Built by a trader who learned the hard way — so you don't have to.
Mechanical design engineer by day. Futures trader by discipline. I've spent the last 15+ years developing as a trader — through every phase, every mistake, and every breakthrough.
I'm based in Greencastle, PA. My day job is in advanced UAV and aerospace hardware development. My trading operation runs in parallel — multiple funded futures accounts, a strict EOD trailing drawdown structure, and a daily lock-and-done discipline that took years to build.
I also wrote a book on price action trading: Benefits of Using Price Action Within Your Trading Strategy — available on Amazon.
I started where most traders start — glued to 1-minute and 5-minute charts, high-frequency scalping, chasing every tick. I was active, but not disciplined. I had instinct, but no framework. Most of what I made on good days evaporated on bad ones.
The shift came when I stopped reacting to charts and started reading them. I moved to higher timeframe structural analysis — 4H bias, 1H momentum, 15M entry — and built a multi-timeframe confluence system that actually made sense. My short-selling philosophy developed here, rooted in Jesse Livermore's contrarian mindset but with the rule discipline Livermore famously lacked.
I found prop trading and it changed how I operate. The funded account model forced me to treat risk seriously. I scaled across multiple accounts — Tradeify, Apex, FFF Velocity, Legends Trading — targeting consistent daily output rather than swinging for big wins. EOD trailing drawdown became my non-negotiable standard. Intraday trailing structures are incompatible with how I trade, so I cut them entirely.
The first payout hit. Not the biggest number, but the proof that the system works. The goal now is scaling — targeting 20 funded accounts, consistent daily output per account, and eventually replacing engineering income with trading income entirely. The process is repeatable. That's what matters.
Most trading education is either gatekept behind expensive courses or buried in noise. The stuff that actually helps — real setups, real risk management, real accountability — rarely gets shared openly.
I built TheTraderPod because I spent years piecing this together on my own. I don't want that to be the story for every trader who comes after me. If I can cut someone's learning curve by a few years, that's worth building for.
Everything here is free. No paywalls. No upsells. No courses that cost more than a prop firm eval. Just honest education, real strategy, and a community of traders who hold each other accountable.
The name TheTraderPod means exactly what it sounds like — a focused space for traders who want to do this right.
"Trade smarter. Not harder. Build the discipline first — the profits follow."
— Vin Castillo, TheTraderPod
A straightforward breakdown of how price action works and why it should be the foundation of any serious trading strategy. Written from real experience — no theory for the sake of theory, no filler.
If you want to understand how markets actually move and how to trade what you see rather than what you hope, this is where to start.
Get it on Amazon →