“The seed for creating businesses with social impact was planted at Concordia.”
In 2017, innovator Philip Barrar poured savings and investing techniques he gleaned from his frugal early days as a bootstrapping entrepreneur into creating Mylo (now Moka), the fintech (financial technology) artificial intelligence app that is on a “mission to help you achieve your financial goals.” Mylo became Moka (in the summer of 2020) as it expanded to Europe.
In March 2021, Moka became a subsidiary of Mogo, a Canadian fintech pioneer that “helps you do money like you mean it.” Barrar remains Moka’s CEO and joins Mogo’s leadership team as its chief innovation officer. As for the succession of name changes, Barrar jokes about getting a tattoo, “M blank blank blank, so I could pick out my next company name and just fill in the blanks.”
Biggest career challenge
“Fear of failure.”
Proudest moment
“A child who broke his arm snowboarding came to a ski patrol where I was training a client on a patient-centric software that documents ski injuries, SkiPCR. It was my first business, my first sale, and my first everything. Seeing my product in the wild is a feeling I chase every day.”
In the pipeline
“A commission-free trading program being developed by the Moka and Mogo teams, coming later this year, will allow our users to get into the stock market through self-directed accounts.”
Concordia’s setup for success
“The seed for creating businesses with social impact was planted at Concordia.
I got a D on Peter Vogopoulos’s entrepreneurship midterm. I asked why, and he said: ‘Phil, this is the theory of entrepreneurship and you answered like an entrepreneur. Take your D, you’re still going to make millions of dollars, go out and tackle the world.’ It might have been some of the best advice I received from a professor.”
Inspiring Concordia professors
“I’m still in touch with Peter Vogopolous, a great professor, and Ron Abraira, who ran the incubator program. These two helped build my foundation.”
Words of wisdom
“Don’t be afraid to go out there and give it a try. Follow the dream and take the risk. Never give up. The only difference between success and failure is giving up.”
Giving back
“Coach and mentor in the startup community.”