Build a Career in M&A
Todd Manley shares his unconventional journey into M&A, starting in IT and organizational behavior before eventually overseeing integrations at Cisco, S…
What you’ll learn
- What it truly takes to succeed in corporate development—emphasizing empathy</li><li>Why networking and cross-functional relationships often matter more than job titles
- How to network effectively inside and outside your organization
- How to navigate career pivots into corporate development
Who is this course for
This course is for professionals who want to break into M&A or level up within it — regardless of where they started. Whether you come from finance, legal, ops, or IT, Todd's story is proof that there's no single path into corporate development. He covers how to position yourself for M&A roles, what hiring managers actually look for, how to build a network that opens doors, and the mindset that separates people who just close deals from those who make them successful.
Instructor
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Todd Manley is VP of Corporate Development Integration at Intel, where he leads integration strategy and execution for one of the world's most recognized technology companies. His path into M&A was anything but traditional — starting as an IT consultant and ERP implementer at EDS, then spending years at WebEx before Cisco acquired the company in 2006. That acquisition became his entry point into M&A, when a chance conversation after a leadership meeting led to a role on Cisco's integration team. Over the next two decades, he built deep expertise across IT integration, corporate development, and large-scale divestitures — most recently leading Intel's spin-out of its Altera business. A Stanford alum and self-described "Series C/D operator," Todd brings a rare blend of technical depth, operational experience, and hard-won M&A instincts to every deal.
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Have any questions?
The Intelligence Hub is where M&A practitioners access Buyer-Led M&A™ playbooks, frameworks, templates, and real-world insights from experienced deal leaders. Courses are taught by practitioners who've run deals — not academics or advisors. Topics include integration planning, due diligence, deal sourcing, valuation, and more.
The Intelligence Hub is available 24/7 through your M&A Science membership. Access them on-demand at your pace, on any device.
It depends on where you are in your M&A journey. If you're building foundational knowledge, start with the M&A Fundamentals Track — five courses covering the full deal lifecycle from sourcing through integration. If you're already running deals and want to build a repeatable, scalable process, explore the Buyer-Led M&A™ Certification. New courses are added regularly as we deepen the curriculum.
