Bryan Jaskolka had not always planned to work in the mortgage industry, but he did have entrepreneurship coursing through his veins
Bryan Jaskolka had not always planned to work in the mortgage industry, but he did have entrepreneurship coursing through his veins. While in high school, he and a friend started Nevidia Internet Solutions, which grew so successful that after university the two sold the company.
“We built it into a large business by university, so we turned around and sold it,” said Jaskolka, 35. “When I did that, I learned a lot about technology, websites and business development. So I moved into a similar role in my next job—marketing, direction, all matters technology.”
By the mid-2000s, the internet had integrated itself into everyday life, but the mortgage industry was well behind the eight-ball. Jaskolka hadn’t previous experience working with mortgages, however, he immediately recognized an opportunity.
“I’d been working for the tech company I’d just sold and was looking for a new opportunity,” said Jaskolka. “It seemed to me that, at the time, the mortgage industry was quite backwards technologically. People barely had websites when I got into the business, which is crazy considering that it was only 10 to 15 years ago. The question, then, became: How do we bring mortgages to the 21st century with websites, online applications, digital files and other things that are commonplace today but at the time were ground-breaking?”
Jaskolka began as a mortgage agent in the subprime space, accrued experience, and took note of rampant inefficiencies. Not long after, he co-founded Canadian Mortgages Inc., with his father, but it was also around this time that he began investing his money in mortgages. Needless to say, the yields were extraordinary and in 2012, Canadian Lending Inc. was born.
“I had some money left over from the financial crisis and we bought a few private mortgages with it and got some experience. As we did that, I felt that it would be a good direction forward for the business, and to some extent, from that time forward we began to pivot to focus exclusively on the private sector where we deal with borrowers and service the mortgage broker community.”
With over 95% of its business coming from the brokers, CMI has grown into a direct lender to the mortgage wholesale community, only it focuses on the private space. As the channel continues growing in the years ahead, expect the CMI group of companies to as well.
