[INTERVIEW] Hardbacon – Credit Card Comparison Tool
Today we feature Julien Brault, the CEO of Hardbacon, who created a bilingual App that offers a credit card comparison App. Thank you Julien for taking the time to answer our questions today.
1) Please tell us about yourself and your role with Hardbacon
As a startup CEO, my tasks are very diversified. I work on financing, acquisitions as well as recruiting… But since it’s a start-up, I’m far from only doing strategic work. I still do some translations for the product team, keyword research for the content team, and I recently spent a great deal of time managing a project to create 30 financial calculators.
2) How does this site work?
Hardbacon is an App that helps people make better financial decisions. Right now, people can sign up through the website, but most of the features are only available on mobile. However, we’re working on a Web version of the App. People can connect their accounts to the App, and make a budget, a plan, and even track their investments. The App also makes personalized recommendations so our users can save hundreds of dollars when it comes to picking a financial product such as a credit card (we calculate how much points or cash back you’re going to earn for each card) or an online brokerage. We also publish about 16 fresh articles per week about personal finance; people don’t need to register to our free App to read those articles. Our financial products comparison tools are also offered on the website in such a way that people can use our website to shop for financial products without registering.
3) Why did you create this site?
At the beginning, Hardbacon was targeting self-directed investors. I was frustrated as a small investor about the features offered by Canadian online brokerages, and wanted a tool that would do the heavy lifting for me when it comes to understanding my performance. So, at the beginning, it was about helping retail investors make better financial decisions. Then, we realized quickly that it was not only the self-directed investors that were underserved by the traditional financial services industry; it was every Canadian! And that’s when we pivoted to helping every Canadian making better financial decisions.
4) What can we look forward to with Hardbacon?
We’ve built a lot of cool stuff, but we’re far from done. Short term, we’re going to allow our users to track their crypto and launch a crypto exchange comparison tool. Longer term, users can expect the software to be more personalized and understand them better, as we build our data analysis and artificial intelligence capabilities. At the end of the day, our goal is to make sure every Canadian makes financial decisions that are as optimised as the decisions made by a family office on behalf of a high net worth individual.
5) Any closing thoughts?
Sure! I think PointsHogger visitors are probably way ahead of the average Canadian in terms of taking care of their money, as they are already interested enough in taking advantage of rewards programs to read a specialized blog on the topic! Most people don’t shop properly for financial products, and often, don’t even understand the terms of those products. So, my closing thoughts would be that there is nobody that cares as much about your hard earned money as you, and that you owe it to yourself to manage it carefully. I’m not saying you should not trust anyone. You should absolutely ask for advice, work with a financial advisor, etc. What I mean is that you should always do your research and make sure you understand each decision that is made when it comes to your money. If you do that, you’ll be able to spend more time on what you want to do and less time on earning money.