← Founder's Story
Founder's Story
They Found a Problem Nobody Had Solved, Built It, and Scaled to 10,000 Users in Two Years | Ep. 325 with Martin Jensen and John Ramos CEO and CTO of Prop Firm Match
00:23:20
Daniel Robbins sits down with Martin Jensen and John Ramos to break down what prop firms are, why they’re exploding, and what most traders get wrong when they choose one. Martin explains Prop Firm Match as a vetted comparison platform designed to protect traders from the worst-case scenario: earning a payout and not getting paid. John adds the trader’s view of prop firms as a lower-barrier path to leverage skill without risking large personal capital, while the founders share how they built trust through objective metrics and nearly ten thousand verified reviews.
Loading summary
Transcript43 lines
- [00:01]
Commercial Voiceover Artist
You know what they say. Early bird gets the ultimate vacation home. Book early and save over $120 with VRBO, because early gets you closer to the action, whether it's waves lapping at the shore or snoozing in a hammock that overlooks, well, whatever you want it to so you can all enjoy the payoff come summer with VRBO's early booking deals. Rise and shine. Average savings $141 select homes only ADP
- [00:31]
ADP Representative
knows Anything can change the world of work. Like what if a blocked shipping port caused a worldwide coffee shortage? Suddenly, businesses are scrambling to manage an increasingly drowsy workforce. Productivity slips 20% just due to the extended time it takes to conduct a job interview while yawning. Anything can change the world of work. From HR to payroll, ADP helps businesses take on the next anything. ADP Always designing for people At Strayer
- [00:58]
Commercial Voiceover Artist
University, we help students like you go from Will I to why not? For over 130 years, we've been innovating higher education to make it more affordable, accessible and attainable so you can reach your goals. Go from thinking can I? To Yes I can and keep striving. Visit Strayer. Edu to learn more. Strayer University is certified to operate in Virginia by Chev and its many campuses, including at 2121 15th Street north in Arlington, Virginia.
- [01:27]
Martin (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
Foreign.
- [01:32]
Interviewer / Host
So I'm excited today to talk through something that I don't really know much about. And I I'm an avid trader in the sense of I've been trading different things from stocks to crypto to other things throughout my my lifetime. I remember when I was in elementary school and my teacher gave me here's some fake money, put it into some stocks and then we had a contest. I in turn put that money into the stock and that's actually how I bought my first car back when I was 16 years old. So I'm always fascinated with new things. And John and Martin, you both are going to walk us through exactly what is Prop Firm Match doing and what we need to know. So let's f first off by that what is Prop Firm Match?
- [02:22]
Martin (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
Thank you for that introduction. So Profit Match is a platform that compares prop firms for those not familiar with prop firms. Prop Firms is a kind of company that lets traders trade with more capital than they have on their own. So it's a way to for profitable traders to leverage their skills and trade with notably more capital than what they have access to on their own. Prop firmatch compares the best prop firms and have a strict vetting process to ensure that the prop firm is solid, that it has the right backing both in terms of the team and the funding and do comprehensive vetting of the firm before we decide if we're going to list it or or not. So traders know that that they find only the best prop firms and can compare to find the best one for for them on our platform.
- [03:28]
Interviewer / Host
And what type of trading is somebody doing where they need a prop firm?
- [03:33]
Martin (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
I would say most kind of really any kind of trading. You have prop firms that you have forex prop firms, you have futures prop firms, your crypto prop firms, you have stops prop firms. So regardless of yeah. What kind of assets you you trade there is prop firms and that that fits.
- [03:55]
Interviewer / Host
And what is the importance of having a prop firm? Can you, can you give me some more details around that? Like me, I'm new to this. I want to jump in why do I really need a prop firm? And then when I'm looking at it, because obviously you all are doing a lot of analysis, I imagine you have a lot of data. What makes a good one versus one that's not as good.
- [04:16]
Martin (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
So to answer the question about why you need a prop firm, first of all, it depends on you. There are traders who have a lot of capital to trade with and don't necessarily need to leverage their capital a lot. But likely 99% or more of those who do any kind of trading has too little capital to make a living out of it or make a good side salary out of it, where problems let you go in with less capital. And if you have the skills. This is like, like any kind of trading, there is no, no magic formula. You have to to be good. It's only a small percentage that succeeds. But if you are among the best of the best, it's an opportunity to leverage your skills and earn more. So there are several things that decides if a prop firm is good or bad. The most important thing is to pay out reliability. You have to know that if you follow the rules and you receive or you accomplish a payout, you are actually getting that payout. And that's not a given. With prop firms that are not verified, that are not solid. So that's where prop firm match ensures that we vet the prop firms comprehensively to ensure that the traders can be safe on that aspect. Then there are several differences when it comes to pricing, when it comes to the rules that the different packages have in terms of how much profit you need to make and so on. So without going too much into the details, there is A lot of variations between the firms and also the solidity of the firms that we, we try our best to, to cover very comprehensively on our platform.
- [06:32]
John (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
To give, to give my take on, on prop firms and why someone would want to use a prop firm. So I remember when I first started trading, trading I needed $25,000 just to be an intraday trader to, to day trade basically which means just going in and out of trades multiple times a day. You needed a certain threshold. And prop firms, the barrier to entry, the barrier to start trading and potentially make profit was much lower. Whereas, you know, you pay a one time fee, maybe 100 bucks to get access to a specific amount of capital or you pay, you know, a subscription fee. Personally I use a subscription model for futures and I pay around $80 a month. I think it's 89 and I have access to 50,000 if I pass the test. Right. So with prop firms what you do is you get like a test and if you pass it you get access to make profit with a certain amount of capital. And the other reason I like prop firms is because trading is a bit of a difficult sport. So it takes time to get good. And rather than risking your own capital, let's say I were to go into the market with $25,000 and I'm not a good trader yet I could essentially risk that 25,000 and you know, doing things like overtrading or you know, things that are the traders are susceptible to which you know, revenge trading or going until trading emotionally, all those those things. But if you, if you pay a one time fee and you know, you fail the challenge, you know, okay, I just invested 50 to $100 and I lost that investment. Maybe I need to refocus, rethink how I trade and do better the next time. So I have a bit of skin in the game. I want to do good trading but if I lose that investment, I know it's not going to be the end of the world. So that's why I like prop firms. You know, you put a little bit of investment, it tests your skills. And if you pass the test, you pass the challenge, you get access to a lot more capital capital to, to make profit off that, that kind of leveraged capital that you get.
- [08:37]
Interviewer / Host
Got it. So it's trying to manage the risk is what I'm hearing. What are some things that people need to really look for when they're getting into this? What should they, what are the dangers? Like you were just saying some john like you could, without it you could spend Money and then you lose all your money and you make emotional trades. Are there any sort of dangers that people need to look out for when they're getting into this type of trading or when they're leveraging prop firms in trading?
- [09:05]
John (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
Yeah, just, just to follow up on that thread, I would say the risk is finding a prop firm that doesn't pay you. If you, if you do well, that's like the worst thing that could happen. And that's why prop for match exists for traders that put their hard time, their, their effort, even their money, even though it's not as much money but they put their money, their time and effort to get good and pass a challenge. If at the end you pass and you make profit and you don't get paid, that's the worst. So that's why profit match exists. So we only list the most reputable firms that will pay traders if they make profit with after passing a challenge. So I say that's the biggest risk, but it's a lot, it's a smaller risk than let's say putting up 20,000 and not being a good trader and 20, 25,000 not being a good trader and then losing it all. So you know, profirms is a very. In the trading world, the trading industry prop firms are, I'd say they're growing because the, the business model is, is attractive, low barrier to entry and if I'm a good trader I get access to more capital capital and I get to, to profit on that.
- [10:13]
Interviewer / Host
Based on what's happening right now in the world, what's going on in different industries, you obviously are seeing what people are doing and you have some, I imagine some good data that you're tracking. What types of trading are people looking at right now in this moment?
- [10:29]
Martin (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
So we don't have any trading data. The data and the training isn't happening with us. But what we do know, we do know which, which tickets and instruments people trade. And currently gold is the most popular pair in the, in the industry. Gold is heavily traded. We have now had a lot of volatility in, in oil the recent days. So traders go after after volatility. So whatever moves you will see, you will see increased trading activity in and in addition to to the payer stat, all always well traded such as the Yenq and the euro and so on. Commodities and metals are traded heavily these days.
- [11:26]
Interviewer / Host
When you all got started, what was the thing that spark when you were like we have to do this. What was it, what happened in your life that steered you toward this and why did you co found it together?
- [11:42]
Martin (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
Yeah. So what happened was that both John and me were full time traders at that point. I had been trading for for six years and we're at the point where I was doing well. I was consistently profitable and had been that for quite some time. But I struggled scaling up. So I made enough money to to make a living but not enough to scale up my trading. And one of the fascinating things with trading is that what you do with Lilly Capital is exactly the same thing that you need to do with liquid capital as long as you trade liquid instruments. The only thing that's different is the psychology, which is a big factor, but the actual clicking of buttons and strategy can be just the same, just with much more skin.
- [12:46]
ADP Representative
In the end, ADP knows anything can change the world of work. Like what if a blocked shipping port caused a worldwide coffee shortage? Suddenly, businesses are scrambling to manage an increasingly drowsy workforce. Productivity slips 20% just due to the extended time it takes to conduct a job interview while yawning. Anything can change the world of work. From HR to payroll, ADP helps businesses take on the next anything. ADP Always designing for people Bob Evans
- [13:15]
Bob Evans Commercial Voiceover
Creamy Mac and cheese and buttery mashed potatoes are made for those Easter moments you just can't plan for. Like realizing that Easter egg hunting really builds up an appetite. Or that time when the neighbors burnt their entire holiday meal and you invited them over. So this Easter, when there is no plan, say hello to Plan B O B from Bob Evans. Because when you bring out the Bob, you'll always have something delicious on the table, no matter what the Easter Bunny brings. When you need quick and easy comfort, bring out the Bob. Available now in your refrigerated section.
- [13:49]
Commercial Voiceover Artist
You do it all. So why not get all the electrolytes hydrate better than water with new Gatorade. Lower sugar now with no artificial flavors, sweeteners or colors and 75% less sugar than regular Gatorade. New to the fridge all the Gatorade electrolytes you love. Gatorade lowers sugar.
- [14:09]
Pharmaceutical Commercial Voiceover
Is it in you?
- [14:11]
Commercial Voiceover Artist
Now available nationwide. At Strayer University, we help students like you go from Will I? To why not? For over 130 years, we've been innovating higher education to make it more affordable, accessible and attainable so you can reach your goals. Go from thinking, can I? To Yes, I Can and keep striving. Visit strayer.edu to learn more. Strayer University is certified to operate in Virginia by Chev and its many campuses, including at 2121 15th Street, north in Arlington, Virginia.
- [14:44]
Martin (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
So I got over the concept. I heard about the concept of prop firms and were really intrigued by that on a personal level to scale up my, my own trading. So I reached out to to John who had the same passion for it. And when we were looking for prop firms they were really difficult to to find out which prop firms that were reliable which were we were confident would pay out and so on. Also to know what which firms that suited our style. There were no such tools. So we decided to build it knowing that there had to be a lot more traders than just the two of us in this situation. So we decided to build a platform where we would showcase just the best firms and show objective metrics so traders could use that to base their decision on. So that's, that's where it all started.
- [15:50]
John (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
Yeah, yeah Martin, we were part of the same trading community and we met there and yeah, we had the same. Martin pitched the idea and I was like this, this makes a lot of sense. And I was using a prop firm at the time time and still am a lot of traders in our community were using prop firms. So yeah, it was kind of a no brainer for me and I had the technology to, to build kind of the initial site and a lot of the other things we needed. So Martin and I, we got started pretty much right away.
- [16:19]
Interviewer / Host
So it sounds like the business thrives on community or it kind of creates a community because you're in a community. I know that the trading community is always very strong and I like that people collaborate with one another and they want to win together. So when you had this scale and as you're growing this business sounds like you have to cultivate the community because that's a part of it. Obviously there's also a lot of trust involved because people need to trust you. I think always in any trading space trust is huge. Transparency, like all these things are important how as you've grown and scaled, have you consistently tried to also uphold those things at the same time?
- [17:02]
Martin (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
So as you're saying yourself, the trust and transparency is key for us. So when we launched in 2023, one of the things that made us different from the sites that were around comparing prop firms was that what we put on the site were only based on objective metrics. And that model is something we have hold steady since then. We don't do any besides the initial vetting of the firm, we don't do any reviews. There was no way for the firm to pay themselves to a good rating or anything like that. So we showcase the objective facts, what it cost, what the profit targets are and so on. And then instead of us doing any kind of reviews, we let traders do the reviews. So we have a system where our support is verifying every single review manually. And the trader has to have been traded with the firm, so we verify that they actually have been trading with the firm. So it's real experiences. So now we have almost 10,000 verified reviews from traders that have been trading with the various firms on our site, and that's what makes up the ratings. So we are taking ourselves out of the consideration of what's the best firm and so on, and let traders decide themselves based on the metrics and the trader experience that we showcase.
- [18:48]
John (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
Yeah, and you mentioned the idea of community, and I think that resonates with us in a specific way. Like Martin and I, coming from a trading community, understanding the hardships of trading, understanding the successes of trading, all that factors in maybe, I don't know, subconsciously or consciously into how we run the business, because we, we run the business with ourselves in mind, which is we're traders. What do we want to see as traders? What do we want to uphold as traders? How do we want to communicate with traders? So that is something I think we both hold very dear. And it makes coming to work every day exciting for me because trading is a bit of a passion. It's something that I've put a lot of hours into. And running a business that's aligned with traders is something that I like to hang my hat on, something that makes me feel good about what we're doing and providing that transparency in the industry.
- [19:48]
Interviewer / Host
When you look at the marketing that you've had to do in order to get to, I mean, 10,000 reviews is a lot. And it's only been a couple years. What has been one or two marketing strategies that have helped you?
- [20:01]
Martin (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
When we first started out, we had to find a way to be seen and gain traction. So what we did even before we launched was to launch a Twitter handle where we started the marketing before we went live. And we found a way into the industry where we made a fun competition between various prop firms, where we made it like a championship where prop firms battled against each other and we compare them in different metrics where one would come out ahead and we had the community vote and it became a big event in the industry, just like a World cup where we ended up with final. And that's something we did even before we launched, which gained a lot of traction. So we had, we had a flying start when we did launch a few months after. So I think that's important to be creative and find out how you can stand out and how you can make a mark, especially when you are new and need to be seen. After that, we have focused on building the brand, building the business with the things we have discussed in mind with transparency and trust. And things have come naturally from, from that as we have. I've grown from starting out with just John and I to, to now being a about 80 people team and in
- [21:52]
Interviewer / Host
two and a half year, that's incredible. Like in two and a half years. The great thing about what you're doing is it's very unique. I almost wanted to say it's like a niche thing because it's not so big that 8 billion people on the planet know about it. But it was a major problem that you solved that no one really had solved before. And I think it's hard, I think it's nowadays hard to find a lot of problems that need to be solved in many industries because so many have been. So most people are kind of like redoing what's already happened, right? Like they're like, oh, this is a problem. It's not a major problem and they're just redoing it, but you found a major problem in something you were doing which is very unique and it's a, that's a great story. What has had to change in the two of you? I mean your co founders. So obviously there's, you know, amazing parts and complexities around, around having just co founders in general and then growing to 80 people. So what's had to change in the two of you, whether it's your leadership skills, your mindset, whatever that is, that's, that's had to do this as you've gotten to where you are now.
- [22:59]
Martin (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
So when we started out we were two and as we just touched on, we are now a lot more and that's a huge difference obviously. And things have, have gone really, really quickly. So what we, when we started out, and also with a small team, we could be, we didn't need a lot of processes things we got an idea and we went quickly to execution. Whereas now we have more people to relate to. We need processes for what we do to be scalable. So one of the phase we're in now is to figure out how we can keep that same mindset. We want to be able to move quick. We want to have the fun of a startup, but still introduce more processes and make sure that we have a model that's Scalable that's less dependent of of John and me. So that's an interesting challenge that we are in the middle of as we speak.
- [24:20]
John (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
Yeah. As the company grows, there's more people to talk to, there's more processes. But it's really enjoyable. We have a great team. Really like communicating with everyone on the team. But yeah, when me and Martin first started it was like things moved very quickly and things still move fairly quickly, but it is with more people, there's more communication, more people need to know things. So things tend to move in a more process type way.
- [24:47]
Interviewer / Host
Yeah, the agility changes when like you said, when you have more people you have to think about could you might have investors, you have to think about you. There's a lot of things you need to think about as you grow in scale. So you can't move as quick, but you can still move quick more thoughtfully. And I love the processes and procedures. That is something I think a lot of entrepreneurs were like driving 100 miles a second and we sometimes forget that if we had a process and procedure it can make life easier. Also if we have employees that leave or change then they can just easily pick it up. It sounds so simple but I think so many people do forget to do that. But if people want to get in touch with you guys, they want to find out more information, how can they do so?
- [25:33]
Martin (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
All right, so to find out more about us go to propfelmatch.com that's where you can find out more about both the team as a whole but most importantly for the traders watching the information about prop firms as a whole and the various prop firms that we list. We also have accounts on x on Instagram, YouTube. Yeah, every social media that that is out there where we post a lot of valuable content for prop firm traders with with details around prop trading as a whole and also various prop firms.
- [26:19]
Interviewer / Host
Well, Martin and John, co founders of prop firm Match. I learned something new today. I don't know everything but I've definitely learned a lot over the years and I do like it when I can talk to some people doing something that I don't know yet. And it's unique and I learned a lot. So I appreciate your time today and thanks for joining us on founders story.
- [26:41]
Martin (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
Thank you, thank you for having us.
- [26:45]
Bob Evans Commercial Voiceover
We've been the trusted experts since 1960 because nobody knows tires better than we do. And with over 90 tire brands we have an abundance of options in stock for your vehicle. Buy and drive today@discount tire.com let's get
- [26:57]
Martin (Co-founder of Prop Firm Match)
you taken care of did you know?
- [27:00]
Pharmaceutical Commercial Voiceover
About one in three people with plaque psoriasis may also develop psoriatic arthritis, which causes joint pain, stiffness and swelling. Does this sound like you? Listen to what it sounds like to be a million miles away. Trompia gusocomab, taken by injection, is a prescription medicine for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who may benefit from taking injections or pills or phototherapy. And for adults with active psoriatic arthritis, serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. Imagine being a million miles away. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about trimfia. Tap this ad to learn more about trimfia, including important safety information.
- [27:59]
Indeed Representative
Hiring isn't just filling a role. It's about finding people who can drive results Indeed Sponsor Jobs helps you match with the right candidates faster. Target candidates by skills, certifications or location. Join the 3.3 million employers worldwide that use Indeed to connect with quality talent that fits their needs. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves@ Indeed.com podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring do it the right way with Indeed.
- [28:29]
Pharmaceutical Commercial Voiceover
Does your day move faster than you can keep up with new Gatorade Lower Sugar My family and I can stay at the top of our game. No artificial flavors, sweeteners or colors. 75% less sugar and all the electrolytes of regular Gatorade now available nationwide with
- [28:44]
Interviewer / Host
its two juicy beef patties, three slices
- [28:47]
ADP Representative
of melted cheese and tangy Big Arch sauce. The Big Arch is what happens when you start making a McDonald's burger and never stop. The Big Arch, the most McDonald's McDonald's burger yet for a limited time.