Emil Barr

Emil Barr (born 2003) is the co-founder and CEO of Flashpass and founder of Step Up Social.

Early life and education Barr was born in Russia and moved to the United States at age three. He grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and attended Miami University’s Farmer School of Business, where he studied economics and international business.

Career During his freshman year at Miami University, Barr built his social media marketing agency called Step Up Social.

In 2025, Barr co-founded Flashpass, an educational technology (edtech) platform focused on providing training in in-demand skills such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital marketing.

In August 2025, Barr published an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal titled “Work-Life Balance Will Keep You Mediocre.” In the article, he claimed that he “averaged 3½ hours of sleep a night, pruned social networks, and lived off of Red Bull” to attain a net worth of over $20 million by 22. He argued that prioritizing intense work during early adulthood will allow for greater flexibility later in life. His opinion piece led to The Wall Street Journal publishing several letters from readers sharply disagreeing with his arguments and commentary by popular blogger Cal Newport arguing against him. In March 2026, The Wall Street Journal published a second opinion piece by Barr.

In December 2025 he became a major donor of the B612 Foundation.

In April 2026, he raised $4.1 million for Flashpass, led by venture capital firm J2 Ventures. Barr wrote about the process of raising capital in an April 2026 opinion for the Financial Times.

In June 2026, on the day of the SpaceX IPO, Barr argued in an interview with the news agency Reuters that his generation (Generation Z) is being excluded from larger IPOs.