Welcome to another edition of Funded Trader Insights, where the FundingTraders community brings you the unfiltered stories of real funded traders turning setbacks into consistent payouts. This month, two very different journeys converge on the same destination: disciplined funded trading, sharper risk management, and the right mindset to keep building. Whether you’re stuck mid-trading challenge, recovering from a blown account, or scaling toward larger accounts, the lessons in this prop firm spotlight will reframe how you think about strategy, psychology, and the daily grind of professional trading. Meet Alexandru Cotologea and Eri Susanto, two traders whose paths to funded accounts look nothing alike but read like the same playbook.
Quick Summary Box
This edition of Funded Trader Insights features Alexandru Cotologea, a four-year market participant who turned chaotic oil-market losses into a disciplined approach grounded in patience, emotional work, and rigorous backtesting; and Eri Susanto, a six-year day trader who treats his trading business with the same seriousness as any company. Both have navigated funded trader programs, leaned on trading journals, and earned funded accounts through methodical execution. They share actionable insights on prop trading, managing emotional triggers, surviving volatility, and finding edges that hold up over time. If you want actionable advice from real traders who earned real capital from a proprietary trading firm, read on.
Trader Alexandru: “Never give up… at some point you will figure it out. It is about the emotions.”
Total Payouts | Duration as a Trader with FundingTraders | # of Accounts Purchased |
|---|---|---|
$697.83 | 17 months | 18 |
Take us back to the start, how did you first step into the trading world, and what was the moment things got real?
I have been trading for 4 years and first I started with WTI when the war started in Ukraine. Bad decision for me in that period.
That period flooded the market with volatility most retail traders weren’t prepared for. What was the biggest mindset shift that finally helped you pass your funded evaluations?
I went to a therapist that helped me guide in the emotions.
A lot of traders crack before they break through. What kept you in the seat during the rough stretches?
How to not stay disciplined.
For someone reading this who is one bad week from quitting, what would you say to them?
Never give up..At some point you will figure out..It is about the emotions.
Walk us through the mechanics, your favorite symbols, the structure of your day, and how you’ve built your edge.
My favorite symbol is the USDJPY pair and EURUSD. My trading style is that I open the trades at the same hours every day and I do a lot of backtesting to collect the data.
Alexandru spent four years building the patience that finally turned a screen full of red into funded payouts. The hard part, the discipline, the routine, the backtested edge, that’s on you. The cost of entry isn’t. Drop FT50 at checkout and your evaluation fee splits clean in half. Half off. Same shot at funded capital. Same rules. Same payouts. Take the 50% and start your challenge.
Trader Eri : “Trading is more like a business, not a get-rich-quick scheme.”
Total Payouts | Duration as a Trader with FundingTraders | # of Accounts Purchased |
|---|---|---|
$2,400 | 18 months | 7 |
Six years is a serious runway in this industry, how did you first find your way to the markets?
I’ve been trading for 6 years. A friend suggested me to learn trading, and I decided to learn using a demo account in my first year.
A lot of traders chase fast wins and lose money in the process. What was the mindset shift that finally clicked for you?
That trading is more like a business, not a get-rich-quick scheme.
So what’s the difference between a trader who blows up accounts and one who runs his desk like a business? Often it isn’t a better signal, it’s a better entry door. For the entire month, code FT50 cuts your trading challenge fee by 50%, the steepest discount FundingTraders runs. Half the cost. Identical access to funded accounts, real capital, and consistent payouts. Lock in 50% off.
You’ve mentioned blowing up accounts on the way to your first funding. What was the turning point that helped you secure funded accounts?
Yes, I blew up several accounts before getting my first funding. Following my trading plan and good risk management made it easier for me to get funding.
Looking back at your costliest lesson, what stands out as the mistake that shaped you most?
Lack of consistency in executing my trading plan and poor risk management.
For someone close to walking away from the trading challenge, what would you say to them?
If you feel like you’re constantly failing when trading, perhaps you just haven’t found your trading edge yet. Keep learning from various sources, backtesting, trial and error, and decide what kind of trader you want to be.
Walk us through your trading strategies, your favorite instruments, your style, and how you trade them in real conditions.
I recommend trading instruments with high volatility, such as EURUSD or GBPUSD. Volatile instruments tend to be less noisy and easier to predict. Keep an eye on economic news that might affect the instruments you trade. I’m a day trader, and I typically use a pullback strategy in trending markets using Fibonacci rectracement. If you use a strategy like mine, your results may be different, but with continued learning, little by little, you will have your own trading edge.
Lessons from Two Funded Traders
Alexandru and Eri walked very different paths to these Funded Trader Insights, but they arrived at the same playbook: structured risk management, consistent execution, honest trading journals, and a refusal to quit when the equity curve dipped. One leaned on therapy and daily loss limits built into a fixed routine; the other rebuilt from blown accounts by treating the desk like a job and the plan like a contract. Both will tell you the same thing, no two traders are created equal, but the process is shared. Build confidence through repetition. Backtest until you trust your edge. Manage risk like the rules are non-negotiable, because they are.
That’s the formula every successful trader at any prop firm eventually internalizes, risk management is the key, consistency outperforms intensity, and the right mindset is the difference between passing an evaluation and watching your funded trading account get closed. FundingTraders exists to give committed traders the tools, transparent rules, educational resources, and supportive community to convert that discipline into real capital, and to keep growth going toward larger accounts and consistent payouts.
If you’ve been backtesting setups, journaling emotional triggers, and refining your edge in silence, whether on the London session open or on range bound afternoons, it’s time to put that work in front of a proprietary trading firm built around traders, not against them. The next set of funded trader insights could be yours.
Stop watching other traders cash payouts you could be earning. FT50 is the one promo we genuinely don’t repeat, 50% off your trading challenge, no asterisks, no fine print, no inflated targets. Same on-ramp Alexandru and Eri took. Half the entry cost. Use code FT50 at checkout and start your evaluation today.
Disclaimer: Trading involves significant risk and is not suitable for every investor. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. All account rules, payout structures, profit splits, and promotional offers described in this article are subject to change at the discretion of FundingTraders. Promo codes may expire or be modified without prior notice. Always trade responsibly and only risk what you can afford to lose.
