For IROs: Don’t Be the Salad. Be the Best Cherry Tomato.
What a 20-year sell-side analyst sees that most IR teams miss.
Brett Feldman, SVP, Treasurer, and Investor Relations at AT&T, spent two decades on the sell side before moving into corporate IR. That dual perspective gives him an unusually clear view of what good IR actually looks like.
We recently listened to his conversation on the Winning IR podcast, with Mark Faskin. The episode is packed with insights, but here are three that stood out to us, along with a bit of added context on why they caught our attention.
1. The real test of IR: Did the market’s reaction surprise you?
During the podcast, Brett shares how he measures whether IR communications are actually working. It is refreshingly simple:
“Anytime we provide new insight to the market… if that response is meaningfully different than what we had anticipated, I screwed up. Because I did not help the leadership appropriately understand the way the public investment community would digest this.”
He then points to a red flag every IRO can catch in real time: if analysts on your earnings Q&A keep saying “not to beat a dead horse,” they are telling you the prepared materials did not close the loop on something important.
Our take: We love how simple this is. Most IROs measure impact through meetings held, targeting, or share price. Brett’s version is sharper: did the market react the way management expected? We recently spoke with an IRO whose investor day reaction was not great. When we asked if that was what she expected, she said yes. That is good communication. No surprises means the IR team did its job.
2. Don’t be the salad. Be the best cherry tomato.
This one comes from Brett’s sell-side experience. As an analyst, he spent years working on IPOs, helping vet companies and explain their stories to the sales force. Time and again, he’d hear the same thing from management teams:
“You meet these companies and they say, ‘We’re sort of like a hybrid of Meta and Google and Amazon.’ No, that’s not going to work. I need to know that you are a very specific thing, and I need to understand why you’re very good at that very specific thing. That’s what gets investors excited. That’s what gets them to pay a premium. Hybrids trade at discounts.”
His advice:
“They’re only going to remember one thing. So ask yourself, why have we overcomplicated what we’re saying? Let’s just figure out the single thing that makes us special. And then tell that story.”
Our take: Companies are always trying to be too many things to too many people, and it dilutes the investor thesis every time. Brett’s push is a good one for any IRO: can your equity story be reduced to one clear, compelling idea? If not, the rest of your materials are going to struggle.
3. Understand the three forces shaping every analyst interaction.
Brett spent 20 years on the sell side, and he now teaches a section on understanding analysts at Columbia Business School. His framework is simple: every sell-side analyst’s behavior is shaped by three forces.
“If you’re trying to understand a person and why they do what they do, it’s always helpful to understand the incentive structure that drives their behavior.”
Compliance comes first, always. After the scandals of the early 2000s, equity research became heavily regulated. Strict separation between the analyst and the rest of the bank. Ratings distributions are often mandated. Analysts cannot share different views with different audiences. Brett puts it simply: “Compliance is a landmine that if they step on it, there’s no going back.” So if an analyst conversation ever feels stiff or overly guarded, don’t assume they’re being difficult. They may be navigating a constraint they cannot discuss.
Recognition drives career progression. II and ExTel rankings, conference visibility, stock-picking awards, and most importantly, formal buy-side scorecards where institutional investors grade how useful each analyst has been. When an analyst asks for a one-on-one with your CEO, a seat at your conference, or a joint event, they are building the case for their own recognition. Understanding that shifts how you think about those asks.
Corporate relationships are the most intuitive pillar for IROs: conferences, NDRs, corporate access. But Brett’s point is broader. Participation and visibility in any form strengthens the relationship, and that relationship feeds both the analyst’s recognition and their ability to provide differentiated insight to buy-side clients.
Our take: This one was eye-opening for us, especially on the compliance side. Next time an analyst interaction feels off, run it through the three forces. Is there a compliance issue? A recognition ask? A relationship gap? The framework helps you diagnose what is actually going on. Worth listening to the full episode for this section alone.
This article is based on a recent episode of the Winning IR podcast, hosted by Mark Faskin and produced by Irwin. Worth putting on during your next walk or gap between meetings. Brett goes deeper on internal IR and what managing perception looks like at AT&T’s scale.
📌 Hear the full conversation here.
Learn more about OUTKREATE’s Investor Relations Solutions
We help Investor Relations teams to ELEVATE presentations for any occasion – be it your Investor Day, General Overview, Quarterly Earnings, Investor Conferences, ESG Updates.
Thinking of UPGRADING your Investor Materials?
TALK THROUGH YOUR PRESENTATION CHALLENGE
How does your Presentation measure up?
Do you have a major event or a high-stakes meeting coming up? Do you need a sharp narrative and bold design?
Let's connect and we can take a closer look at your presentations. We'll share with you actionable ideas along with real examples that you can apply to improve odds of success.