From Side Hustles to First Prop-Firm Payout: Ryan Fuss on Trading Mindset and Playing the Game

From Side Hustles to First Prop-Firm Payout: Ryan Fuss on Trading Mindset and Playing the Game

This time, I welcome Ryan to the TraderDane podcast, where we discuss Ryan’s path as a 21-year-old entrepreneur who left plumbing in favour of car detailing and couch flipping businesses. Ryan became drawn to trading to obtain financial freedom. Ryan describes starting with stock investing and then prop firms, initially failing multiple evals without a clear strategy, struggling with small winners and max-loss losers, and later finding clarity through his friend's introduction to a coaching community and a VWAP-based approach. A major turning point came from reading Tom Hougaard’s The Best Loser Wins, which improved his ability to let winners run and cut losers, leading to his first payout on a 25K account after months of grinding. He now trades a 50K account, emphasizes accountability via a trading community, and advises beginners to slow down, learn market psychology, treat trading like a business, and size up only after consistency. TraderDane on Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/traderdance_/   Top One Futures - Use my code DANE for great discounts on your next prop account! https://toponefutures.com/?linkId=lp_707970&sourceId=jesper-holst&tenantId=toponefutures Tradezella: Journaling software for your trading https://tradezella.com?fpr=jesper46

What actually stands between you and profitability - conversation with Dr. David Bonanno

Jesper hosts the TraderDane podcast, this time with guest Dr. David Bonanno, a clinical psychologist and author of The Consistently Calm Trader (see link below), who has worked in the mental health field since 1993 and served over 17,000 clients. Dr. Bonanno explains how adrenaline activates fight-or-flight, taking the logical brain “offline,” leading to execution problems like FOMO, impulse entries, hesitation, and especially revenge trading. He describes a “robocat” model of two brain systems (logical vs. emotional/instinctive) and argues willpower and rule-making often fail when emotions take over. Drawing from PTSD work, he introduces eye-movement exercises (based on EMDR/REM-like processing) to reduce emotional intensity, separate sadness from anger after losses, and build acceptance to reset faster. We discuss optimal arousal levels, mindset leakage, limits of journaling alone, prop-firm pressure, and coaching as performance support, and share where to find Bonanno via his book, YouTube exercises, and website. If you're interested, you can find Dr Bonanno's 1 on 1 coaching program here http://www.maxdiscipline.com/ or by visiting https://maxdiscipline.com/1on1 to engage. Use my code DANE50 for exclusive discounts on the Max Discipline program! You can find Dr Bonanno's book "The Consistently Calm Trader" here https://www.amazon.com/Consistently-Calm-Trader-Between-Discipline-ebook/dp/B0GCW6HV8D TraderDane on Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/traderdance_/   Top One Futures - Use my code DANE for great discounts on your next prop account! https://toponefutures.com/?linkId=lp_707970&sourceId=jesper-holst&tenantId=toponefutures Tradezella: Journaling software for your trading https://tradezella.com?fpr=jesper46

From Zero to First Prop Firm Payout

In episode eight of the Trader Dane podcast, I explain how I went from knowing nothing about trading to earning my first prop firm payout in under six months after starting my first prop account and about eight months total trading experience. I shares costs and transparency around my journey, including about $320 spent on prop accounts vs a $635 payout, plus additional gear expenses, while noting I am not fully profitable overall. I describe starting with swing trading, then trading CFDs on indices with $1,500 before switching to TradingView paper trading in August 2025, and beginning a 50K challenge on October 1, passing it in January, and then buying a funded account, meeting payout rules by March. I credit community and three months in Austin Silver’s Black Shirt Club coaching program, where I learned to trade primarily using VWAP, and I finish up by discussing scaling via additional accounts while managing mindset and mechanics. TraderDane on Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/traderdance_/   Top One Futures - Use my code DANE for great discounts on your next prop account! https://toponefutures.com/?linkId=lp_707970&sourceId=jesper-holst&tenantId=toponefutures Tradezella: Journaling software for your trading https://tradezella.com?fpr=jesper46

Episode 7 - From engineering and poker to day trading - Trade talk with upcoming day trader Emiel Middel

In TraderDane Episode 7, I sit down with upcoming day trader Emiel Middel who hails from the Netherlands. We dive into his background, how he got into trading while managing a career as a marine surveying engineer and applying his experience with data and analytics to his trading. We also geek out on trading systems and how to apply discretion vs mechanics in trading, before ending up with dreams for the future, and what Emiel sees trading do for his life, as he progresses and gets more payouts and more success. TraderDane on Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/traderdance_/   Top One Futures - Use my code DANE for great discounts on your next prop account! https://toponefutures.com/?linkId=lp_707970&sourceId=jesper-holst&tenantId=toponefutures Tradezella: Journaling software for your trading https://tradezella.com?fpr=jesper46

Episode 6 - How I generate profits in my own trading - A deep dive

Episode 6 - How I generate profits in my own trading - A deep dive Introducing episode six as a deep dive into how I trade, recommending viewers watch on YouTube due to chart markups. I explain using black-on-white candlestick charts to reduce emotional reactions, then detail my core principles: an ASFX “Automatic VWAPs and Key Levels” tool with three VWAPs (yesterday’s NY session, 6:00 PM EST changeover/overnight, and the current NY session anchored at 9:30), plus a 15-minute NY opening range. I describe a VWAP hierarchy led by the current NY session VWAP, using alignment across VWAPs to bias long or short, and preferring entries near VWAP as fair value with confirmation rather than chasing moves. I discuss “handoff” VWAP and low/high-of-day VWAP as lower-probability tools, adds volume profile levels for confluence, and outlines discretionary trade management, including stop placement using multiple resistance levels, scaling out in drawdown, adding to winners, and trailing stops. Enjoy, and feel free to reach out on traderdane@protonmail.com if you have questions or feedback! TraderDane on Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/traderdance_/   Top One Futures - Use my code DANE for great discounts on your next prop account! https://toponefutures.com/?linkId=lp_707970&sourceId=jesper-holst&tenantId=toponefutures Tradezella: Journaling software for your trading https://tradezella.com?fpr=jesper46