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My story
Juan Mazo: from losing 10 dollars in 10 minutes to teaching people to protect their capital
I didn't start out knowing. I started out losing, just like you. This is my story, mistakes included.
Scroll to readThe journey
How I got here
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Before 2019
Ten dollars, ten minutes
I discovered trading through binary options, with a broker that no longer operates in Colombia. I deposited the 10 dollars I had. On my first trade I made one dollar, and for those seconds I felt my heart was going to jump out of my chest. I made another dollar. Then I lost one, lost another, lost another… and within ten minutes I had nothing left.
But one idea stuck in my head: if it could be won, it could be learned.
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First steps
Learning alone, and two good teachers
I started on my own, watching YouTube videos. Then I was approached by a multi-level marketing scheme whose business was recruiting people so they'd recruit more people. I got tired of it and left: that's not me.
The good part was that I met two very good teachers there, one Mexican and one Colombian, who taught me the basics: support, resistance and trends.
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June 2019
Forex, my first account and another loss
I opened my first TradingView account, a year before the pandemic, and moved to more serious markets: forex and CFDs. I opened my first XTB account with a 30-dollar bonus to get started. Obviously, I lost that too.
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Futures
I found the market I trade today
I started following Marcelo Arrambide, founder of Day Trading Academy in Medellín, and took his course: very good, if heavier going. That's where I discovered the futures market and tick charts. Then I took another futures course with MDC and really started to find my feet.
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The hardest stage
Losing other people's capital
I ended up managing capital for some investors, and at first I lost it because I didn't understand risk management. Depression followed, along with the idea that I wasn't cut out for this. It was the most expensive lesson, and it's why today I teach people to protect their capital first and to make money second.
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The first funded account
My first 2,000 dollars
I focused on futures and got funded with Speed Up Trader, one of the first firms I came across. That's where I made my first withdrawals, around 1,800 to 2,000 dollars. But the firm closed down and I had to start again.
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Today
Funded and teaching
Step by step, I rebuilt. Today I trade funded with Take Profit Trader and The Funded Profit, share my trades through copy trading and guide traders and investors with SPEM Trading Academy, so they don't have to repeat all my mistakes.
My dream
A community trading school for Medellín
From the start I wanted to teach. My dream is to create a community school in my city, and hopefully in others, to teach this skill to young people from Medellín's most vulnerable neighbourhoods. With psychologists supporting them throughout the process, and with the capital to fund them, so that anyone who finishes secondary school and wants to enter this industry can do so and support their family.
And personally, I want to live a calm life with my wife, my future children and my pets: for money to stop being a problem in my life and to give me time to enjoy the people I love. And to help many people make money stop being a problem in theirs.
— Juan Mazo
Credentials
Who I work with
Funded accounts
Currently funded with Take Profit Trader and The Funded Profit. Previously with Speed Up Trader, Alpha Futures and PJ Capital, where I was also a guest speaker.
Partnerships
Partnerships with The Funded Profit, New York Session, Orion Funded, PJ Capital, The5ers and Emerge Profit. iForex partner in Latin America.
Brokers
Introducing broker (IB) for XM, XTB, ATFX and Axi. Invited by Rankia to events with business leaders.
Do you relate to any part of this story?
You don't have to walk the whole path alone. Choose where you want to start.
