After the ban…
…on the money-based gaming websites, Probo, then the top Indian prediction market app, had shut down. Entire team, albeit the 5 of us, was let go.
We tried to figure out what lies next in Probo's chapter?

We wanted to carry forward the vision of Probo.


Probo was originally conceived as a social-network, built for the insight-first consumer.

What if we could re-create this social network of predictions, without money?

Prediction Markets reward insights, but are money based, which:

  • Tends to be financially risky (hence, the ban)
  • Limits the scale for the masses who prefer non-money social networks

What is the issue with current social networks, you ask?

We wanted to solve social network that stands for:




SCALE + SIGNAL
I designed this new avatar around a new identity, called KAL.KI, to foster discussions, insight generation
It was AI-native product. You could just type in your question and it would create a trade-able contract.
Not just that, Kal.ki could also self-create contracts of trending topics on X, Facebook and elsewhere.
But, here was the #1 problem…
Trade placement was the #1 complication for users

So I tried at least 50 versions
Nothing worked.
I would talk to students and one after the other, all ~50 were rejected. Was I looking at the problem the wrong way?

We re-wired our trading model.
Biggest learning here? Our own mind shift needed to get out of Probo-mental model. We were targesting a different audience (GenZ), different content strategy (UGC) and Kalki needed a fresh perspective.

Problem #2: Not enough trades were happening
I redesigned the way content was being consumed
This time, only 1 market would be in-focus
Like reels, one content at a time. This was also needed because of UGC, the quanta of new markets being created per day were less, therefore a scroll based feed (think X) would not work for Kalki.
I also made the entire app like a TV, dark theme on top and bottom, just the centre content is highlighted.
With single card per view layout, we could control what next to show to the user
Biggest impact
Trades per session went up ⬆️




This redesigned version showed promise.

But…
The second raid had put a strain on the funds, that reduced our runway needed.
Kalki remains a dream
Pilot with BITS Pilani campus with ~250 students, over 5 months taught us a lot
The young India wants substance, doesn't believe everything at face value. There's a reason why brands now invest so much into their story, their 'why' instead of just paying up any influencers.
I hope that this wave of credibility based influencer-ship stays strong.
That, is the true essence of Kalki.
Here's to the Pandavas of Kalki




Human intuition is an untapped resource
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