Table of Contents
This interview sits down with Krishna on the Words of Rizdom podcast to unpack his “Day 15” concept—the idea that compounding looks trivial halfway through and explosive at the end. Fresh off a Dubai conference talk that got traders buzzing, Krishna explains why most people quit at $126 on day 15 of the classic penny-doubles thought experiment, right before the curve turns vertical. He’s candid about ego, discipline, and why making trading “boring” is actually the edge for consistency.
In this piece, you’ll learn how Krishna translates “Day 15” into a practical trader strategy: sticking with a process through the flat part of the curve, sizing for low strike-rate/high R setups, and avoiding the Instagram trap of chasing pretty screenshots over actual account growth. We’ll cover the “schematic of life” he uses to re-accumulate after setbacks, the mindset shifts that kill complacency, and the simple math that makes 2–3% a month life-changing when scaled the right way.
Krishna Sharma Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Day 15 Mindset: Compounding Through the “Flat Part”
The core idea is simple: most quit halfway through compounding because it still looks flat. Krishna treats trading like that “Day 15” moment—boring, consistent inputs that set up the curve to go vertical later. This section turns that mindset into daily rules you can actually follow.
- Define a single, boring daily process (prep → execute → log) and repeat it for 30 straight sessions before changing anything.
- Score each day only on rule-following (process%)—not P&L. Target ≥ 85% process adherence for the week.
- Cap screen time: plan window (pre-market) + execution window + review. No random chart surfing outside those blocks.
- Remove dopamine traps: no P&L on screen while in a trade; hide account balance; notifications off during execution.
- Commit to a minimum sample size per setup (e.g., 30 trades) before judging edge; no mid-sample tweaks.
Risk First: Position Sizing, Daily Stops, and Survival
Krishna protects downside so compounding can work. He treats risk like rent—paid first, every day—so he can keep showing up for the next Day 15. Here are the exact controls.
- Risk a fixed fraction per trade (0.25–0.5R if new, 1R max when consistent). One R = % of equity you’re willing to lose per trade.
- Daily loss limit = 2R; weekly loss limit = 6R. Hit it, you’re done—no exceptions.
- Only move a stop to reduce risk; never widen a stop after entry.
- If two consecutive rule-breaks occur in a day, stop trading and switch to sim for the next session.
- Maintain “risk ladder”: increase size only after two green weeks with ≥ 80% process adherence; drop size immediately after any week you break the plan.
The Two Core Plays: Liquidity Grab Reversal & Re-Accumulation Continuation
He keeps the setup inventory tight: one reversal, one continuation. By hunting the same patterns daily, execution becomes mechanical. Use these playbooks verbatim before you add variants.
A) Liquidity Grab Reversal
This is the “rock-bottom” analogy on the chart—a poke through a key level to run stops, then a reclaim. You’re trading the snap back once trapped traders are underwater.
- Context: Prior day high/low, session open, or obvious swing level gets swept by a quick impulse and immediately rejected.
- Trigger: Close back inside the level + shift in order flow (lower high after a sweep up, or higher low after a sweep down).
- Entry: First pullback after the reclaim; enter on limit at pullback or on break of the trigger candle.
- Invalidation: Beyond the extreme of the sweep (place a stop just outside the wick that grabbed liquidity).
- Targets: First = VWAP or last consolidation mid; Second = opposing session level (PDH/PDL); trail remainder behind swing structure.
- Filters: No trade if the sweep occurs on low volume/time-of-day chop (e.g., lunch drift); prefer opening hour or into session close.
B) Re-Accumulation Continuation
Trend pauses, compresses, then expands again. You’re paying for confirmation and getting paid by expansion out of the base.
- Context: Clear directional bias (higher highs/higher lows or vice versa) with a multi-touch range forming above VWAP (for longs) or below (for shorts).
- Trigger: Break-and-hold outside the base plus a successful retest (wick into the broken range that fails to re-enter).
- Entry: On retest failure or the first higher low (long) / lower high (short) after the break.
- Invalidation: Inside the body of the base (if price re-enters and holds, your continuation thesis is wrong).
- Targets: Measured move = height of base projected from breakout; scale 50% at 1× base height, trail rest with structure.
- Filters: Avoid if ADR is already spent (>90% of average daily range) or if major news is pending within 15 minutes.
Bias Building: Pre-Market Plan in 12 Minutes
He sets bias fast, so there’s no hesitation when price prints the trigger. This is a compact checklist you can run every morning without overthinking.
- Mark levels: prior day high/low, session open, overnight high/low, weekly open, and VWAP/AVWAP anchors you actually use.
- Calculate ADR/ATR and note “spent vs. left” range to judge room for targets.
- Identify which of the two plays is more likely given structure (is liquidity sitting above/below? trending or compressing?).
- Define yes/no conditions for each setup (e.g., “long valid only above VWAP and after sweep/reclaim of PDL”).
- Pre-write entries, stops, and scale-outs so the live decision is just “execute or pass.”
Entries & Exits: Mechanical Triggers and Management
Execution is where traders leak edge. Krishna turns entries and exits into a checklist so emotions don’t get a vote. Follow these rules and you’ll trade the plan, not the feeling.
- Enter only on your pre-defined trigger candle pattern (close back in + pullback tag for reversals; retest-fail for continuations).
- No market chasing: if price runs without tagging your level, let it go; the next A+ setup is the job.
- First scale at the nearest logical target (VWAP/half-back/POC); move stop to breakeven only after structure confirms (new HL/LH).
- Use time-based “give up” rules: if trade hasn’t moved 0.5R in 15–20 minutes during an active session, reduce to half-size or exit.
- Prohibit adding to losers; allow one add-on only if the initial risk is removed and the structure continues in your favor.
News & Time-of-Day Filters
He avoids randomness by respecting session rhythms and catalysts. These filters keep you out of low-quality tape.
- No new positions 5 minutes before/after tier-1 releases you track (CPI, FOMC, NFP, central bank decisions).
- Favor the opening impulse (first 60–90 minutes) and late-day drives; reduce size or skip mid-session chop unless structure is perfect.
- If a catalyst invalidates your level (gap through it), rebuild the plan—don’t force the old bias on a new market.
Journaling That Actually Improves P&L
The journal is for decisions, not novels. Krishna measures behaviors that cause outcomes, then adjusts size and expectations accordingly. Use this format to get a signal fast.
- Log per trade: setup tag (LG-R for Liquidity Grab, RAC for Re-Accumulation), R risked, R realized, entry/exit screenshots, and the single rule you followed or broke.
- Track weekly: process% (rules followed ÷ rules planned), average R/trade, win%, payoff ratio, and “regret count” (chases, revenge).
- Implement one corrective rule per week (e.g., “No second trade after -2R day”) and keep it for 4 weeks before adding another.
- Run a “Day 15” streak metric: consecutive days of full process execution; only increase size after a 15-day clean streak.
- Color-code A/B/C setups and cull the bottom bucket monthly; your book should concentrate on A-setups over time.
Environment & Energy: Make Boring Your Edge
Performance is capped by your worst habits. Krishna optimizes for repeatability so his decision-making stays sharp when it matters. Make these constraints non-negotiable.
- Fixed trading desk: same screens, same layouts, same hotkeys; no trading from phone.
- Sleep and caffeine rules: 7+ hours before night; no new positions if <5 hours; caffeine cutoff after the first hour of the session.
- Social detox: no social media during the trading block; review wins/losses only after the journal is complete.
- Weekly reset ritual: archive charts, re-anchor AVWAPs/VWAPs you actually use, and re-state next week’s A-setup criteria in writing.
- One market change at a time: if you add an instrument or timeframe, keep size at half for two weeks while stats stabilize.
Size the Bet, Not the Ego: Risk First, Returns Follow
Krishna Sharma keeps it simple: survival funds the compounding. He sizes positions by risk, not conviction, so one bad idea can’t nuke a week of good ones. For Krishna, “1R” is sacred—he defines it before entry, places the stop where the thesis is wrong, and then back-calculates size from that distance. The goal isn’t to be right more; it’s to lose small when wrong and let math handle the rest.
Sharma also treats daily and weekly loss limits like circuit breakers, not suggestions. If he’s down -2R on the day or -6R on the week, he’s flat and done—no revenge trades, no “one more try.” He never widens stops after entry; he only reduces risk or steps aside. That discipline means his winners don’t have to be heroic—steady 1–2R gains stack when the downside is capped. In short, Krishna Sharma lets risk sizing do the talking while ego stays on mute.
Volatility Sets Your Size: ATR-Based Allocation for Every Trade
Krishna Sharma sizes trades to the market’s mood, not his own. He uses ATR to translate noise into numbers, then scales position size so a 1R loss equals the same dollar hit whether the tape is calm or wild. If ATR is expanding, Sharma shrinks the size and widens stops to keep the thesis-valid zone intact; if ATR is contracting, he does the opposite to avoid getting nicked by tight noise.
Sharma’s rule of thumb is straightforward: stop distance ≈ 1.0–1.5× ATR(14) for swings, 0.5–1.0× ATR for intraday, then position size = (account × risk%) ÷ stop distance. He won’t take signals that demand absurdly tight stops relative to ATR, because that’s just hoping the market behaves. When ATR spikes beyond his “hot zone,” he cuts size to half-R or skips, preferring durability over drama. The result is consistency: Krishna Sharma keeps risk constant across regimes, so outcomes reflect edge and execution—not volatility whiplash.
Diversify Smart: Mix Underlyings, Strategies, and Holding Durations
Krishna Sharma doesn’t diversify by throwing darts; he diversifies by design. He splits risk across uncorrelated underlyings, a couple of distinct play types, and staggered holding periods so no single market rhythm can wreck his week. When equities grind, he lets FX or indices carry; when mean-reversion stalls, his trend continuation legs work; when intraday gets choppy, the swing book provides ballast.
Sharma’s compass is correlation and time. He aims for one or two A+ setups per instrument, then pairs a quick intraday version with a slower swing variant to smooth the equity curve. If two trades rhyme too closely—same driver, same horizon—he treats them as one and halves exposure. He also rotates attention to instruments with clean structure instead of forcing signals where none exist. The outcome is a portfolio of edges that don’t breathe in unison, so Krishna Sharma’s P&L grows from many steady pulses rather than one fragile bet.
Mechanics Over Predictions: Rules, Triggers, and Repeatable Execution
Krishna Sharma doesn’t guess; he executes. He writes the trade before he places it—context, trigger, entry, stop, targets—so live screens are just a yes/no checklist. If the market doesn’t print his trigger, there is no trade, no matter how “good” the story sounds. Sharma’s edge lives in repetition: same levels, same triggers, same management, until the stats speak.
He also removes wiggle room where emotions like to creep in. Krishna Sharma forbids market chasing; if the price leaves without tagging his level, he lets it go. He scales at predefined targets and only moves the stop after structure confirms, not because the P&L number feels big. And when rules are broken twice in a day, he’s done—reset, review, return with the plan, not predictions.
Define Your Risk: Cut Undefined Exposure, Let Winners Compound
Krishna Sharma treats undefined risk like a leak in the hull—patch it or don’t leave port. Before entry, he decides exactly where the idea is wrong and sets the stop there, not where it “feels comfortable.” If a setup can’t accommodate a hard stop without risking too much, he passes. Sharma refuses to average down or widen stops; he only reduces risk or exits. The goal is simple: cap downside precisely so the upside has room to breathe.
Once protected, Krishna Sharma lets math do the lifting. He scales partials at objective levels and leaves a runner to capture asymmetric extension, moving the stop only after structure confirms. No adding to losers, no martingale, no “I’ll get it back.” If a catalyst blows through his level, he stands aside and rebuilds the thesis rather than forcing it. With defined risk on every trade, the occasional big winner isn’t erased by one bad decision—compounding finally has a fair shot.
In the end, Krishna Sharma’s message is disarmingly simple: compounding only looks magical after you’ve survived the boring middle. His “Day 15” lens reframes the entire game—protect 1R like oxygen, accept that the equity curve will feel flat for a while, and let clean execution carry you into the steep part. That means sizing to volatility instead of your feelings, defining risk before you click, and refusing to widen stops or chase price. It also means respecting session rhythms and news windows, so you harvest the parts of the day that actually pay.
What makes his approach repeatable is the mechanics: two core plays (a liquidity-grab reversal and a re-accumulation continuation), prewritten entries and exits, and journaling that measures behavior, not just P&L. He diversifies by design—different underlyings, two tempos (intraday and swing), and no overlapping bets that breathe the same air. The scoreboard is process adherence first, returns second. If you internalize that hierarchy—risk → rules → repetition—Krishna Sharma’s playbook turns “sticking with it” from a platitude into a strategy that compounds for real.
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