One Prop Trader a Day - Meet Sebastián Romero Julio: He Took Eight Months to Pass, On Purpose

A I'm Sebastián Romero Julio, 28 years old, from Chile. I'm an Industrial Civil Engineer, a registered financial advisor with the Chilean Financial Market Commission, and I hold a Master's degree in Investments and Applied Finance. I started in the markets by trading derivatives such as CFDs and futures, with exposure to forex, indices and crypto. Over the years my approach has evolved, and today I see myself more as an investor and swing trader specialized in stock picking. My current focus is almost entirely on stocks: I like to analyze companies, understand their business, and build investment theses by combining fundamental analysis, macroeconomic context and technical analysis.

A I became a funded trader in 2024, after passing my first evaluation. It took me around eight months to complete it, mainly because I decided to take it slowly and not force the process. The biggest change for me was discipline. A funded account forces you to respect rules, manage risk properly, and understand that you cannot trade it the same way you would trade your own capital. Over time, I also learned the limitations of the prop firm world, especially when your natural style is more focused on stocks and swing trading.

A When I became a funded trader for the first time, I felt a mix of satisfaction, relief and personal validation. It was not just about passing a challenge; it was about proving to myself that I could follow a plan for several months, respect strict rules, and stay disciplined even when the process felt slow. It also made me see trading from a more professional perspective. It was no longer only about having good market ideas, but about executing them under limits, pressure and clear rules.

A In my first evaluation, it was not a story of failing many times. It was actually my first challenge, and it took me around eight months to pass because I decided to take it slowly and not put pressure on myself. Today, I see funded accounts differently. I understand they cannot be traded the same way as personal capital, because they come with specific rules, limits and barriers. So nowadays I do fail evaluations, but I see it as part of the process, and I maintain an approximate pass rate of around 40%. What keeps me going is discipline, risk management, and understanding each funded account as a different environment, not simply as an extension of my personal portfolio.

A My lowest point came early in my journey, when I had a significant loss in crypto. It hit me hard, because it made me question whether I should really continue in the markets or not. But over time, I understood that this loss became one of my most important lessons. It forced me to take trading seriously, look for proper education, find better sources of learning, and understand that trading is not just about making quick money, but about developing a method, risk management and emotional control.

A Yes, absolutely. I think almost every trader goes through that at some point. In my early years, I experienced stress, overtrading and self-doubt, especially after significant losses or when I tried to recover losses too quickly. Over time, I realized that the problem was not only technical, but emotional. You can have a good market idea, but if you do not control risk, position sizing and your impulses, you end up making poor decisions. Today, I try to trade in a much more structured way, with less anxiety and more patience. The biggest improvement was to stop chasing every move and focus only on opportunities that truly fit my plan.

A Today, my style is much more focused on swing trading and stock picking in equities. I mainly work with daily and weekly timeframes because I prefer to build ideas with more context instead of relying too much on intraday noise. My process starts by looking for interesting companies through fundamental analysis: business quality, growth, margins, cash flow, debt, valuation and overall financial strength. Then I combine that with macroeconomic and business-cycle context to understand whether the environment supports certain sectors. Finally, I use technical analysis to define entry areas, risk management and potential exits. When trading funded accounts, I adapt the execution to their rules and limitations, but my main edge today is more related to stocks, swing trading and a broader market view.

A My routine is not about looking for entries all day, but I do spend a large part of my day in front of the screens. I read news, look for potential catalysts, follow earnings, review the macroeconomic context, and search for companies that could enter my radar. Then I review my portfolio, open positions and watchlist. When I find a company with potential, I go deeper into its fundamentals and, if the opportunity justifies it, I build a valuation to estimate whether the current price offers enough margin of safety. Since my approach is more focused on swing trading in stocks, I mainly work with daily and weekly charts. Most of the work happens before the chart: understanding the company, the context, and whether there is a real thesis behind the trade. Today, I value patience much more than constant activity.

A At first, not everyone really understood what I was doing. Many people associate trading with gambling, quick money or something extremely risky, and I think that is normal because the industry is often presented that way. A little over a year ago, I started sharing part of my analysis, stock entries and exits through an Instagram broadcast channel (@sromero.j). At the beginning, it was more like a personal trading journal, but today there are around 150 people interested in the content. Everything I share there is free, and it has been interesting to see how some people have started to better understand the importance of investing, managing a portfolio and making more informed decisions. Some have even asked me for personalized advice or help with their own portfolios.

A Trading has had a big impact on my lifestyle, but not in the typical way people show online with cars, travel or easy freedom. For me, the biggest impact has been mental and professional. It changed the way I understand risk, patience, decision-making and my relationship with money. It also pushed me to build my professional life around investing, financial education, advisory work, and projects related to technology applied to financial markets. Today, a large part of my day revolves around reading, analyzing companies, following markets and looking for opportunities. It is a demanding lifestyle, but it is also very aligned with what I truly enjoy doing.

A What motivates me the most is that markets constantly force you to improve. You never stop learning: cycles change, companies change, macroeconomics changes, liquidity changes, and you also change as an investor. Today, this goes far beyond trading itself. I also work in financial advisory and financial education, teach a university elective on financial markets, and participate in projects related to technology applied to investing, including predictive models, machine learning and AI-based tools. For me, investing and trading are not only about seeking returns, but also about understanding the world better and helping others make better financial decisions.

A I would tell him not to be in such a hurry. Trading is not about making money quickly, but about surviving long enough to learn properly. I would also tell him to take risk management much more seriously from day one. A good trade can make you money, but poor risk management can take you out of the game. At the beginning, you want to find the perfect strategy, but over time you understand that the most important thing is to build a process, control your emotions, and accept that not every opportunity is for you.

A The first thing I would do is not rush. With a large funded account, the priority is not to prove how much you can make quickly, but to protect the account, understand its rules and adapt to its environment. During the first seven days, I would review the drawdown limits, payout conditions, available assets, trading hours, commissions and restrictions. Then I would trade with very controlled position sizing, adjusting it gradually depending on how I adapt to the account, market volatility and the quality of the opportunities. If a clear opportunity appears and it fits my plan, I would take it. If not, I would wait. Those first days would mainly be about preserving capital, understanding the rules and building confidence before increasing trade size.