Sourcery Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour - The Future of Free Markets
Feb 28, 2025
Tarek Mansour, Co-founder and CEO of Kalshi, shares insights from his journey in creating a regulated prediction market. He discusses the shift of prediction markets into mainstream finance and their potential to rival traditional investments. Tarek dives into the unique regulatory challenges he faced, including a surprising lawsuit against the government. He emphasizes the distinction between gambling and investing, and envisions a future where trading on real-world events becomes accessible to everyone, touching on everything from politics to sports.
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Kalshi's Unexpected Journey
- Tarek Mansour didn't envision the challenges of starting Kalshi, finding it much harder than anticipated.
- Growing up in Lebanon with limited exposure to technology and learning English through SAT prep, his journey has been unexpected.
Prediction Markets' Potential
- Prediction markets could rival the stock market because they cater to broader interests.
- People understand real-world events better than complex financial instruments.
Regulatory Hurdles
- Getting Kalshi regulated was brutal, a torturous process with no customers or progress.
- Driven by a missionary zeal for prediction markets, Tarek and Luana persevered despite the psychological toll.