Mastering the art of trading with FTMO Co-founder Otakar Suffner

Robin: It’s nice to catch up with you again, Otakar. Could you start by telling us a bit about who you are and what you're up to these days?

Otakar Suffner: Sure! I’ll just jump into FTMO because that’s essentially my first job, which we started 10 years ago while I was still at university. I have a master’s degree in economics, but honestly, I don’t think having a degree has been crucial to starting a business. I did it more because I didn’t know what else to do and wanted to start my own thing. University just gave me the time and space to figure that out.

The whole journey to FTMO started with me and Marek, the second owner and co-founder. We were trading futures back in 2011, 2012, and 2013, and we were doing quite well - there were months when we made 8 to 10% returns. But since we didn’t have enough capital - maybe three to five thousand dollars - even a good month wasn’t enough to make a living. I mean, even if you make 10% on a 5K account, you can’t live off it.

It was really for hardcore trading enthusiasts. We thought we could do it better and create a system that’s fairer for traders. So we started FTMO, where we test aspiring traders, and if they prove they can manage risk and be profitable in our FTMO Challenge, we sign a contract with them. Then they can get financial rewards for their activities. To put this into perspective, making 10% on a 50K or 100K account is a different story. We had this idea back in 2013, but we didn’t have the money to hire professionals or anyone to help us. So it took us about two years to do it all ourselves, and we officially started FTMO in 2015.

Robin: Yeah, that was a Czech version, right?

Otakar: Yes, it was the Czech version. We didn’t have much capital at first, so we offered very small accounts. But as we progressed, we were able to offer more capital to our traders. And just to clarify, when I say "capital," it's always virtual capital. We’re not giving our traders real money — everything is done through virtual accounts, as everyone knows. It’s very transparent, but it’s important to mention due to regulations.

Honestly, from 2015 until about 2018, no one was interested in our product. We didn’t know how to communicate effectively, but we were always receiving very good feedback from our clients. We were starting from zero, so it took us a few years to gain traction. I’d say it wasn’t until after five years of working on the idea that it started to become meaningful for us financially). It was only after those five years that we finally earned our first salary. It was a tough period, but around 2018, we suddenly became very popular among the traders community worldwide. And since then, we’ve been growing consistently. We’ve won the Deloitte Fast 50 five times. So that was quite a big accomplishment for us. We were also awarded the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in the Czech Republic in the technology category, so that's another, I would say, globally recognized award. Now, we have about 250 people working with us, and there are around 190,000 active accounts.

Robin: How many traders do you have?

Otakar: In terms of traders who have received rewards for their demo trading, it’s over 30,000.

Robin: How did you get into trading in the first place? Was there something specific that interested you?

Otakar: For me, it all started when I read an article online, maybe back in 2007. I was fascinated by the concept of it. From that moment on, I loved everything about the financial markets and trading. I believe that if you want to become a trader, you need to love it. I get asked almost every week by someone whether they should become a trader, and I always tell them, "Don’t do it." Because if you need to ask me, then it's probably not for you. You have to love it to do it.

Robin: You’ve mentioned before that people often think trading is easy, but that it’s actually very difficult…

Otakar: It’s extremely difficult. From the start, we were quite concerned because, at FTMO, we’re testing people. It’s similar to school, but the test is very tough - nine out of ten people won’t succeed. They’ll learn a lot during the process, but most won’t pass.

Since we were starting in the Czech Republic, and sometimes Czech people can be quite tough, we worried that if they didn’t succeed they might get frustrated - or even angry. So, we focused on building a lot of additional value for our clients. They now have access to various applications, and our mission is to provide them with useful tools. We have a trading academy, multiple apps, and even in-house performance coaches. If someone is struggling psychologically - which everyone does at some point - they can talk to our coaches.

From the beginning, we built FTMO with the idea that even those who don’t pass the evaluation process should benefit. The educational aspect is huge. I believe that if we didn’t have the educational component, we wouldn’t need 250 people; maybe half of that would be enough because the rest of the team works on adding value, and all of it is for free.

We also offer a free trial with the same trading conditions as the paid version. People can test themselves for a few months, completely risk-free, and only when they feel ready do they commit to the paid version and the evaluation process.

Robin: Do you come from an entrepreneurial family?

Otakar: Absolutely not. My father has worked his whole life for large corporate companies, and he’s very risk-averse when it comes to everything. So, starting a business wasn’t something we ever discussed during family gatherings. From that perspective, it was quite challenging.

Robin: Where do you think your drive came from?

I think it was always there. I always knew that I didn’t want to work in a corporate setting. I hated the idea of wearing suits or formal attire to work and I knew I wanted to do something on my own. I was also very fortunate to meet Marek and start FTMO, and we were incredibly lucky that it worked out after a few years.

Robin: You met your co-founder Marek in 2013, at university. You’ve said the first five years were particularly tough and that it took five years before you could pay yourself a salary while offering small accounts to traders…

Otakar: I'm not sure about other companies, but usually, it's not an overnight success, right? It took five years to make it worthwhile for our education and for us to start earning a salary. The journey was interesting, and I wouldn’t change it if I could. But it was tough, especially when you're not making money, and your friends are. For example, when they’d ask you to come on vacation, and you just couldn't.

Robin: What were the biggest challenges you faced when you first started?

Otakar: Well, we didn’t know what we were doing in terms of running a firm. But we did have one big advantage, which was that we completely understood our clients. We were building FTMO for ourselves. And we still are. Every time there’s a new feature we want to implement, even if it’s expensive because developers need to work on it, Marek and I will say, “We’d appreciate this, so let’s do it.” Even if it doesn’t make economic sense, if it adds value for our clients, we’re happy to do it. But when it came to technical infrastructure, we had to learn that on our own.

Robin: Did you see a big uptick in interest in FTMO during the COVID pandemic, with people thinking “I’d like to try something new, maybe become a trader”?

Otakar: No, FTMO is for people who have been interested in trading for quite some time. It’s not like a brokerage company that can onboard anyone. If someone becomes interested in trading, after a few months they probably still wouldn’t fully understand the FTMO product, because it’s more complex than traditional trading. But I think we’re benefiting from it all now because people who got into trading back in 2021 are more experienced.

Robin: What do you think makes a good trader? I know you’ve talked a lot about discipline in other interviews.

Otakar: I once saw a podcast with a professional trader who said discipline is 100% of everything - and I agree. Discipline is the core factor in succeeding in this field. You need to be disciplined in doing the job, managing money, and psychologically. It’s one thing to be disciplined about showing up for work, but if you have one losing trade and go crazy, you need to be careful that discipline doesn’t fall apart. So I’d say it’s a combination of psychology, discipline, and work ethic.

Robin: I read that you hired a performance coach — are they still on the team?

Otakar: Yeah, we have three performance coaches right now at FTMO. Trading, even the one on demo accounts, is very similar to competitive sports, especially when it comes to psychology. The mindset required is very, very similar.

Robin: I imagine the trading mentality and the founder mentality go quite well together, right?

Otakar: It depends. It’s hard to say what qualities you’re born with because you can’t succeed in business if you’re overly cautious. If you don’t have the entrepreneurial spirit, I’m not sure that’s something you can learn. It’s something you’re born with. Sports can help, and being intelligent helps too, of course.

Robin: And now, FTMO is still growing, what are the biggest challenges you see on the horizon?

Otakar: We’re still growing and acquiring other companies. So, I’d say the biggest challenge right now—or what will be a big challenge—is integrating those companies. It’s one thing to buy them, but making the synergies between these companies a real thing is another. And, of course, people in the acquired companies probably won’t like the changes. No one likes changes, but they’re going to happen. Honestly, I don’t have much experience with integrating new, mid-sized companies under FTMO, so it will be interesting for us to learn how to do it properly. We’ll see how it goes.

Robin: What’s the overall goal at the moment?

Otakar: I believe we’re already the market leader in our sector. Right now, FTMO is a one-product business, though we have made some acquisitions. But when you compare the sizes, FTMO still represents 95% of our business. So, we want to diversify and build a portfolio of companies that work together with synergies between them. That’s what we’re working on for the next five years—creating a one-stop shop for everyone who loves trading. Of course, we also want to stay on top, still be the leader and innovator in terms of our core product.

Robin: Let’s talk about AI. Where are you as a company with AI, and are you implementing it in certain areas?

Otakar: We have an internal AI tool that our agents use to support our clients, FTMO traders. They can ask it anything about the company, and the chatbot, or AI, will answer those questions. So, if there’s something the traders aren’t familiar with or something our agents aren’t fully familiar with, they can ask the AI tool. AI is also used by our developers to be more efficient. We have some AI tools for accounting as well. But beyond that, I don’t think AI is having a huge impact on our industry just yet.

Robin: But overall, do you think AI is going to have a big impact on trading?

Otakar: I don't think so, honestly. AI is great because the summarized information helps you to make trading decisions. So it's a handy tool, but let’s think about what the market is - a huge number of participants reacting on different motivations. Let's say there is one huge bank that wants to pay salaries in euros but has employees in the Czech Republic. They need to use the market. So let's say the money has to be exchanged from euros to Czech Koruna. And then you have other companies that just need to use the market to facilitate their own business. And then you have just a small number of speculators or just want to make money on the price change.

Honestly, I don’t think there will be some miracle AI tool because the market moves based on where the capital flows. For example, let’s say 10,000 people are buying Tesla stock, and each has just one dollar. Then, if there’s one participant with $2,000, that person is stronger than the 10,000 others with one dollar each. The market is like a jungle - you never know what’s going to happen. You just need to trade based on your idea or analysis and manage your risk. But you can never know the outcome. You don’t know who’s going to enter the market, and sometimes people act irrationally. It could even be a mistake caused by an algorithm. So, I don’t think there will be anything that fundamentally changes the trading industry.

Robin: Let’s move on to something more personal. What gets you up in the morning and excites you about your job and your day?

Just working to make FTMO stronger. There are a lot of interesting things happening, especially with acquisitions. FTMO is quite popular now, especially in trading circles and in the Czech Republic. Thanks to our financial success, I get to meet a lot of interesting people, which I enjoy.

Robin: And what gives you balance outside of your founder and CEO lifestyle?

Otakar: Honestly, I don’t think there is much balance. I don’t think you can run a business seriously and maintain a work-life balance. I have a small child, so it’s tough to juggle everything. But I do make time for sports—if I didn’t, I don’t think I’d be able to think clearly. I work out at least six times a week, either in the morning or late after work.

Robin: What excites you about your business?

Otakar: It’s been an interesting journey. Back in 2013, when we were developing FTMO, there was no one else in the market until around 2018 or 2019. It was just us. Then people started copying us, and while we weren’t happy about it, what could we do? Now, we have hundreds of competitors. It’s funny to think that our idea from 2013 now employs thousands of people.

Robin: Well, they say imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? And, trading has become incredibly popular over the last 15 years, especially since people can do it from home.

Otakar: Yes, and the crypto boom also played a big role in its popularity.

Robin: And you’ve managed to ride that wave, which is great. As we wind up, could you share with our readers how we met?

Otakar: Well, as you remember, we met at a VC conference in Iceland. I was invited by a Czech fund we had invested in, and since I hadn’t been to Iceland before, I thought, “Why not?” I don’t know much about VC funds—we’ve invested in a few, but that’s about it. I remember talking to you, and then we decided to invest. It wasn’t a big deal; it was more of a diversification play for FTMO. We’ve made money and now can invest in other VC funds and companies.

Robin: Thanks Otakar - it was very cool to catch up and hear what you’ve been up to.

Otakar: Thank you, Robin. It was great to chat and reflect on everything. Looking forward to what’s next!