Empire

Kalshi CEO’s Bold Vision For The Future of Markets | Tarek Mansour

27 snips
Oct 13, 2025
Tarek Mansour, Co-founder and CEO of Kalshi, shares insights from his journey in launching a regulated prediction markets exchange. He discusses the original vision inspired by his MIT roots and the challenges faced with regulatory bodies like the CFTC. Tarek dives into their recent victory in court, growth metrics with a staggering $40B in annual volume, and the competitive landscape against sportsbooks. He also outlines Kalshi's ambition to become a comprehensive 'everything exchange' and the importance of media partnerships to enhance user engagement.
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INSIGHT

Build For Legitimacy, Not Shortcuts

  • Kalshi's founders aimed to build a regulated, mainstream "everything exchange" rather than an offshore betting site.
  • They believed federal legalization was essential to scale prediction markets into a real financial instrument.
ANECDOTE

YC Hackathon Win Despite Skepticism

  • Tarek and Luana entered a YC hackathon with a prototype and won despite judges calling the idea illegal.
  • YC then admitted them and that early bet led to fundraising and further work on legalization.
INSIGHT

Why Regulation Was Non-Negotiable

  • Financial and healthcare innovations face harsher consequences when things go wrong, so regulation matters more.
  • Kalshi chose to pursue federal approval to avoid long-term illegitimacy and systemic harm.
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