How Relationships Win IPO Mandates | Brittany Skoda, Morgan Stanley

Perception: Investment bankers win mandates by pitching harder than their competition. Reality: The deal is usually decided long before anyone walks into a bake-off.Brittany Skoda is the Global Head of AI & Software Banking at Morgan Stanley, where she's led over 75 transactions for companies including Amazon, Dropbox, Google, Tesla, and Zendesk. Before Morgan Stanley, she was VP of Investments at Workday and rose from analyst to SVP at Goldman Sachs. In this episode of Carried Interest, she and host Sam Andersen get into what it really takes to win mandates, build trust in private capital, and navigate today's IPO market.What's inside this episode:— How Morgan Stanley won the Hinge Health IPO—and why the relationship started 15 years before the deal closed— How to build meaningful relationships without the forcing function of an imminent transaction— The real state of the IPO window and what it actually takes to go public today— Why most M&A fails—and what separates the deals that create value from the ones that destroy it— How private equity is evolving as fund sizes grow and AI reshapes investment horizons— Career advice for analysts stepping into banking: Growth lives outside your comfort zoneIf you work in private equity—or want to—this one's worth your time.Carried Interest is a podcast by Affinity. 🔗 Affinity: https://www.affinity.co🔗 Morgan Stanley: https://www.morganstanley.comConnect with Brittany: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittany-skoda-08354a7/Connect with Sam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samander/Follow AffinityYouTube: @affinity_presents YouTube (product): @affinity_co LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/project-affinity/ (00:00) - Introduction of Brittany Skoda (01:25) - How did the relationship between Morgan Stanley and Hinge Health begin and evolve into a successful IPO? (04:39) - How do you build and focus on long-term relationships without an imminent transaction? (07:22) - How is the world of private equity evolving, and how do relationships play into that evolution? (11:14) - What does it take today for a company to be IPO ready, and what metrics should they focus on? (15:31) - What is the current consensus on the IPO window cycle? (17:25) - What are the consequences of private businesses becoming as large as a trillion dollars before exiting? (20:28) - What makes an M&A transaction work and differentiates it as value-creative? (23:03) - What guidance do you give clients to help them ensure an acquisition is successful over the long term? (24:27) - What advice would you give a finance graduate starting a career in banking? (26:12) - What attributes do standout analysts possess that lead to long-term success?