EO StudioThis Ex-Quant Had to Quit Wall Street to Build a 24/7 Stock Exchange | QFEX, Annanay Kapila
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- April 21, 2026
- Duration
- 11m
- Channel
- EO Studio
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Annanay Kapila ran trading strategies that moved $10 billion a day, roughly the GDP of France. He walked away from it all to build QFEX, the 24/7 global stock exchange he always wished existed. In this interview, Annanay opens up about:
- Why high-frequency trading "adds no value to the world," and how firms quietly extract billions through structural flaws like scheduled futures expiry
- The "golden handcuffs" that keep Cambridge mathematicians and Math Olympiad medalists trapped in finance
- How FTX's product innovation (not its fraud) pushed him to rebuild traditional exchanges from scratch
- The disaster during YC's internal launch that made him question whether a 24/7 exchange was even possible
- Why Silicon Valley investors think about money completely differently from London and New York
Watch to see how a Cambridge mathematician left a career designed to make him rich in order to build something he can one day tell his kids about. 00:00 Intro 01:07 Money is Killing the Best Talent on This Planet 01:50 How HFT Really Makes Money 03:14 The Golden Handcuffs of Big Paychecks 04:09 But You Need Money to Chase What Matters 05:10 Leaving a Top Hedge Fund Job 06:10 Build Something Worth Telling Your Grandkids 07:10 The Exchange Launch That Almost Broke Us 08:30 Raising at a $95M Pre-Revenue Valuation 09:10 Silicon Valley vs London: A Different Money Mindset 09:49 What's Actually Broken in Traditional Markets 10:45 Advice to Young People in High-Paying Jobs 🔗 Read the full transcription of Annanay’s interview: https://www.eomag.io/article/qfex-annanay-kapila?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description #YCombinator #highfrequencytrading #quanttrading EO stands for Entrepreneur& Opportunities. As we're looking to feature more inspiring stories of entrepreneurs all over the world, don't hesitate to contact us at partner@eoeoeo.net Newsletter | https://www.eomag.io/subscribe?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description LinkedIn | @EO STUDIO X | @eostudi0
SPEAKERS
Annanay Kapila
guestFormer high-frequency trading quant and founder of QFEX, building a 24/7 stock exchange.
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of EO Studio, featuring Annanay Kapila, This Ex-Quant Had to Quit Wall Street to Build a 24/7 Stock Exchange | QFEX, Annanay Kapila explores ex-quant leaves HFT to build a fair 24/7 exchange Kapila argues that high-frequency trading profits largely come from exploiting structural market design flaws rather than creating meaningful societal value.
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