LevelUp Podcast

Building Clarity and Strategic Value in the Finance Function With Daniel Nelson


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Daniel Nelson is a Fractional CFO and Partner at Tech Brainstorm, where he helps founders and growth-stage companies bring order, strategy, and speed to their finance functions. Tech Brainstorm specializes in building investor-ready financial models and scalable operations for innovative businesses. Over his 15+ year career, Daniel has supported more than 40 startups and high-growth companies, helping them raise capital, navigate M&A, and design finance teams that drive strategic outcomes. He is also an active educator, teaching Startup Economics 101 to help entrepreneurs understand the power of finance in scaling their businesses.

In this episode…

Sometimes, the finance function feels like the last place anyone goes looking for clarity. Data pours in from every direction, systems pile on top of one another, and leaders are expected to somehow make sense of it all. But what if clarity isn't a luxury, but rather the real strategic advantage that finance leaders can create? And what happens when the job isn't just reporting what happened but shaping what happens next?

According to Daniel Nelson, a seasoned guide for founders navigating financial chaos, the answer starts with making the complex useful. He believes that finance earns its power when it helps people understand their business, not just measure it. Drawing on years of experience transforming early-stage companies, he explains how the right structures, tools, and conversations can transform scattered data into meaningful decision points. In his view, the real value of the finance leader lies in their ability to connect dots across people, processes, and systems, enabling teams to move forward with confidence.

In this episode of the Level Up, Nick Araco is joined by Daniel Nelson, Fractional CFO and Partner at Tech Brainstorm, to discuss how finance leaders can build clarity and strategic value in fast-moving companies. They explore what it takes to modernize finance operations, how to turn KPIs into practical growth tools, and why real-time data only matters if teams know how to use it. Daniel also gives advice on navigating founder–finance tension and building trust that enables better decision-making.

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LevelUp PodcastBy Nick Araco

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