• strategy

The Fintelos framework: A roadmap that links finance to strategy

March 31, 2025

Growing a business is a constant balancing act. Every founder starts with a vision, but turning that vision into a thriving, scalable company requires more than just good instincts and grit—it demands financial clarity, operational discipline, and the ability to tell a compelling financial story. 

In this post, we’ll provide an overview of the framework we use to guide our clients as they grow. Stay tuned for future posts where we dive deeper into specific stages and disciplines of the framework.

The reality of scaling: New phases, new challenges

Each phase of growth brings new complexities. What worked in the early days won’t necessarily get you to the next stage. As your team grows, so do the challenges of managing people, refining your go-to-market strategy, and ensuring that your processes can scale. At the same time, your financial responsibilities become more demanding. While solid gut instincts remain essential, supporting those instincts with back-of-the-envelope calculations will only get you so far on your journey. As you grow, operational excellence and access to capital require sophisticated reporting, deeper analysis, and a clear financial narrative that demonstrates control and strategic direction. 

This is especially true when you’re preparing for fundraising or acquisition—clarity and consistency in your financials are essential. A well-structured financial story that aligns with and supports your company narrative is what separates companies that secure funding or get acquired from those that struggle to get a second meeting.

How to get to the next growth stage

Many founders looking to progress to the next stage lack access to a seasoned finance leader who has achieved and supported this growth before. Without that guidance, they rely purely on instinct and often overlook key financial and operational strategies that can make or break business growth.

To bridge the gap, we built the Fintelos framework—a structured approach that helps companies at each stage of their growth move beyond surface-level financials and build a strategically sound, investment-ready business. The framework is tailored to each stage of growth, helping founders understand the next right steps depending on where they are in their journey.

While every company is unique, there’s a common way investors assess risk, scalability, and financial health. The Fintelos framework isn’t just our opinion; it’s how the market evaluates businesses. Understanding that perspective—and structuring your business accordingly—can make the difference between a smooth growth process and one full of friction.

Defining what “great” looks like throughout the growth journey

At Fintelos, we work with software and professional services companies across three major growth stages:

• Early stage / Pre-seed, seed: Establishing financial fundamentals, setting up key processes, and identifying scalable revenue models and go-to-market economics.
• Growth / Series A: Implementing financial discipline, refining go-to-market strategies, and preparing for larger funding rounds.
• Scaling / Series B+: Optimizing operations, aligning finance with strategy, and positioning for long-term growth or exit.

At each of these stages, we focus on eight key disciplines of strategic finance, outlining what a “great” version looks like at each growth stage:

• Leadership: Building the right team and making data-informed decisions.
• Go-to-market strategy: Understanding market dynamics and implementing unit economics that enable scalable growth.
• Metrics & KPIs: Defining and tracking the performance indicators that will get you to the next stage.
• Finance processes: Building a strong and scalable foundation for accounting, budgeting, and audits.
• Finance team: Structuring your finance function to support the business strategically.
• Finance tech stack: Creating and growing a single source of truth for key operational and financial data.
• Corporate & capitalization: Managing equity, debt, cap tables, and employee stock incentives effectively.
• Governance: Ensuring board reporting and investor conversations are strategic and productive.

Each of these dimensions requires a consistent approach as a company grows from stage to stage, so rather than relying on a fragmented approach, we’ve consolidated all of these concepts into a single integrated framework.

Scaling smarter: Making the right moves at the right time

The Fintelos framework acts like a playbook, guiding founders through each stage while ensuring their financial and operational strategy aligns with investor expectations. Just as parents seek to understand what milestones their children should be hitting at each age, founders need a clear view of what “great” looks like at their company’s stage of growth.

For example, an early-stage company should focus on establishing a stable revenue model before implementing complex financial processes to avoid unnecessary overhead and inefficiencies. A more mature company, on the other hand, might concentrate on scaling governance and leadership while maintaining financial discipline.

The Fintelos framework helps founders navigate these challenges by aligning their business decisions with their current phase, ensuring a structured path toward sustainable growth and investor readiness.

Wondering what “great” looks like for your business?

The Fintelos framework helps founders navigate these challenges by aligning their business decisions with their current phase, ensuring a structured path toward sustainable growth and investor readiness.

If you’re ready to see what great looks like and prepare for meaningful investor conversations, let’s talk. Contact us to learn more.