Nathaniel Panza is a finance and accounting professional based in New Jersey, currently working as an Associate advising clients on IPO readiness, valuation, and capital markets transactions for emerging growth companies. His work involves financial modeling, trading comparables, and discounted cash flow analysis, supporting clients through complex transactions alongside executives, auditors, legal counsel, and senior bankers.
Nathaniel graduated cum laude from Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business with a degree in Finance and Accounting, maintaining a 3.9 GPA. Before his current role, he interned as a Hedge Fund Analyst at a fund focused on capital solutions for micro-cap and small-cap companies, and served as a Student Analyst in Baylor’s Small-Cap Portfolio Management Practicum, helping manage a student-run investment fund and contributing to a report for the CFA Institute Research Challenge.
Outside of finance, Nathaniel completed Ironman Texas in 2025, finishing in the top 10 of his age group. He spends much of his free time outdoors, surfing, hiking, spearfishing, and fly fishing, and has early entrepreneurial experience as Co-Owner of a seasonal surfing lessons business during college. Faith and a grounded sense of perspective play a meaningful role in how he approaches both his career and personal life.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
I try to start most days with a walk to get some fresh air before diving into anything, it helps me get my head clear before the inbox takes over. Once I’m in, mornings are usually about client work, models, valuations, deal prep, that kind of thing, since that’s when I’m sharpest. Afternoons tend to fill up fast with calls, whether it’s clients, auditors, or internal team check ins. I try to protect at least an hour of quiet, focused time before the meetings take over, otherwise the whole day turns reactive instead of productive.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I like to test things in a small, low-risk way first before going all in. That usually means talking it through with a few people I trust, or trying a scaled down version to see if it actually holds up in practice. If it does, I build a simple plan and just start moving instead of overthinking every detail upfront. Waiting for a perfect plan usually just means the idea never happens.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Capital markets are becoming way more accessible for smaller, emerging growth companies. Tools, data, and advisory services that used to only be available to huge corporations are now within reach for much smaller businesses. It’s leveling the playing field in a way that makes this a genuinely exciting time to be working with earlier stage companies.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Blocking off my calendar first thing in the morning, before anyone else can fill it with meetings, and pairing that with a few minutes of prayer or quiet reflection before the day really gets going. That small routine sets the tone. It gives me a sense of control over the day instead of just reacting to whatever comes at me first.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Stop waiting to feel 100% ready before starting something. You’ll never feel fully prepared, and that’s fine. Trust the process more, put in the work, and trust that things tend to work out the way they’re supposed to, even when it’s not obvious in the moment.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
I think specializing too early can actually hold people back more than it helps them. Getting broad experience across different roles, industries, or even hobbies usually builds better judgment and adaptability than niching down right away. Some of the best insights I’ve had came from experiences that had nothing to do with finance directly.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Take five minutes at the end of the day to think through what went well and what didn’t before logging off completely. It’s a small habit, but it keeps me honest about progress instead of just moving from one task to the next without reflecting.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I get outside. A hike, a surf session, or a few hours fishing usually clears my head faster than trying to push through it at a desk. Prayer helps too, it puts things back in perspective pretty quickly and reminds me that most stress is temporary, even when it doesn’t feel that way in the moment.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Getting real, hands-on experience early, through student-run projects, internships, and practicums, instead of waiting until after graduation to get exposure. That early experience taught me things no classroom could, and it gave me a much stronger starting point once I moved into full time work.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
Early on, I underestimated how long a client engagement would actually take to move from start to finish. I had to recalibrate my expectations and communicate more proactively about timelines instead of assuming things would move faster than they realistically could. The lesson stuck with me, build in buffer time for the things you can’t predict, because there’s always something.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Something that connects small, growth-stage companies directly with independent advisors for one-off project work, rather than requiring them to build out a full internal team before they’re ready for one. There’s a real gap there for companies too small for a full retainer but too complex to handle it alone.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Excel, hands down. I use it constantly for building and stress-testing financial models, running scenarios, and making sense of large data sets quickly. It’s not flashy, but it’s still the backbone of most of the work I do day to day.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
A daypack for weekend hikes and fishing trips. It sounds simple, but it gets used constantly and makes it that much easier to actually get outside instead of finding an excuse not to.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
Damodaran on Valuation by Aswath Damodaran
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
The Wolf of Wall Street
Key learnings
- Hands-on experience gained early, through internships, student-run projects, and practicums, often builds sharper real-world judgment than classroom learning alone.
- Protecting even a small window of focused, uninterrupted time each day can offset a schedule dominated by meetings.
- Stepping fully away from work, rather than pushing through fatigue, is often a faster way to reset focus than simply working longer hours.
- Building buffer time into timelines for the unexpected is a recurring lesson in client-facing work.
- Testing an idea on a small scale before committing significant time or resources helps validate whether it’s worth pursuing further.