Failed in trading but still in the business :)

Hi,

My story may sound familar to anyone with software development background.

I’m an experienced software engineer with 20+ years in the market, mostly trading my own products. Unemployeable since 2003, when I launched my first successful venture.

I came into the market with an idea of becoming a consistently profitable trader in few weeks, then develop some tools for personal use which may become great products over time. But I soon found that I can’t be a trader and a software developer at the same time. Trading is about earning screen time but I always missed every hour without coding.

I almost gave up, when I got support from active traders I met along the way. The solution was to focus on what I’m good at. Not trying to become a trader but rather developing products for other traders. It seems like a failure but it was the answer for me personally.

I’m still at the beginning of the journey, my first product (Forex simulation software) isn’t perfect yet but it’s evolving really fast. I hope to make it the best product on the market in the next 3-6 months.

I came here to learn from successful traders, to help them make their work more effective, profitable and fun. It will be great to get any feedback: ideas, suggestions, feature requests and bug reports.

I can also help others who are following the same route. With my 20+ years in software business there is a lot to share.

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Welcome @MaxPastukhov, from a fellow software developer and trader. I agree, being a developer and also a trader is not easy. I have found a way to make it work by trading higher timeframes, but I am looking forward to making a transition someday from fulltime developer/parttime trader to fulltime trader/parttime developer.

I hope to see you around the forums!

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Thank you for support :slight_smile:

I initially planned to do the same, I even switched to trading on H4 or higher but it still distracted me from other types of work. When I’m in the market, even if it’s a relatively long-term position, it’s hard to resist checking it from time to time or thinking about it. I’m not a Caesar to do 2 tasks at the same time :slight_smile:

Finally, I almost gave up. I even tried to sell what I’ve developed so far for pennies and move away. But then, when I discussed it with other traders, I found that it will be better to just focus on one task and accept that I will never become a full-time trader. And, as we all know, “part-time” traders don’t exist :slight_smile:

For me the answer may be in investing, not in day trading or even long-term trading. I would better invest into real estate, or into some index funds.

Anyway, I feel that I made the right decision.

As for being in this forum for a long time, I’m not sure yet. Speaking honestly, forum interface looks confusing to me. Maybe if I will find more people like you, I would stay. Anyway, I will read it for some time to see if it may be of any value for me.

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I have just understood what makes me feel uncomfortable here, maybe admins will work on it in the future:

When I’m here, I don’t feel as a part of a community. Maybe it seemed like a good idea to develop a custom forum engine, then add various bells and whistles like chat robot or two-side markdown editor but I see no focus on building relationships.

I can’t explain what’s the difference, but when I’m at EliteTrader or even at Trade2Win, which is way less popular, I feel like I’m in the room with others. I don’t feel the same here. Maybe there are some hot disussions going around, but they are somewhere far, far away :slight_smile:

No worries, it ebs and flows here! There are a lot of category and sub-category forums so if you look around you will always find something that was posted recently.

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That’s a great story! Keeping your newbie trader mindset can help your business because it makes you able to think of good tools helping other not-yet-successful traders.

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Thank you!

You are literally reading my mind :slight_smile:

I made a huge mistake in my first business: instead of listening to my customers I tried to enforce my view of the product. Only after I gave up and started to follow users’ suggestions and listen to their criticism, I finally managed to develop a great piece of software and make big money out of it.

This time I decided not to try to become an “expert”. I would rather stay a “newbie” which is the only way to stay open to other people ideas.

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Good, always listen to your customer, they are the the one who are gonna make you successful.

Great. Thank you for sharing out your story of such a mixed situations. This experienced post might be very helpful in two ways:

  1. for peeps who are struggling to choose one of two jobs or even part-time.
  2. for you to meet the same-situation people who have overcame such.

I think, if you’re here for the very first time, only robot notices. But I request you to interact more with us where we can know you better just like you made your first post here. I’m also new here few months ago, but I find it very friendly forum.

Feel free to share anything, if not trading, try others like lobby. There is even a funny thread like “Forex gives me Beautiful Wife and Money, yes?:laughing:
Stay around Max.

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Thank you for support :slight_smile:

I need to get used to this forum engine first, I feel that it will take some time:)

Great story @MaxPastukhov.

Of course it’s not a failure, actually that’s quite an achievement because you found the perfect niche for yourself. Do you realize how many people are striving to achieve this and some of them never succeed?
I think that developing products for traders can help you stay in shape with the trading matter. And I agree with the others that you should always listen to your clients and try to deliver as much as you can, after all they help you stay in business.

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Thank you, Sebastiano.

I hope I found it earler. It was hard to make the decision, but it was absolutely worth it. I’m back to my development-oriented state of mind, the progress is great and I’m absolutely happy :slight_smile:

I do realize how many people actually struggle because I’m researching the market at the moment, reading a lot of dead threads of people who spent 10-20 years of their lives on this thing. Some of them became profitable at the end, but it was still not enough compared to their day job income.

I also know that there are plenty of profitable traders as well. But they have a different state of mind: most of them enjoyed risk and gambling, playing with numbers and patterns from their early childhood. Some of them had great background or occasional occupations in the niche which gave them early competitive advantage. It’s hard to become yet another Warren Buffet if you didn’t enjoy collecting bottle caps in a school or making your friends go to a cold pond for pennies. “Snowball” is fun and eye-opening, highly recommend it.

Honestly speaking, I can’t remember even a single successful trader without some background in the niche: contacts, previous jobs, friends, family, etc. This niche is really hard for outsiders, I feel. Strangers need to spend half of their lives just to reach the starting level of insiders. If I’m wrong, point me to a person with a proven track record who came into the business outside and reached success in a few years :slight_smile:

I’m not negative about chances of becoming successful in the niche, you just need to be the right person for the job. It’s the first question somebody should ask before getting into it. It’s not about money, it’s about fun from the process of learning and experiments, winning and losing itself.

As for “staying in shape”: even if I find some easy way to trade, I will still stay away from it. I like to develop products and I feel that if I try to spread my attention, I will fail in both areas. Sitting on two chairs never worked for me.

I’m a strong advocate of focusing on on thing, in all areas of our lives. It’s better to become the best in a small niche than being “An Average Joe”.

Pls I need help, can I be ur friend

Thanks for sharing your story here @MaxPasstukhov. It is interesting and encouraging to read other people’s experiences. I believe it broadens your horizons. It’s good thing you did listening to your customers’ suggestions. As you know customer is the king. They can give you nice ideas too. I am sure in time you’ll be able to develop products the way you want which will be liked by you customers also. Good luck! :slight_smile::blush: