Table of Contents
This interview features Daniel Martin, the founder of prop firm City Traders Imperium, sharing how he built a psychology-driven approach to evaluating and backing retail traders. Martin’s story—from struggling newcomer in London to full-time trader and mentor—matters because he’s focused on turning disciplined individuals into consistently profitable traders, not just selling a challenge. You’ll hear how his firm screens for control and rule-following, why the drawdown guardrails are strict, and how coaching continues after funding to help traders scale responsibly.
In this piece you’ll learn Martin’s “95/4/1” formula (95% psychology, 4% risk management, 1% strategy), the pre-market routine that keeps him composed (early wake-up, meditation, movement, cold exposure), and the non-negotiables he expects from funded traders—like honoring a tight 4% max drawdown and using checklists to execute exactly what was backtested. You’ll also get his take on building your own strategy rather than copying someone else, creating a six-to-twelve-month track record before seeking capital, and treating backtests like real money so your live results match your research.
Daniel Martin Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Core Philosophy: Control Yourself, Then Your Trades
Daniel Martin’s edge starts with self-mastery. If you can’t keep order in your day-to-day life, your trading will mirror that chaos. This section turns that simple idea into rules you can run tomorrow morning.
- Treat discipline as a position: no entry unless you feel fully in control—skip the trade if emotions are high.
- Before each session, read your rules out loud; then follow them. Make “Read the rules” Rule #1.
- If personal life is messy, reduce the size to a minimum risk or go flat until stability returns.
Risk Guardrails: Prop-Firm Tough, Retail-Friendly
Martin’s framework is built around survivability—strict guardrails that make scaling possible. Keep risk tiny, respect limits like a funded trader, and you’ll last long enough for skill to compound.
- Hard stop: overall max drawdown 4%. If equity is −4% from peak, stop trading and enter review mode.
- Single-trade risk ≤ 0.5R when you’re in a drawdown; only scale back to 1R after 5 consecutive, rule-compliant trades.
- If you breach any account rule, flatten immediately and log the error; no “one more trade” allowed.
Funding Readiness: Track Record Over Talk
He wants traders who already execute a defined playbook, not hopeful gamblers. Build proof first, then seek capital. This keeps you from paying for “tests” you’re not ready to pass.
- Produce 6–12 months of real-money statements on your exact strategy before applying.
- Avoid demo as a crutch; trade small and real to develop execution skin in the game.
- If you feel urgent, revengeful, or “need to win back” losses, pause applications and fix psychology first.
Daily Routine: Prime the Mind, Then the Screen
Martin treats preparation like an athlete: sleep, meditate, move, breathe, cold exposure—then trade. The point is to sit down already calm, so you don’t spend your first hour fighting yourself.
- Sleep window target: ~9–10 p.m., lights out to protect cognition during the session.
- Pre-market: 30–60 minutes of movement, meditation, and breathing; no coffee required.
- Dress and sit like you’re going to an office to trigger “work mode” on command.
Pre-Trade Checklist: Read, Confirm, Commit
He literally reads his rules every day and uses a short readiness check. This turns good intentions into repeatable execution.
- Step 1: Read rules; Step 2: Verify money management; Step 3: Confirm entry criteria; Step 4: Ask, “Am I ready to trade?” If no, skip.
- If mid-day emotions flare, run a mini-checklist before touching open trades; if not 100%, do nothing.
- Keep a printed one-pager of setup levels, principles, and your checklist at your desk.
Market Timing & Style: Reversal Trades with Volatility Windows
Martin identifies as a reversal trader who respects volatility cycles. Trade when markets actually move; otherwise, protect mental capital.
- Focus windows: your morning session; if nothing sets up, stand down and reassess into the U.S. crossover/open.
- No setup, no trade: reversals require confluence (location + exhaustion); if one leg is missing, pass.
- After the morning cutoff, stop forcing entries—save capital and attention for scheduled volatility.
Execution Rules: From Trigger to Exit
Reversal trades demand precise timing and unemotional exits. These rules reduce the wiggle room that usually invites errors.
- Predefine invalidation at the structure break that proves you’re early or wrong; place the stop there before entry.
- First scale at the opposing micro-structure or session VWAP tag; move stop to breakeven only after the first scale.
- If you feel an urge to “save” a bad entry by widening stops, close instead—protect the 4% guardrail.
Behavior Filters: Keep Gamblers Out—Including Your Inner One
Martin screens for gambling tells and will even steer people to fix their mindset before trading size. Use the same filter on yourself to preserve capital and confidence.
- Any “I must get it back” thought = instant time-out and journal entry; re-enter only after a calm re-read of rules.
- Three consecutive evaluation failures or urgent funding attempts trigger a 30-day reset with micro-size only.
- Schedule weekly 15-minute self-audits to rate discipline, rule-following, and emotional control from 1–5.
Skill Compounding: Study, Test, Retest
He emphasizes deep study over surface-level reading. Build a feedback loop that actually upgrades your execution, not just your bookshelf.
- Pick one core text for your approach; study it, answer the end-of-chapter questions, then redo them after live trading.
- Re-read key chapters monthly; aim to discover at least one nuance you missed the first time.
- Translate each insight into a checklist item or a chart annotation rule within 24 hours.
What Makes His Program Different: Help First, Scale Second
Martin’s mission is to help traders become consistently profitable and then scale them responsibly. That ethos shows up in how he answers questions, accepts multiple strategies, and protects capital.
- Open-door policy on strategy types, closed-door policy on breaking risk rules.
- Capital increases only after rule-compliant growth—your discipline is the qualification.
- If you’re not ready, they’ll tell you to keep building stability before applying; adopt the same honesty with yourself.
Size Risk Tiny, Survive Drawdowns, Let Consistency Compound
Most traders blow up because they size like they’re trying to win the month in one trade. Daniel Martin flips that impulse on its head: start microscopic, stay alive, and let discipline do the heavy lifting. Risk no more than a fraction of a percent per idea until you have a multi-week stretch of clean execution. When you’re in a drawdown, shrink size further, slow down, and protect your mental capital; nothing good happens when you press while tilted.
Consistency compounds only when your equity curve survives the bad runs. That means stop moving stops, stop adding to losers, and stop trying to “get it back” today. Predefine the max loss you’ll take in a session and be done when it’s hit—tomorrow always brings another set of opportunities. As Daniel Martin likes to say, your job isn’t to be a hero; it’s to be present for the next high-quality trade. Keep the risk tiny, stick to the plan, and let time and repetition turn small wins into meaningful progress.
Trade When Volatility Peaks; Stand Down In Dead Markets
Daniel Martin builds his day around volatility windows because that’s when price actually pays. He watches for scheduled catalysts and session overlaps, then limits attention to those bursts instead of grinding all day. If ranges are compressed and the tape is sleepy, he treats that as a signal to preserve attention, not an invitation to force trades. By narrowing his active hours, he trades less noise and more intent.
When volatility arrives, Daniel Martin executes only the setups he’s rehearsed, with stops and targets predetermined. If momentum fades mid-trade, he accepts the read and exits rather than hoping the market “wakes up.” Outside the peak windows, he reviews, journals, and resets instead of browsing for B-grade entries. The result is fewer trades, higher average quality, and a calmer mind when it matters most.
Define Your Edge, Preplan Exits, Never Widen Stops
Daniel Martin keeps it simple: know exactly why your setup pays, or don’t trade it. He defines criteria in advance—location, trigger, invalidation—so entries aren’t guesswork. Before clicking buy or sell, he writes the exit plan first. If the market disproves the idea, the stop is where the thesis is dead, period.
He refuses to widen stops because it turns a small setback into a confidence problem. Daniel Martin scales out at the premarked structure, then moves to breakeven only after risk has been paid. If the tape changes character, he accepts the new information and flattens without drama. The edge is the plan; execution is honoring it when it’s inconvenient.
Diversify By Setup, Time Window, And Holding Duration
Daniel Martin doesn’t diversify for the sake of it; he diversifies to smooth equity and protect confidence. He runs a small menu of proven setups, so no single pattern carries all the risk. Each setup has its preferred market context and time window, which helps him avoid forcing trades when conditions aren’t right. By pairing morning reversals with later-session continuation plays, he spreads opportunity without diluting edge.
He also varies holding duration on purpose—some trades are quick scalps to first structure, others are partials that aim for session ranges. Daniel Martin defines which trades deserve patience in advance, tying target distance to volatility and structure rather than feeling. If the day turns choppy, he leans on shorter-duration plays; if trend and range expand, he lets a runner work. This mix of setups, timing, and hold times reduces correlation in his results and keeps him emotionally steady through changing market regimes.
Process Over Prediction: Checklists, Rule Reads, Emotion Control
Prediction is seductive, but process pays. Daniel Martin starts each session by reading his rules out loud to anchor behavior before any charts move. A short checklist—risk set, conditions met, mind calm—turns intention into execution. If one box fails, he doesn’t negotiate; he passes and preserves focus.
During trades, he manages emotions with preplanned actions: scale at structure, sto,p stays put, debrief after exit. If frustration spikes, Martin pauses, breathes, and resets before touching the next order. He journals deviations on the same day, ay so the lesson sticks while the feeling is fresh. The market can stay unpredictable; the process doesn’t have to.
Daniel Martin’s core lesson is simple: get your life and mind in order before you touch the market. He hammers home that discipline outside the charts becomes discipline on the charts, and without it, you’ll fight yourself every session. His teaching stacks the deck toward psychology—way ahead of pure tactics—supported by a morning routine designed to sit down calm and ready.
From there, Daniel runs on checklists and time windows. He reads rules, asks a mini “am I ready?” audit, and if the answer isn’t a clean yes, he stands down. He stops after the morning window and returns only when volatility returns around the U.S. crossover, because trading dead tape is how good plans get bent. As a reversal trader, he’s picky—quality setups over quantity—and he complements them with continuation structures when conditions shift, including patterns like symmetrical triangles that align risk with potential reward.
Equally important, Daniel wants traders to build their own playbooks rather than copy his. That self-authorship keeps execution aligned with your temperament, which he views as non-negotiable. If you’re aiming for funding, his “start with psychology” advice becomes even more direct: study deeply, not passively, and stress-test beliefs with tools like the Trading in the Zone questionnaire to reveal gaps before real money and evaluations do it for you.
