‘Start Out Small and Don’t Expect Much’- David Capablanca’s Advice to Beginning Traders

Financial trading has built an image of being a fast-paced industry where everyone involved is doing big numbers for themselves as well as their investors. Although this may be true of veteran traders, there is a lot of research and experience that goes into hitting big numbers. This is a fact that many beginning traders are not aware of as they step into the world of trading.

David Capablanca, an architect-turned-trader has keenly identified this impatient trait of wanting immediate success in beginning traders. After receiving his Master’s in Architecture from UCLA he realized that his true passion lay in financial trading and decided to switch fields in his thirties. Today, he is the founder of Friendly Bear Research and hosts The Friendly Bear Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all other major audio outlets.

Before jumping into trading he studied thoroughly and researched market behavior for three and a half years putting in countless hours on a daily basis to the task. Since then, using his knowledge and experience he has climbed the professional ladder to become one of the top all-time verified short sellers on Kinfo, a trade verification service. Moreover, he has interviewed financial market legends such as Jack Schwager and many current top traders from around the world on his podcast platform.

Based on everything he has learned over the years; David has lots of insight to share with those just starting out in the field. Talking about his personal philosophy, he says, “I focus on getting better with self-awareness and learning as much as I can every day while always remaining open like a sponge no matter how successful I get or how much my accounts go up. I realize that there are infinite levels to trading and if I want to gain mastery, I must focus on performing at a higher frequency and improving myself by 1% every day.”

David’s advice for beginning traders is to ‘start small’. “This is the hardest part because, as human beings, we are greedy and selfish and think we are the exception and want to make money right away,” he expanded on his statement. “The more you can put aside this trait of greed and dedicate yourself to the bigger picture of mastering a craft over 3-5 years, just as any other serious profession, the higher the odds that you will succeed.”

Additionally, he shared that staying in the game and gaining screen time is essential. Steadily gaining experience is the most important thing — this, according to David, is the key to success in the field.

“Unfortunately, less than 5% who set out to do so do it successfully,” he commented on why the success rate of beginners was so low. “You may not make money in the beginning, but aim at cutting your losses, show up every day and put in your share of work. The mantra of success is to improve daily,” David Capablanca added.

David also believes that your prowess is impacted by how you choose to live your life as a whole — not just by what you do at the trading desk. This is what he did with his own journey and he encourages newer traders to work on their lives outside of trading as well. He believes that the need for this starts even before they enter the profession. Planning and working towards self-improvement in all areas is what he believes will set them up for success.

“I have learned a lot about how emotions and financial markets correlate. I’ve learned to be able to take in information, dissect it and reflect on how the masses are manipulated by it in order to use that as information for trading. I’ve learned that the more I work on myself and self-improve the more I improve as a trader and am able to get closer to my overall goals. This, I believe is what every new trader should do,” David said, sharing parting wisdom with us.