20VC: Lessons from Alfred Lin and Ron Conway | Why the World Does Not Want Your Startup To Exist and How the Best Founders Fight It | How To Build Moats and Defensibility Against Large Incumbents with Tarek Mansour, Founder & CEO @ Kalshi

Tarek Mansour, founder and CEO of Kalshi, discusses the origins and vision for his event-based trading exchange. Mansour details his transition from a math-focused student to a Wall Street trader, highlighting his realization of inefficiencies in bundled financial products as the impetus for creating Kalshi. He emphasizes the need for founders to possess an "outlier attribute" to overcome market resistance, particularly in heavily regulated spaces. The conversation explores the balance between naivety and experience, favoring the former when coupled with intelligence and a willingness to learn. Mansour also shares his perspective on venture capital, suggesting that an over-reliance on selling within the startup ecosystem resembles a Ponzi scheme, and underscores the importance of investors providing genuine support beyond financial contributions.