A High Risk Trader's Thoughts on Mentorship

Should a Mentor charge a fee or should a Mentor have it free?

After the Green Stickman Scandal popped up, it got me thinking about how mentoring should be done.

Sidenote : Other than my port screenshot showing up in an invitation for a NON ZFT mentoring program, I have nothing against the man. I saw his posts before and I like that he actively enlightens people on finances and trading.

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Mentorships exist because there are things which cannot be taught simply by reading a book.

I believe every mentor should seek to have complete independence from his or her mentee in the shortest possible time. To have the student stand on their own, strong and unwavering against whatever it is that hits him - and at some point, surpass the mentor in the chosen craft.

A mentor who seeks to have dependent, mentor-worshipping students is no mentor at all. This type of mentor is what I love to call "Guru na Ulol."

There is no such thing as free lunch.

Either you pay for it, or somebody else does.

Good mentors who don't ask their students for money or anything is a trait I admire. I have done this in days past and I still do in rare occassions and I have to say that mentoring for free isn't easy. You sacrifice your precious time to teach and mold what you know to someone - who probably won't take you seriously or use your craft against you - when you could be out somewhere in the world doing something else that you like... and for what? 

Mentoring that is free has a lot of reasons to fail. It could be that the mentor isn't equipped to handle a student - skillwise or emotionally. It could be commitment. Most of the time, It is because the student fails to see the value of the craft since they got it for FREE. I fail to comprehend the logic behind this - When some people have this mindset of taking for granted those that don't cost them anything.

The greatest tragedy of Free Mentoring is when the mentor himself is the problem. A person who is good at a craft isn't necessarily a good mentor. And a broken teacher creates broken students. The sad part of this story is that the student believes the lies as truth.

"Free Mentoring na nga, Nagrereklamo ka pa! Be quiet! Iyakin!"

If you teach a student something wrong and let him believe it is truth, should all the blame rest on the student's shoulders? I don't think so. 

So why mentor? 

This is something every "free" mentor should ponder on.

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Now, how about those who ask for money or something else in return?


Our generation has gotten used to the "Instant Culture." We want and demand things with less or no effort in a single snap of our fingers.

"I paid for it with big money. I am entitled to it. Work? What work? You do it!"

The problem with some people who go for a paid mentoring is their inability to understand how mentoring works. A mentee should seek out the mentor. Not the other way around. It's not like you can magically copy-transfer an ability from someone to another in an instant. This isn't the Matrix.

And a paid mentoring fails miserably when the mentor fails to give what they don't have but act as If they have and know it all. 

You see, people will pay for something even if it costs a lot - if they see value in it.

If you buy gold coins and get gold coins, there shouldn't be an issue. But If you bought gold coins and find out they were something else, that's where things turn sour.

I see a lot of people who say that mentors who charge for a high fee is a scam. Hypocrites. 

How much does it cost to have your kids go to a private pre-school nowadays? Did you get your degree by going to a school or university that doesn't charge you a single cent? And did you get what you paid for?

In our current batch, one Eques student paid PHP 250,000 so we could mentor him. Did we ask for this amount? No. The student paid for what he believed was our Mentorship's worth. Is he satisfied? You could ask him. Goes by the troll name Sir Lancelot. 

Those who have mastered their crafts can thrive without mentees. But would it be the same for those who are just starting out and in need of a Mentor?

Paid or Free, bottom line is this:

Success as a mentor comes when the mentee achieves mastery of the craft  and where the mentee is able to enhance his life and better his surroundings.

Memoirs of A High Risk Trader

I'm sure at this point a lot of you know that I don't do things the normal way. Why stick to the norm if you can do something waayy more exciting and thought provoking?

Aside from all the fun and interesting applicants for batch 6, this Subasta has given me a lot of realizations and things to ponder on.

It's not about the money. 

Some people have paid me 0 PHP, some people made me various deals, and yes some paid near a quarter of a million + other deals. I could have made it into a fixed fee. But money isn't what I'm after. 

I find people with the right mindset and those I could be friends with, minus all the bullshit. 

I am an idealist and I always find the good in people. But I have come to understand that I have to keep things realistic as well. For not all people are true to their word, and some stay by you just because of what you can give them. This was made clear to me on one of my recent batches, where one student who I was so sure of, who I thought would make me proud someday, would betray not just me, but his peers as well.

Money is neutral. But your attitude towards it could be lethal. 

One of the reasons why I put out this Subasta for Slots, is to see how people would react. How those who don't know me react. How the public would price the program. 

There are those who have tons of money but are just interested, and so they bid low and ask way too many questions. There are those who have done good in faring the markets but are dissatisfied with their current performance. 

I don't feel pressure when I have clients or students who may be at the 10M-100M (or greater) range in their ports. Whether they learn or take my course seriously is none of my concern. It would make for a good story though. 

But what baffles me the most and and gets my pressure points on edge are those who would be willing to shell out half or more than half of their life savings and portfolio money to learn from a complete stranger. Someone from the internet who, could possibly be a notorious scammer.

I'm no Psych Expert but I do know passion and desperation when I see one.

One other reason why I did this Subasta is to have my previous students remember their promise with me. Have you guys started paying it forward? Some applicants have already begun. And their ports ain't even a quarter of what some of you have. Invicta is living proof that you don't need to be rich before you can help. Being rich is a mindset. Be creative. You can do it.

All of the students I've had were carefully picked, and screened. I make sure I like the people that I teach. And for some reason, I'm attracted to those who are desperate, those whose ports have past that -50% capital loss. Empathy? Perhaps. I'd like to be that turning point in their life, for I too, was in that same predicament before - to have lost 70% of my capital in ignorance and blind faith. The pain to lose that much money is close to unbearable. I cursed myself one time and thought of suicide. I thank God for keeping me sane through those times, for there was no one else I could share my pain and shame with.

I started investing way back 2006 and bought AP to be my first stock. Then I started active trading on the last quarter of 2010 during my college days. I never had someone to teach me. I never was able to read those stock market guru books. I'm too lazy for that. I don't even have a proper 'financial' or 'technical' education. 

I don't care if people would pass judgment on me. I understand that I'm not perfect. Putting up a fake front and feeding my ego won't do me any good nor will it make me any money. I've way passed the boundaries of giving a f*ck.

All I have is Experience as my mentor. And a God with abundant grace.

If an ordinary person like me was able to make it this far, I'm sure you can too.