from Tesla, particularly its Powerwall 3 home solar battery. From January 1 through January 19before Trumps inauguration and Musks salute at a Trump rallyabout 73% of homeowners who used EnergySage to get a quote on solar with a battery picked one that included the Tesla Powerwall 3, as opposed to a battery by another manufacturer. But between January 20 to March 10, that number dropped to 64%. Thats a slight dip, but its notable, says Kristina Zagame, a senior research analyst at EnergySage, because of how prominent the Tesla Powerwall 3 has been in the marketplace. That battery came out in early 2024; in the first quarter of that year, it accounted for 18% of the market share, but by the end of the year, it was up to 64%. The Powerwall 3 is popular because it eliminates the need to buy an inverter (as one is included in the battery), its an easier lift for installers, and its priced lower than competitive batteries. Besides that drop in selected quotes including Tesla batteries, EnergySage has also heard anecdotally evidence about rising anti-Tesla sentiment. Customers have both called and emailed to either express a negative sentiment toward Musk, or to ask specifically about non-Tesla solar battery options. Zagame even put together a battery guide to Tesla alternatives so that she could send it as an easy response to customer inquiries. But the calls kept coming, the emails kept coming, she says, so she looked more into customer sentiment directly. (EnergySage can see the messages homeowners send to installers when they get quotes, which is where some of the anti-Tesla sentiment was showing up.) Zagame took a one-week snapshot of customer calls in March, and found that a quarter of all calls mentioned Tesla, and 20% of those specifically noted a negative view towards the comapny. Homeowners receiving quotes from EnergySage also mentioned Tesla more than twice as often in emails over the first two months of 2025 compared to the year prior. Of those messages, 68% were requesting a Tesla alternative, while 13.5% specifically shared unfavorable views toward Tesla or Musk. There was also a slight decrease in the amount of installers offering Tesla solar batteries in their quotes: 61% of battery quotes included Tesla from January 1 to 19, compared to 58% from January 20 to March 10. That could also be because some installers have faced Powerwall 3 shortages and so dont have them in stock to offer right away. It’s not clear if this points to an impending downfall of the Tesla Powerwallit’s a bit early to tell, though EnergySage says it’ll keep an eye on these trends. Tesla’s overall solar business has changed in recent years, though, which may have protected it a bit from that changing consumer sentiment. Tesla’s installation businessas in, Tesla actually being the one to install its solar panels or Solar Roofis “particularly exposed to anti-Musk sentiment,” says Max Issokson, a solar analyst with Wood Mackenzie, because the company “relies on brand recognition and competitive pricing.” But that business has declined over the past nine years. Tesla acquired solar panel manufacturer SolarCity in 2016, and when it did so, it held 16% of the residential solar installation market, he says. Since then, the company has steadily lost market share. In 2024, Tesla held only 1.6% share. Tesla has focused less on being a solar installer, Issokson says, and more on being an equipment supplier. That means it has certified third-party installers to do the actual installation work, and instead supplies its panels, shingles, or batteries to installers. While it’s installation business was decreasing, Teslas residential battery and inverter business has increased. And the equipment side of Tesla’s solar business may be a bit more insulated from customer sentiment, Issokson says, as equipment decisions are more often controlled by the solar installer than the consumer. But Zagame says she has heard from a few installers who have been turned off by Musks actions and so are phasing out their Tesla solar offeringsor pushing alternatives like the FranklinWH to customers instead. [Installers] are helping people go solar, but at the end of the day they have a business to run and sales quotas to meet, Zagame says. So for them to say, Hey, we actually don’t want you to install this product anymore, that is a really big deal.
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E-Commerce
For more than 100 years, people in Stanstead, Quebec, have been able to walk into Derby Line, Vermont, to enter the border-straddling Haskell Free Library and Opera Houseno passport required. But municipal and library officials said on Friday that U.S. authorities have unilaterally decided to end the century-old unwritten agreement. Coming at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries, the decision is prompting an outpouring of emotion in communities on both sides of the border, which in places has been marked simply by flower pots. Inside the library celebrated as a symbol of international friendship, Pauline Lussier and Chris Blais put their arms around each others shoulders Friday as they stood on either side of the line taped down the floor marking the border. Lussier, a Canadian, and Blais, an American met for the first time that day. A line doesnt separate us, it never has, said Blais, who held an American flag in her hands while Lussier held a Canadian one. Our kids have gone back and forth over this border without any problem at all . . . this is all going to change now, and theres no reason for this, Blais added. Once inside the library, Canadian and American citizens have been able to mingle freely across the border line drawn on the flooras long as they return to the proper country afterward. In 2016, then-President Barack Obama hailed the symbolic importance of the library, built in 1901. A resident of one of these border towns once said, Were two different countries, but were like one big town, Obama said. A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed that the divide is about to become more pronounced. Starting in the coming days, only library card holders and employees will be able to cross over from Canada to enter the building through the main door on the U.S. side. And as of Oct. 1, no Canadians will be able to enter the library via the United States without going through the border checkpoint, though there will be exceptions for law enforcement, emergency services, mail delivery, official workers, and those with disabilities. The statement acknowledged the library as a unique landmark, but said the border agency was phasing in a new approach for security reasons. Due to the librarys location, and convenience of local populations, CBP has allowed customers of the library to access its sidewalk, without inspection, for decades, the agency said in a statement. However, during that time, this area has witnessed a continued rise in illicit cross-border activity. It noted there have been a number of incidents in and around the library that resulted in apprehensions in recent years, including a person attempting to smuggle firearms in the past year. Town and library officials say Canadian visitors without a library card will have to enter by a back door on the Canadian side, across a muddy stretch of grass. The library announced Friday that it was launching a GoFundMe to raise the estimated $69,000 ($100,000 Canadian) it will cost to build a sidewalk, new parking lot, and wheelchair access. Stanstead Mayor Jody Stone said the U.S. decision makes no sense. However, he said the decision from U.S. President Donald Trumps administration would not affect the close bond between the communities, which share municipal services and facilities. No matter what this administration does, it will not change the fact that Stanstead and Derby Line are partners and friends forever, he said. Several residents, some in tears, gathered at the border to denounce the decision. Penny Thomas stood on the American side, holding up a sign with a maple leaf on it that said Keep Haskell open. In February, The Boston Globe reported that U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited the library and repeated Trumps taunts about making Canada the 51st state as she stepped back and forth across the line that marks the border. According to the librarys website, Canadian visitors had been allowed to enter the library by the main entrance on the U.S. side. While passports or visas were not necessary, library officials had warned that U.S. Border Patrol and Royal Canadian Mounted Police would monitor movements and could request to see identification.
Category:
E-Commerce
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