Built on a bet from 1983.
Two traders argued about whether trading could be taught. The answer shaped how we think about discipline, and it gave TradeTurtle its name.
Can trading be taught?
- 1983
The bet
Richard Dennis, a successful commodities trader, believed great traders could be made. His partner William Eckhardt believed they were born. They settled it with a bet.
- The recruits
Ordinary people
Dennis advertised for trainees and picked a group of people from all walks of life, most with little or no trading experience. He called them Turtles, after turtle farms he’d seen in Singapore: he said he would grow traders the same way.
- Two weeks
Strict rules
In two weeks they learned a complete rule-based system: when to enter, when to exit and, above all, exactly how much to risk on each trade. Nothing was left to gut feel.
- The result
Rules won
Dennis gave them real money to trade. The Turtles who followed the rules went on to make a fortune. Talent mattered less than doing the same disciplined thing, trade after trade.
“Discipline and rules beat talent and gut feel.”
The lesson of the Turtle experiment.
Slow and steady, with your rules as your shell.
Size is a decision
The Turtles never guessed how much to risk. Neither should you. Every trade starts from your stop and your max risk.
Measure the process
P&L tells you what happened. Rule compliance tells you whether you did your job. We put both front and centre.
No hype, no signals
We’ll never tell you what to trade or promise returns. TradeTurtle records and calculates. The decisions stay yours.
Built by a trader in Sydney.
I kept a trading journal in Notion and a position-sizing sheet on the side. I still broke my own risk rule when it mattered most, usually right after a loss.
What I wanted was simple: plan the trade before I take it, size it from the stop so the risk is always the same, and see honestly afterwards whether I followed my rules. Nothing I tried did all three for perps, with fees and funding included.
So I built TradeTurtle. It’s the tool I use myself, and I’m building it in the open with the traders who use it.
Trade by your rules.
Free for your first 20 trades. Pro is US$7 a month.