Starbucks Barista to 8-Figure Short Selling Strategy · Alex Temiz

Why It Matters

Temiz’s experience shows that disciplined risk controls and a willingness to learn from early losses are critical for sustainable profitability, especially in high‑volatility, short‑selling strategies.

Key Takeaways

• Implement automatic loss limits to prevent catastrophic drawdowns.
• Shift from aggressive long breakouts to disciplined short-selling of small caps.
• Real‑time transparency and process‑driven trading improve consistency significantly.
• Early failures teach risk management, humility, and setup grading.
• Approximately 20% of shorted micro‑caps get delisted, highlighting turnover risk.

Summary

The interview chronicles Alex Temiz’s transformation from a Starbucks barista funding a $2,000 account to a professional trader specializing in short‑selling low‑float, small‑cap momentum stocks. He emphasizes how early struggles forced him to adopt hard‑wired risk controls—auto‑liquidation at a $5,000 loss and position‑size caps—to avoid the “deer in headlights” paralysis that once crippled his trades.

Key insights include his pivot from buying breakouts—an approach that fails in a down market—to targeting momentum exhaustion on volatile micro‑caps. He now relies on a disciplined process: real‑time trade transparency, selective scaling, and strict loss limits. Temiz estimates that roughly 20% of the stocks he shorts are eventually delisted, underscoring the high turnover and inherent risk of this niche.

Memorable moments include his first $1,000 profit on a short of VGGL, which sparked the belief that “clicking the sell button could change my life,” and his vivid analogy that adding more shares to a losing trade is like pouring gasoline on a burning house. He also cites market‑wizard Lance Brightstein’s journey from worst trader to $100 million earner, reinforcing the idea that struggle is essential.

For traders, Temiz’s story highlights the necessity of automated loss safeguards, the value of adapting strategies to market cycles, and the importance of embracing early failures as tuition for risk mastery. Those who embed these principles can navigate the volatile small‑cap arena with greater consistency and protect their capital against inevitable drawdowns.

Original Description

Alex Temiz turned a $2,000 account into over $16 million in trading profits, starting from nothing as a part-time Starbucks barista. In this episode, he breaks down the real journey: the years of losing, how he transitioned from long breakouts to short selling, and the mechanical "guardrails" he used to survive long enough to succeed.

After selling the rims off his car just to fund one last attempt at the markets, Alex discovered his edge in the volatility of momentum exhaustion. Today, his approach is built on extreme transparency and a deep respect for risk management, specifically through his "First Red Day" framework. In this conversation, Alex pulls back the curtain on his evolution from an aggressive gunslinger to a disciplined professional, sharing the psychological shifts and specific setups that allowed him to scale from four figures to eight figures.

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In this episode, we explore:

• How Alex Turned $2,000 into $16M+ in Trading Profits

• His transition from working as a Starbucks barista to full-time trading

• The mechanics of the First Red Day strategy

• Why he ignores his "average" to focus on adding to winning trades

• Using broker-level guardrails to protect yourself from ego-driven losses

• How Alex selects the stocks he shorts

• His advice for traders struggling with the psychological pain of risk

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About Alex Temiz:

Alex is a professional short-seller and the co-founder of My Investing Club (MIC). Known for his "First Red Day" setup and high-stakes momentum trading, Alex has documented over $16 million in verified profits. He is a vocal advocate for transparency in the trading industry, frequently sharing live trading recaps to help retail traders develop a process-driven approach to the markets.

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Links + Resources:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlexTemizMIC

X (Twitter): https://x.com/AT09_Trader

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

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Sponsor of Chat With Traders Podcast:

Trade The Pool: http://www.tradethepool.com

Sponsor of Episode 323:

Tasty Trade: http://www.tastytrade.com/chat

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Time Stamps:

Please note: Exact times will vary depending on current ads.

00:00 How Alex Turned $2,000 into $16M+ Day Trading

06:48 Working as a barista while trading

10:52 Discovering Short Selling and finding his edge

15:58 Developing a healthy approach to trading

21:56 When ego takes over a trade

26:42 Capitalizing on the once in a quarter A plus set up

30:19 Becoming comfortable adding to your winner

36:26 Why adding to losers is adding gasoline to a burning house

39:43 Scaling out of size

45:19 The mechanics of the First Red Day

49:35 Still learning from other traders

56:29 What winning looks like for you now

59:38 Where can you find @AlexTemizMIC

Trading Disclaimer:

Trading in the financial markets involves a risk of loss. Podcast episodes and other content produced by Chat With Traders are for informational or educational purposes only and do not constitute trading or investment recommendations or advice.

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