How to Get a Job at Akuna Capital

Akuna Capital is a proprietary trading firm headquartered in Chicago, founded in 2011 by Andrew Killion. Despite its relative youth compared to firms like Jump or SIG, Akuna has grown rapidly into a significant player in the options and derivatives trading space. The firm specializes in options market making, providing liquidity across equity options, index options, and commodity derivatives on exchanges in the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

Akuna's core business involves continuously quoting bid and ask prices for thousands of options contracts, profiting from the spread while managing the complex risk exposures that arise from options positions. This requires sophisticated models for options pricing, volatility estimation, and Greeks management — the firm builds proprietary systems that price options in real time, compute risk sensitivities, and automate hedging decisions. Akuna's technology stack is built primarily in Python and C++, with Python used extensively for research, modeling, and strategy development, and C++ powering the firm's low-latency execution systems.

What sets Akuna apart from larger competitors is its focus on growth, innovation, and talent development. The firm has invested heavily in building one of the strongest campus recruiting pipelines in the industry, hiring dozens of interns and new graduates each year from top universities. Akuna trades across multiple product classes and continually expands into new markets. With offices in Chicago (headquarters), Sydney, and Shanghai, the firm is smaller than giants like Citadel Securities or Optiver but offers the advantages of a fast-growing company: more responsibility earlier in your career, faster advancement, and the opportunity to have visible impact on the firm's direction.

Akuna Capital's culture reflects its identity as a young, rapidly growing firm: energetic, competitive, and collaborative. The average age at Akuna skews younger than many competitors, and the firm deliberately cultivates a dynamic atmosphere where new ideas are welcome and hierarchies are relatively flat. New hires — including interns — are given meaningful responsibilities early and are expected to contribute to real projects from their first weeks on the job.

The firm places enormous emphasis on its internship and new graduate programs. Akuna's "Acorn" internship program is one of the most well-known in quantitative finance, bringing in dozens of students each summer to work alongside full-time traders and developers. The firm invests heavily in training, running structured educational programs that cover options theory, trading strategies, Python programming, and the firm's proprietary systems. This investment in early-career talent means that Akuna's culture is shaped by a constant influx of smart, motivated young people — creating an environment that's intellectually stimulating but also social and team-oriented.

The work environment at Akuna is fast-paced but generally less intense than the most pressure-cooker firms in the industry. The firm values work-life balance and offers competitive benefits, regular social events, and a collaborative office space in Chicago's business district. Teams are organized around specific product classes or technology areas, and there's significant interaction between traders, developers, and quantitative researchers. Performance is measured and rewarded — bonuses are tied to individual and team profitability — but the culture emphasizes learning and growth alongside results. Many employees describe Akuna as a place where you can develop deep expertise in options trading while working with people who are both talented and genuinely enjoyable to be around.

Akuna Capital's hiring criteria reflect its focus on options trading and its emphasis on developing talent early in their careers. For trading roles, the firm looks for candidates with strong probability intuition, options pricing knowledge, and quick quantitative thinking. The ideal trading candidate can reason about uncertainty, compute expected values rapidly, and demonstrate an intuitive understanding of how options prices relate to the underlying factors — volatility, time decay, interest rates, and the underlying asset's price.

For software development roles, Akuna seeks candidates with strong Python skills — the firm uses Python extensively for its trading systems, research infrastructure, and internal tools. C++ proficiency is also valued for performance-critical systems. The firm looks for developers who can write clean, efficient code, design well-architected systems, and work effectively with traders and researchers to translate requirements into software. Experience with financial applications is a plus but not required — Akuna will teach you the domain.

Across all roles, Akuna evaluates candidates on their intellectual curiosity, communication skills, and cultural fit. The firm values people who are eager to learn, who ask thoughtful questions, and who work well in collaborative team settings. A background in competitive programming, math competitions, or quantitative research demonstrates the kind of problem-solving ability Akuna values, but the firm also considers candidates from diverse backgrounds who show aptitude and motivation. Because Akuna invests so heavily in training and development, they place significant weight on growth potential — the ability to learn quickly and improve over time — alongside current skill level.

Akuna Capital's interview process typically consists of 3 to 5 rounds conducted over 3 to 5 weeks. The process is structured to evaluate quantitative aptitude, technical skills, and cultural fit, with the specific focus depending on whether you're applying for a trading, development, or quantitative research role. Akuna is known for a relatively efficient and well-organized interview process, reflecting the firm's experience with high-volume campus recruiting.

The general structure is as follows:

• Online assessment (1 round): For trading roles, this typically includes a mental math speed test (similar to the Optiver 80-in-8) and probability/options pricing questions. For development roles, expect a timed coding challenge in Python or C++ with algorithmic problems. These assessments serve as an initial filter on quantitative speed and technical ability.
• Phone screen (1-2 rounds): A 30-60 minute conversation with a trader, developer, or recruiter. For trading applicants, expect probability brainteasers, options pricing scenarios, and questions about your understanding of markets. For developers, expect technical questions about Python, data structures, and system design. The phone screen also assesses communication skills and enthusiasm for the role.
• On-site / virtual final round (2-3 rounds): Multiple interviews at Akuna's Chicago office or conducted virtually. Trading candidates face probability puzzles, market-making simulations, and options pricing exercises. Developer candidates face coding challenges, system design discussions, and technical deep-dives. Both tracks include a behavioral/cultural fit component.

Akuna's interviews are challenging but generally described as fair and well-structured. Interviewers are trained to evaluate candidates consistently, and the firm provides clear expectations about what each round will cover. The pace of quantitative questions is important — Akuna tests not just whether you can solve problems but how quickly and confidently you solve them, reflecting the speed demands of real-time options trading.

Each stage of the Akuna Capital interview is designed to test competencies directly relevant to the firm's options trading business. Here is what you will encounter:

Mental Math and Speed: Trading candidates will face timed arithmetic tests early in the process. These may include rapid multiplication, division, percentage calculations, and fraction-to-decimal conversions. Speed matters significantly — Akuna traders need to compute prices and Greeks in their heads during fast-moving markets. Practice with Zetamac and similar tools until you're consistently fast and accurate. Aim for at least 50+ correct answers on a 2-minute Zetamac test.

Probability and Expected Value: Core probability concepts are tested throughout the process. Expect questions involving dice, cards, coins, conditional probability, Bayes' theorem, and expected value calculations. Akuna places particular emphasis on problems that mirror options trading decisions: What's the expected payoff of this position? What's the probability of this option expiring in-the-money? Should you take this bet given the odds? Practice articulating your reasoning clearly and checking your work with sanity estimates.

Options Pricing and Greeks: For trading roles, you'll need to demonstrate understanding of how options are priced and how their values change with market conditions. Know Black-Scholes intuitively (not just the formula), understand put-call parity, and be able to reason about how delta, gamma, theta, and vega affect a portfolio. You might be asked: "I'm short 100 calls with delta 0.5 and gamma 0.02 — the stock moves up $2. What's my new delta exposure?" Quick, accurate answers demonstrate readiness for real trading.

Market Making Simulations: Some interviews include a simulated market-making exercise where you must quote bid and ask prices for options or other securities. You'll receive information about market conditions and must update your quotes in real time. Key skills: managing your spread width based on uncertainty, adjusting for inventory risk, and incorporating new information without overreacting. Staying calm and systematic under the pressure of a simulation is as important as getting the math right.

Coding (Developer Track): Development candidates face Python-heavy coding interviews covering data structures, algorithms, and practical programming tasks. You might be asked to implement a pricing model, build a data pipeline, or solve algorithmic challenges. Akuna values clean, Pythonic code with good structure and error handling. Familiarity with pandas, NumPy, and asyncio is helpful.

Options pricing theory is the foundation of everything at Akuna Capital. Whether you're applying for a trading or development role, a solid understanding of derivatives will set you apart from candidates who only know generic probability.

Start with "Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives" by John Hull — the industry standard textbook. Focus on chapters covering options mechanics, the binomial model, Black-Scholes-Merton, and the Greeks. Don't just memorize formulas — develop intuition for how option prices behave. Understand why an at-the-money option has the highest gamma, why theta accelerates near expiration, and how implied volatility skew reflects market expectations.

Supplement with "Option Volatility and Pricing" by Sheldon Natenberg, which is the go-to book for options traders and provides a more practical, trading-oriented perspective. Practice computing option prices by hand using the binomial model, and make sure you can explain put-call parity and use it to derive relationships between puts, calls, and the underlying. For Akuna's interviews specifically, focus on scenarios that test your ability to quickly estimate how a position's risk profile changes with market moves — these "what happens to my Greeks if..." questions are extremely common.

Speed and accuracy in quantitative reasoning are gatekeeping skills at Akuna — if you can't compute quickly, you won't make it past the online assessment, regardless of your other qualifications.

For mental math, establish a daily practice routine using Zetamac, Arithmetic.zetamac.com, or similar tools. Practice timed arithmetic: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of numbers up to three digits. Set a baseline and aim to improve by 10-20% over a month of consistent practice. Key shortcuts to master: multiplying by numbers near 100 (e.g., 97 x 43 = 100 x 43 - 3 x 43), converting fractions to decimals quickly, and computing percentages mentally.

For probability, work through "Fifty Challenging Problems in Probability" by Mosteller and the probability sections of "A Practical Guide to Quantitative Finance Interviews" (the green book). Focus on problems involving expected value, conditional probability, and Bayesian updating — these appear constantly in Akuna interviews. Practice solving problems quickly (aim for under 3 minutes per problem) and explaining your reasoning out loud. Trading-specific probability questions are particularly important: "If a stock has a 60% chance of going up $2 and a 40% chance of going down $3, what's the fair price of an at-the-money call?" Build fluency with these kinds of applied probability calculations until they feel automatic.

Akuna's interviews often include market-making exercises that test your ability to apply quantitative reasoning under the pressure of real-time decision-making. These simulations are difficult to prepare for through textbook study alone — you need practice with the dynamic, interactive format.

Start by understanding the fundamentals of market making: how to set a bid-ask spread based on your uncertainty about fair value, how to adjust prices based on your inventory position, and how to incorporate new information (trades, news, price movements) into your estimates. Read the market-making chapters in "Trading and Exchanges" by Larry Harris and practice simple simulations with a partner: one person announces events ("a buyer takes your offer," "volatility estimate increases by 5%") and you adjust your quotes accordingly.

Online trading simulations and mock interview platforms can help build the confidence and speed you need. Practice maintaining a P&L in your head while quoting, and develop the discipline to stay within your risk limits even when the game gets hectic. Key principles to internalize: wider spreads when you're uncertain, skew your quotes to manage inventory, and never chase losses by widening desperately. The goal in a simulation isn't to make the most money — it's to demonstrate rational, disciplined decision-making. Akuna interviewers are evaluating your process as much as your outcomes.

The best preparation for Akuna's interviews is to simulate the experience as closely as possible. Mock interviews help you build fluency in explaining your reasoning under pressure and develop the confidence to tackle unfamiliar problems without freezing.

Find a practice partner — ideally someone also preparing for trading firm interviews — and run through common Akuna-style questions: options pricing scenarios, probability puzzles, mental math speed rounds, and market-making simulations. Alternate between being the interviewer and the candidate, and give each other honest feedback on clarity, speed, and reasoning quality. Practice thinking out loud throughout every problem — Akuna interviewers need to hear your thought process to evaluate you fairly.

Books like "Heard on the Street" and "A Practical Guide to Quantitative Finance Interviews" provide a foundation, but for firm-specific preparation, Quant Blueprint's coaching program is the most effective — our mentors are current Tier 1 quant traders and researchers who know exactly what firms like Akuna test for. Pay special attention to questions that combine probability with options knowledge: "What's the expected P&L of a short straddle if the stock moves according to...?" Complete at least 8-10 mock interviews before your actual Akuna interviews, covering mental math, probability, options, and market making in various sessions. Track your improvement over time and focus on areas where you're slowest or least confident.