Kalshi’s CEO says his company’s rivalry with Polymarket has parallels to two sets of sporting legends.
In an episode of the “20VC” podcast released on Monday, Tarek Mansour explained how prediction market rival Polymarket has encouraged his company to work harder.
“What I’m learning over time is that an industry truly becomes an industry when there’s a rivalry, because that rivalry will push you beyond the limits of what you thought you could get to,” Mansour said.
He compared the companies to National Football League quarterbacks Tom Brady and Eli Manning.
“When Tom Brady kind of reflected on that back in the day, he’s like, ‘You know, we were like the most ferocious on the field, and we fought each other,'” Mansour said. “But then over time, he became grateful for that because he realized that without Manning being in there and vice versa, he would have never achieved what he achieved.”
“I think that’s happening in prediction markets,” he added.
Kalshi, founded in 2018, lets users bet on the outcome of events such as elections, sports matches, and economic indicators. Last week, it announced partnerships with media giants CNN and CNBC, and said that it raised $1 billion at a valuation of $11 billion.
Polymarket, its blockchain-enabled competitor, was founded in 2020 and offers similar services. It was last valued at $13.5 billion in November, per PitchBook.
The popularity of prediction platforms has exploded since a legal victory for Kalshi in the US last fall. Now, users can bet on questions ranging from the popularity of Labubu dolls to Elon Musk’s net worth.
Last year, Mansour said in an interview that his employees asked social media influencers to promote memes about an FBI raid on the home of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan. On Monday’s podcast, Mansour called the move a “mistake” and said he “made clear to the team: ‘Don’t ever do this again.'”
Mansour also compared the two companies to soccer stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and said that it was not a coincidence that the two “greatest” players exist in the same era.
“Without Polymarket, we wouldn’t have pushed our marketing and pushed our product as hard,” he said. “That sort of infighting is going to push both of us to scale this industry and reach heights that we honestly wouldn’t have been able to otherwise, which long-term is actually net positive for the customer.”
Polymarket did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment about Mansour’s comparisons.
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