The Deal Desk

One concept, one real deal, every day.

An AI-voiced corporate finance podcast for students preparing for investment banking interviews. Marco explains, Sofia asks the questions you would.

Season 1

24 of 42 released

Next episode

Episode 25 Purchase price allocation and goodwill What happens to the price after the deal closes, and why goodwill can come back to bite.

Releases on 17 October 2026 at 07:00, Rome time.

Week 1 Foundations

  1. 1Who actually does what in an investment bank14 min
  2. 2The income statement, and the profit that wasn't13 min
  3. 3The balance sheet, and the fifty billion that vanished11 min
  4. 4The cash flow statement, and why Enron had to fake its cash12 min
  5. 5Linking the three statements, and the ten euros of depreciation12 min
  6. 6Working capital, and how Amazon gets its suppliers to fund it11 min
  7. 7Week one review, no notes allowedReview11 min

Week 2 Value

  1. 8Equity value versus enterprise value, and the price tag that lies10 min
  2. 9The bridge from equity value to enterprise value10 min
  3. 10Multiples, and why software is worth three supermarkets10 min
  4. 11Trading comparables, and is Ferrari a car company?10 min
  5. 12Precedent transactions, and the price of control10 min
  6. 13The D-C-F, and why a euro today beats a euro tomorrow12 min
  7. 14Week two review, one café chain and every valuation toolReview12 min

Week 3 The DCF

  1. 15Unlevered free cash flow, or who pays for the capex11 min
  2. 16The cost of capital, or how Klarna lost eighty-five percent12 min
  3. 17Terminal value, or the judge who changed one number12 min
  4. 18D-C-F sensitivities and traps, or the shares that were counted twice12 min
  5. 19Levered versus unlevered free cash flow, or the water company that couldn't pay its owners11 min
  6. 20Valuing banks and insurers, or the bank that sold for a fifteenth of its book12 min
  7. 21Week three review, the D-C-F from cash flow to share priceReview11 min

Week 4 Mergers and acquisitions

  1. 22Synergies, or the beer merger that ran on savings12 min
  2. 23The deal process, or the buyer who tried to walk away from Twitter11 min
  3. 24Accretion and dilution, or the deal Microsoft said would shrink its earnings12 min
  4. 25Purchase price allocation and goodwill
  5. 26Hostile bids
  6. 27The IPO process
  7. 28Week four reviewReview

Week 5 LBOs and private equity

  1. 29What an LBO is
  2. 30IRR and MOIC
  3. 31Debt structure
  4. 32The paper LBO
  5. 33LBOs gone wrong
  6. 34An Italian and European deal
  7. 35Week five reviewReview

Week 6 Interview readiness

  1. 36Talking about a deal
  2. 37The markets pitch
  3. 38Restructuring
  4. 39Fit questions
  5. 40Mental maths
  6. 41Numerical tests
  7. 42Season review and mock superdayReview