We had the good fortune of connecting with Bernd Skorupinski and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bernd, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Could you estimate for me what percentage of our society you would guess is financially independent. Financially independent in the sense of they don’t need a job. They don’t need social security. They don’t need a pension in order to meet their financial needs. Let’s say it’s around 5 percent. That means that what percentage of our society therefore is financially dependent. 95% of our society’s financially dependent.

What is it that the 5% group has going for them that the 95% group is struggling with? Let’s explore those things. Here’s the number one major key belief difference between the two, it is the way they think about this concept called risk. This concept called risk is the key defining difference between the two. Let’s explore this a little bit. The 95% group, if we go ahead and we look at the 95% group and we say risk, is it good or bad? What will they say?

Bad. It is bad, and anything you have been taught is that, from the time your knee high, Hey, if that is bad you need stay away from things that are bad. Those kids are bad, avoid them. Drugs are bad, don’t do it. What they learned is a principle called avoiding risk. That’s their philosophy. They want to go about avoiding risk. Now this is detrimental to your wealth. The reason is, risk is attached to reward. High risk, high reward. Low risk, low reward. Without risk, there is no reward and with reward there’s always going to be risks. You cannot, by avoiding risks, you actually avoid reward and you can never become wealthy with that mindset with that belief system.

A lot of people might say “Take risks.” Right, taking risk! This is a common misconception by the 95% group. They think the 5% group is taking risks. That is not accurate. What we’re doing over here is we’re managing risks, not taking risks. You need to learn how to manage risk. That’s the key principle. Let me illustrate the difference between the two. Taking risks, managing risks. Let’s say we go downtown Dubai, find the biggest building…that is easy right…Burj Khalifa, biggest building in the world. You jump off that building that’s taking risks. When you jumped off with a parachute, you have a tool that allows you to manage the risk.

Now, what allows us to manage risk? Just saying is one thing, but you’ve got to make sure you understand the principles that govern it. The principles that govern managing risk is this. Specialized! Specialized knowledge and skill. Let’s go back to our analogy. Jumping off the building, we jumped off the building with a parachute, but we have to use the parachute first time it’s ever been on our back. We have no idea how to use it, never used one in our life. We have a tool that can help us but we have no knowledge or skill on how to use it. Is it going to allow us to manage risk? No it’s not. What if you even go ahead and read the manual really fast before you jump off. Now we have a whole lot of what?

Knowledge. Knowledge but zero skill. You’ve never done it before. It says pull here, but how hard to pull, what angle do you pull. When it’s actually a zigzag on most of the units. If you don’t do that right, you got two and a half seconds to figure it out in the moment and odds of you accomplishing that are very low and the risk will get you.

Now the 95% group makes the mistakes, they’re like, Hey, good life over here. I want that. So what do they do? They take on risk without any knowledge or skill and it bites them in the bud. This is dangerous for them because then they come back over here stuck and say Oh you see, it was risky, Mom and dad were right. Now they never want to venture over and continue struggling for wealth the rest of their life.

If you’ve ever made that mistake before, You have to realize that you just went about it wrong. You didn’t have the knowledge and skill.

When you’re managing physical risk or you’re managing financial risks, the principles are the same. For example, jumping off the building, you are an expert in using a parachute. You’re going to land more often, safely. What if you go ahead, jump off without a parachute, no specialized knowledge and skill and you actually alive. Now you might think you have special abilities. I’ve seen this with students not knowing what they’re doing in the financial market go ahead and jump off the building so to speak. What did they end up with? They think they’re good at it without realizing they just got what?

Lucky. Guess what, they’re more likely to do what the next time, pick a bigger what?
Building – right – Well it’s difficult to find a bigger building than the Burj Khalifa. But I think you get my point.
They build up the risk. They eventually, it will bite them the butt and the end result is worst off. You’ve got to have the specialized knowledge and skill.

What should our readers know about your business?
I am the ALL-TIME RECORD holder for the biggest forex prop firm in the world, FTMO. I am a verified prop trader with more than $4 million under management. I am a full-time trader since now almost 11 years trading all asset classes (forex, futures, and stocks) and I am the CEO of a licensed investment consultancy. We are fully regulated. We have nowadays close to 25 employees. With the investment consultancy called Online Trading Campus we focus on providing trading education worldwide through our own ecosystem.

As a full-time trader and owner of a licensed investment consultancy, I leveraged my passion for the financial markets and dedication to providing practical trading education for our students in our own developed eco-system.

It’s practical trading education because we focus on a system that we call “set and forget AND GET a life”. Once you learned and adapted the trading system in requires you only to analyze the markets during the weekend. Place your trades on Monday and let them play out during the week. It is not time-consuming and requires only 30 minutes to 1 hour a day. This approach allows anyone to learn trading and build a secondary income stream.
Over the years, I honed my skills through continuous learning, and refining my trading strategies.

Building a successful business in the financial sector as an education provider was certainly not easy. I faced numerous challenges along the way. Particularly in a field lacking formal accreditation or certification systems, where virtually anyone can offer “trading education,” it becomes challenging to establish trust and distinguish oneself.

However, I overcame these challenges by being fully transparent. Establishing a regulated formal investment consultancy with multiple proprietary trading awards, including being ranked as the number one trader for the world’s largest prop firm, FTMO. Additionally, maintaining a third-party verified trading record.

Through this journey, I’ve learned valuable lessons about resilience, the importance of building trust with students, and the significance of continuous self-improvement. I believe that transparency, integrity, and a commitment to delivering value are crucial aspects of a successful education provider.

Ultimately, I want the world to know that my brand is built on a foundation of expertise, trustworthiness, and a genuine desire to help students achieve their financial goals. My story is one of dedication, perseverance, and a strong belief in the power of informed trading decisions.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them on a road trip from SF to San Diego:

Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea: Explore the beautiful coastal towns, visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and enjoy the scenic 17-Mile Drive.

Big Sur: Drive along the stunning Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) and marvel at the rugged cliffs and breathtaking views. Don’t miss McWay Falls and Bixby Creek Bridge.

Morro Bay: Visit Morro Rock, a volcanic plug, and enjoy fresh seafood in this charming coastal town.

Santa Barbara: Relax on the beautiful beaches, wander around the historic downtown area, and visit the Santa Barbara Mission.

Los Angeles: Explore the vibrant city with its many attractions like Hollywood, Santa Monica Pier, Griffith Observatory, and more.

San Diego: Visit the world-famous San Diego Zoo, explore Balboa Park, relax on the beaches, and enjoy the vibrant Gaslamp Quarter.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Only my wife Anja and daughter Evangeline who supports me on my journey since day 1 of my trading career.

Website: https://onlinetradingcampus.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernd_skorupinski/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/berndskorupinski/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BerndSko

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@berndskorupinski

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