The First $10,000 Teaches You Everything the Next Million Won’t: Reflections

A story about position sizing, survival, and the invisible lessons behind early losses.

When I first started trading, $10,000 wasn’t a number — it was a wall.
No matter how hard I worked or how fast I grew the account, I’d hit it... and then lose it.

In my 20s, I didn’t understand why. I just knew it kept happening.
I’d start with $1,000 in my options account — thankfully, kept separate from my main, unleveraged trades (one of the few smart d…