I am an Entrepreneur but love the fact that in Mckinsey they expect their consultants to think like Business owners not as employees, because these cases, questions and answers are how a business owner would think in solving a problem. Excellent!!
This is basically due to the fact that M&A involves selling/buying a business, so you must think like business owners because you are representing them
McKinsey don’t actually have that good a track record, there are many horror stories available online and I worked for a large telecommunications company that followed their advise, and had to undo the damage and then start over. Numbers alone aren’t really as helpful as you might think. It is easy to make false assumptions, this is where knowing your market and looking outside the box can be more beneficial.
What drove it home for me in this case was the intuitive questions asked throughout, which eventually led to the interviewer giving out a lot more crucial information to the case. "Everyone has an answer these days, but no one knows the right questions to ask" Bravo!
As good as this is, the key takeaway for me (as a non-business person) is that we just have to be structured in how we think. It's a huge ask for a lot of people but it is the most critical skill - the ability to think and plan clearly. The most challenging thing is to do this during a 30 minutes interview. I would need hours to prepare the kind of clear answers this guy gave on the spot.
An outstanding study of an interview process. The interviewer had a clear well throughout brief and the interviewee moved quickly towards a solution. The key to note is how well the interview material questions were structured and the candidate broke down the problem into the right buckets. I particularly liked the creative part of the interview and the conclusion that although this didn’t fit it might be a good potential business to buy as a standalone. I can’t wait to see more of your material.
Wow as an non-MBA student this is such an high-paced interview, really hard to catch all phrases coming out from the interviewer mouth. But very insightful also!!
I am a 24 years old senior industrial engineering student and I am trying to improve my business acumen. I was looking for something like this and discovering your channel & website made me so happy! I've discovered your channel today, and I've studied this video like a course material. Thank you so much for your effort, wish you the best!
As the candidate pointed out there is no much room for synergy as the business models are different. However, I would take a look at processing costs to see if makes sense to manufacture Lamode products using Flashfash machinery. This means increasing Flashfash productions by 10% (ball park figure). Still they are stand alone businesses. This video is one of the best I have seen in M&A analysys in a productive half an hour. I imagine what insights would come up after a couple of weeks of going deep on it.
I think that at 7:05, that is the third box was rather a weak explanation, it was much more tied with synergies than actual capabilities to execute acquistion
I absolutely love this video. It's just so beautifully structured and such an applied strategy rather than a spoonfed route to depict the learning here
How to become a CEO in 30:07 mins. Stop jokes, the interview is perfect both in depth of detail and in timing, as a constructive criticism you could give more details on the context, for which role/seniority it is the typical interview? Even for recent graduates? The case studies always touch all business areas? Great job.
Great video. You can see how the case is very simple and has an easy structure, so as long as you dont overthink it and are confident. Practice makes perfect.
In 11:23 he wants to calculate the expected sales of Lamode in 5 years. Therefore, he calculates the current sales 2bn x 3 (since it will have trippled in 5 years). This makes sense to me. But why does he then divide the expected sales of 6bn by 3? This doesnt make sense to me? Maybe I just missed an important detail here?
Asia will make 1/3 of the total sales in 5 years. Current total sales are 2bn, they will triple in 5 years to 6bn and the share of Asia will be 1/3 of total sales, 1/3*6=6/3=2
I am a policy analyst, and this video has been very insightful. It would be beneficial to see a case approach for a senior management post from programmes or project perspective. The approach highlights some critical fundamentals in such interview models; however, from a programme perspective, there may be some missing linkages as data may vary if a variable such as gender is introduced and or if the case scenario is highly qualitative rather than quantitative.
Great video. In addition to value, synergies and capabilities, I would first clearly define Flash flash objectives for acquisition and determine if LaMode satisfied those objectives. If LaMode does not align with FF short and long term corporate goals and objectives, it's a No Go decision.
Another challenge is that these cases and analyses often just look at the problem from a financial and ownership question without looking a human factors and ease of merging (or maintaining separate) operations, as well as examples of branding and identity. While those factors may be deemed as less relevant in an M&A case, they also impact the likely success of acquiring a company that seems quite different in terms of market, product and more. They likely would have reached the same recommendation, but it would have been nice to see front-line realities included with back-office decisions. Many a merger that may look good on paper can fail due to challenges of implementation and integration.
I can't speak for the candidate in the video, but developing these kind of frameworks and ability to structure a problem in order to determine a solution is pretty typical both in the top-tier MBA programs and for those who have worked as a management consultant previously. It relies on listening, structuring/prioritizing, and restating the information you've just heard. It's definitely a skill that gets better with practice.
I also was confused, assume that from this point they're referring to the market as the online market - so the 8bn he provides at 11.30 is the size of the online market and we never find out the overall market size, he also clarifies by saying 4.2% of the online market
The final bucket of "company capability" did not seem mutually exclusive from the previous bucket of "Synergies". The interviewee even said "as I mentioned before..."
Hi Ezzaty - Synergies and Capabilities are very different. Synergies mean "What opportunities do we create to generate more revenue or reduce cost by combining the two entities". Capabilities mean "Do we have the skills and resource to successfully execute this acquisition". These are very different questions with little overlap. I hope this helps!
@@CaseCoach Fully agree - Working in M&A and the capability to successfully run an acquisition process and implement the deal is very high in the way we rank buyers or acquirers depending on which side you are.
At 12:00 there is a breakdown of the mathematical thinking that goes into solving this problem. Where can I find more examples of questions like this? Im looking for "business maths" examples like the one shown in this video. I would like to practice some myself to try and improve my business maths abilities so as to be better prepared for future interviews such as this one
From a M&A strategy consultant and investment banker, this is my opinion for people who are planning on entering either one of those industries: If you like money, presitge, power and recognition, go for it. If you like the free things in life, such as relationships, health, time.. dont.
This is a wonderful video. I learnt so much. I'm going to start work in a consulting firm in a month and this video couldn't have come at a better time!
liked the structure, although the 3rd aspect wasn't really explored. Liked the structured brainstorming part that revolved around the tags of the target company (geography, industry, position, sales channel)
I've always wondered, can this kind of thinking be trained as with any other skill? I know some people are inherently better at structured thinking and expressing themselves. However, are these always the types of individuals who work at these top tier consulting firms? Or are there others that have achieved this level of thinking through practice and exposure? @CaseCoach
I think this most certainly comes from training. I used to be really bad at structuring my work and taking the leadership on all of my cases, but I improved so much after training with case partners on several cases. You can outsmart yourself and improve after each mock case.
In our experience, most candidates start by being bad at structuring. Of those who put in the effort to learn and practice, some will get it and others will not.
@@cutesy5090 I have some experience with case interviews but looking to improve further. What's the chance of you wanting/willing to be my case partner?
idk whether or not you can still see my comments, but i think the feature of flashfash that is the rapid process from design to the actual production is missed in the synergy bucket, which could bring benefits to the own brand of lamode.
Because in five years the apparel market size will be multiplied by 2 and the share of online sales for this market will be multiplied by 3. Let’s say that today the apparel market size is 4B and the share of online sails is 25%(1B) So Y0 = 1B. Five years later the apparel market size will have doubled so it will be 8B and the share of online sales will have tripled so it will be 75% of that number (6B) Thus Y5 = 6B = 6 * 1B = 6 * Y0. Hope it helps
for the online sales of Fash fash vs Lamoute 16:42 what's so unique about that? FF's sales volume is much larger, naturally in absolute terms they will have more online sales?
Since LaMode is an on-line pure player, you would expect that they have e-commerce expertise to bring to FlashFash. However, when you look at the numbers, you realize that FlashFash does more business online than LaMode, and therefore that they must have plenty on in-house e-commerce expertise already - hence not much to gain on that front from acquiring LaMode.
@@CaseCoach But FlashFash is obviously a bigger company than LaMode so it makes sense for it to have more absolute sales online. That still doesn't eliminate the possibility of sales growth online were it to take LaMode's in-house e-commerce personnel.
Hi, very interesting video. Thanks. One thing though. 80 to 90 % of merger and acquisition fail...among the frequent reasons that explain that rate: integration obstacles: culture differences, no real leadership from top management, lack of mission embodiment, lack of vision etc...the numbers are the only thing we're looking at here, how come is it possible not to mention/talk/have the conversation about what can be a key element in the outcome? Thanks
Yes, you would typically include a section about capabilities and risk in your structure. That's what we did here. However we did not get to it. It is less of a priority than discussing whether the acquisition would make sense in the first place. If we had more time, we would have talked about it. Getting the priorities right is an important part of a case interview.
Why have you not considered the revenue synergies driven by FF's experience in quickly collecting customer feedback and quickly translating that into products? Wouldn't that be a huge advantage in expanding LM globally? Couldn't that help LM get it right first time and acquire 4.2% of the Asian market in 5 years?
I would think that strategy is more applied to "mid-level" products, in terms of luxury goods, since LM is dealing mainly with existing luxury brands and it is more time consuming to establish a luxury brand, this fast production may not apply here.
This is a brilliant video - thank you for making this. Question, at 18:20, he calculates a quick gross profit of $40 for FlashFlash. This is based on FlashFlash's business infrastructure generating this gross profit. But then he compares this to LaMode's transaction cost and says that FlashFlash cannot profitably utilize LaMode's website to make a profit because the $40 gross profit is lower than LaMode's transaction cost of $48. But LaMode's transaction cost of $48 is specifically for the high-end luxury goods sold on its platform, why would the same transaction cost apply to FlashFlash if FlashFlash products were to be sold on LaMode? I could argue that the transaction cost of $48 only takes place as part of selling a premium service only for LaMode luxury products; and any FlashFlash item sold via the online-infrastructure of LaMode could just retain the regular transaction cost of $6 right? Is this a subjective part of the case or did I miss something? Essentially FlashFlash makes roughly $40 of Gross Profit and net of transaction costs it makes $34. La Mode makes $116 of gross profit and net of transaction costs it makes $68 or almost double what FlashFlash makes net of transaction costs. Is there something stopping FlashFlash from selling its items on LaMode without the $48 transaction cost incurred only as part of the high end website?
Yes, this is based on the hypothesis that the transaction cost of LaMode does not depend on how expensive the product purchased is (i.e., they have one service level that they apply to all of their sales). You could imagine LaMode starting to provide a "no frills" service but that's unlikely because not consistent with their brand.
The fact that an ONLINE luxury retailer is growing at such a fast pace, clearly speaks about the premium concierge services provided by LaMode to keep their HNI clients satisfied. So, if LaMode decides to sell FlashFlash on their channels with a reduced service quality, it will affect the overall brand reputation that LaMode has. Luxury segment is a lot about feeling special and exclusive. Hence there is no reason for fast growing LaMode to let go of these elements even if they start stocking mid-segment products from FlashFlash. A case in point will be Apple. Even with Iphone SE on the market, you will not be treated differently if you were to walk in into an Apple store for a purchase or a repair - irrespective of what your purchase is.
just realizing how consulting is like being in class and your teacher gives you a problem and you're taking a few minutes to solve the problem and raise your hand to ask your teacher more questions before you are sure of your explanation and answer. :') the only difference is just real life application and big numbers.
Management Consulting firms do a lot of M&A (e.g., market scans, due diligence, 100 day-plans, post-merger integration) whether as part of their PE practice, their industry practices or their corporate finance practice. Big-4s are also very much involved, with more of a financial angle, as part of their transaction services practice, deal team or valuation practice.
Just wondering... It was mentioned there are no revenue synergies, but Flashfash has a 15 day turnaround so could benefit in producing mid market fashion based on luxury brands very quickly. This could help drive growth within Flashfash. Appreciate getting the 'right' answer is t the point here but would this be a sensible approach in the interview?
Pretty impressive, but If it was me, I would ask the first question, what is the vision & mission of Flashfash? does Lamode fits in to it? what is their business aspirations and growing desire? without knowing what flashfash want to do in future, all the other questions are good analysis. But we would not be able to measure the outcome of this study against the core objective of Flashfash. I would not only just pay attention to revenue of 30 B. of Flashfash, but about their balance sheet health. how much cash do they have, do they have money to invest on Lamode? Do they need to take loan to acquire Lamode? if yes how much it would be in terms of % of Flashfash's net profit. How much PTI Lamode will generate to pay back (Time value of Money Calculation) I would also pay attention on the net cash flow of Flashfash & Lamode. 30 Billion sounds pretty good, but if the PTI of Flashfash is 2-5% I would be not too impressed on it. so , is is a good presentation on building a case study, how ever for M&A cases, net cash flow, health of balance sheet plays major role, I would put that as one of the primary information. I am happy to receive constructive comments :-)
what if you offer more positive way to solve their integrating inflexions? he was using his analytical percentage skills rather than his interpersonal skills
Frankly put, the interviews in Asian offices especially China and Japan are far challenging , particularly in terms of hard calculations. This mock interview appeared fairly easy.
Which explains why so many world-class management consulting firms trace their roots to China and Japan - oh wait - none do. But at least Japan and China have so many world-class business schools - wait - they don't again.
JamesJoyce12 There is absolutely no connection between the comment and what you are trying to suggest. Even your comment is lacking cohesion by itself.
@@Azzoic I am not convinced that you know what 'cohesion' means and I think that someone smart should really know what cohesion means - and I don't talk to non-smart people - so - sorry.
question unrelated to the interview. I am a data scientist, this structured way of thinking is very helpful to me in my job. I am interested to switch into consulting or own my business. But still, He sets hypothesis and answered kind of intuitively? Do you even incorporate data driven decisions in management consulting? Do you think that a data scientist/analyst is fit for it?
Some questions I would have liked to see in the synergies section: How can LaMode help Flashfash increase the average sales per transaction? How can Flashfash help LaMode decrease their cost of production and reduce their transaction costs? Given the margin opportunity, how can Flashfash help LaMode grow its Own Brand business?
Ah there is indeed a trick! 1/25=4%. So you know the actual result will be a bit more than that. Actually, it will be 1/24 more than 4%. 1/24 is also roughly 4%, which you can round to 5%. 4% * (1.05)=4.2%
@@CaseCoach okay thanks! Last question if you dont mind. Isit possible to join MBB without any prior work experience in consulting? I have experience in Industry as a Mechanical Engineer, but no consulting experience.
No, unless there is something obvious, I would not state an hypothesis before describing the first level of the logic tree. Once you have developed the first level you can explain your ratioanle by mentionning the hypotheses you want to test.
Hey! Looks like a great interview for advanced positions. Can you confirm again how I can download the case study? I have subscribed but have not received anything. I also cannot find a download link anywhere. Thanks in advance!
Normally I'd take 60-90 seconds, which only leaves me time to write the first level and the beginning of the second level. I'd write the rest "live", while I describe the structure to the interviewer.
"he encompassed all of the core factors that could be important" not really~~~ One other thing worth asking would be the demographics which i think is important... age groups targeted buy both companies so there are is no overlap in them. It is good to target different age groups and cover more of them.
I think that falls under synergies. If you added that as a fourth category, there might be too much overlap with synergies which would result in the 4 categories not being mutually exclusive. Maybe a better way would be to add "demographics" as a sub-element of the synergies bucket.
@@alexchang3222 How is this "just" an advertisement video? lol. If you watch the mock interviews that Bain&Company Careers posted on their youtube channel, this isn't that far fetched from what their advice to candidates.
@@JackSparrow-gy4gc Exactly... You cover more of a spectrum. In example Inditex company comprises of eight brands: Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius... every one of those targets different style of people. Same goes with other companies that in example market/ target jewelry for 18-30 years of age (youthful, playful kind of jewlery) and than you have in example more serious brands targeting 30-60 years old group. Now having both companies under your umbrella actually makes you cover large spectrum of consumers instead of focusing only on 1 brand. This is just one of the ideas. Hope you can understand from the examples I gave you.
Hi Uros - There are many ways you can segment a market. It would be absolutely fine to investigate whether the two companies are targetting different age segments, as you suggest. That said, in this case, this is not necessary. Once you know one company has a luxury positioning and the other has a mass-market positioning, you can conclude that the client bases will have limited overlap.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I am an Entrepreneur but love the fact that in Mckinsey they expect their consultants to think like Business owners not as employees, because these cases, questions and answers are how a business owner would think in solving a problem. Excellent!!
ua-cam.com/video/NgNjFgcHhgs/v-deo.html
This is basically due to the fact that M&A involves selling/buying a business, so you must think like business owners because you are representing them
McKinsey don’t actually have that good a track record, there are many horror stories available online and I worked for a large telecommunications company that followed their advise, and had to undo the damage and then start over. Numbers alone aren’t really as helpful as you might think. It is easy to make false assumptions, this is where knowing your market and looking outside the box can be more beneficial.
As a b-school grad, I wish I had received such guidance for framing thoughts. This video is pure gold. Thanks!
Try McKinsey forward program
I must say this is one of the best case interview videos I saw on YT. Thank you and I would look for more videos from you folks.
Thank you!
What drove it home for me in this case was the intuitive questions asked throughout, which eventually led to the interviewer giving out a lot more crucial information to the case.
"Everyone has an answer these days, but no one knows the right questions to ask"
Bravo!
As good as this is, the key takeaway for me (as a non-business person) is that we just have to be structured in how we think. It's a huge ask for a lot of people but it is the most critical skill - the ability to think and plan clearly. The most challenging thing is to do this during a 30 minutes interview. I would need hours to prepare the kind of clear answers this guy gave on the spot.
Yeah, it is just a check box. It is nothing like on-the-job problem solving or good reasoning so wash yourself of the mentality once you clear them
This guy trained hours as well, no one on Uni campus will do this out the hat
An outstanding study of an interview process. The interviewer had a clear well throughout brief and the interviewee moved quickly towards a solution. The key to note is how well the interview material questions were structured and the candidate broke down the problem into the right buckets. I particularly liked the creative part of the interview and the conclusion that although this didn’t fit it might be a good potential business to buy as a standalone. I can’t wait to see more of your material.
This was so mesmerising to watch, 30 minutes flew past without me ever realising it
Wow as an non-MBA student this is such an high-paced interview, really hard to catch all phrases coming out from the interviewer mouth. But very insightful also!!
Best case interview I´ve seen so far. Thank you very much, you have helped me a lot.
Bravo Fantocci!
I am a 24 years old senior industrial engineering student and I am trying to improve my business acumen. I was looking for something like this and discovering your channel & website made me so happy! I've discovered your channel today, and I've studied this video like a course material. Thank you so much for your effort, wish you the best!
24 and senior don't have much synergy...what age did you start to work? 12?
I wish we done case studies like these in my college business program smh
which college did you go?
@@ba924 gandu college of business management
@@TuringTested01 You must've gone to the Cringe Indian college of social retardation lmao
As the candidate pointed out there is no much room for synergy as the business models are different. However, I would take a look at processing costs to see if makes sense to manufacture Lamode products using Flashfash machinery. This means increasing Flashfash productions by 10% (ball park figure). Still they are stand alone businesses. This video is one of the best I have seen in M&A analysys in a productive half an hour. I imagine what insights would come up after a couple of weeks of going deep on it.
I think that at 7:05, that is the third box was rather a weak explanation, it was much more tied with synergies than actual capabilities to execute acquistion
The breakdown was made simple and amazing, I have learn a lot from this case.
I absolutely love this video. It's just so beautifully structured and such an applied strategy rather than a spoonfed route to depict the learning here
How to become a CEO in 30:07 mins.
Stop jokes, the interview is perfect both in depth of detail and in timing, as a constructive criticism you could give more details on the context, for which role/seniority it is the typical interview? Even for recent graduates? The case studies always touch all business areas?
Great job.
Great video. You can see how the case is very simple and has an easy structure, so as long as you dont overthink it and are confident. Practice makes perfect.
this is the most realistic interview video i've seen! thanks so much for sharing. will check out your other materials :)
In 11:23 he wants to calculate the expected sales of Lamode in 5 years. Therefore, he calculates the current sales 2bn x 3 (since it will have trippled in 5 years). This makes sense to me. But why does he then divide the expected sales of 6bn by 3? This doesnt make sense to me? Maybe I just missed an important detail here?
Because Asia is 1/3rd of the total market size.
Asia will make 1/3 of the total sales in 5 years. Current total sales are 2bn, they will triple in 5 years to 6bn and the share of Asia will be 1/3 of total sales, 1/3*6=6/3=2
You can get the details of the calculations by signing up here: link.casecoach.com/FreeMaterial
@@fr333z4t0r I missed where he said they will triple in 5 years. Where does he say that? Timestamp?
habibbi alikafe of course! 11:10
Even the interviewer lights up when he answers.
This is an excellent video - I use this with my students to demonstrate the consultative method utiilising an Issue-based approach.
I am a policy analyst, and this video has been very insightful. It would be beneficial to see a case approach for a senior management post from programmes or project perspective. The approach highlights some critical fundamentals in such interview models; however, from a programme perspective, there may be some missing linkages as data may vary if a variable such as gender is introduced and or if the case scenario is highly qualitative rather than quantitative.
Great video. In addition to value, synergies and capabilities, I would first clearly define Flash flash objectives for acquisition and determine if LaMode satisfied those objectives. If LaMode does not align with FF short and long term corporate goals and objectives, it's a No Go decision.
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Another challenge is that these cases and analyses often just look at the problem from a financial and ownership question without looking a human factors and ease of merging (or maintaining separate) operations, as well as examples of branding and identity. While those factors may be deemed as less relevant in an M&A case, they also impact the likely success of acquiring a company that seems quite different in terms of market, product and more. They likely would have reached the same recommendation, but it would have been nice to see front-line realities included with back-office decisions. Many a merger that may look good on paper can fail due to challenges of implementation and integration.
Terrific. I aspire to be a consultant and this gave me a good idea about the process
Love this, actually sick how quick he understands it. Was he given notice about the content of the case before, or was this on the spot?
I can't speak for the candidate in the video, but developing these kind of frameworks and ability to structure a problem in order to determine a solution is pretty typical both in the top-tier MBA programs and for those who have worked as a management consultant previously. It relies on listening, structuring/prioritizing, and restating the information you've just heard. It's definitely a skill that gets better with practice.
Isn't the interviwee the case coach guy himself?
I'm wondering if someone can help me understand how he jump's to the Asian apparel market multiplying by 6 @10:04?
I also was confused, assume that from this point they're referring to the market as the online market - so the 8bn he provides at 11.30 is the size of the online market and we never find out the overall market size, he also clarifies by saying 4.2% of the online market
The final bucket of "company capability" did not seem mutually exclusive from the previous bucket of "Synergies". The interviewee even said "as I mentioned before..."
Hi Ezzaty - Synergies and Capabilities are very different. Synergies mean "What opportunities do we create to generate more revenue or reduce cost by combining the two entities". Capabilities mean "Do we have the skills and resource to successfully execute this acquisition". These are very different questions with little overlap. I hope this helps!
This is a bucket of wisdom. :-) Thanks!
@@CaseCoach Fully agree - Working in M&A and the capability to successfully run an acquisition process and implement the deal is very high in the way we rank buyers or acquirers depending on which side you are.
At 12:00 there is a breakdown of the mathematical thinking that goes into solving this problem. Where can I find more examples of questions like this? Im looking for "business maths" examples like the one shown in this video. I would like to practice some myself to try and improve my business maths abilities so as to be better prepared for future interviews such as this one
Best case interview videos I have ever seen. Thank you so much for your time and help!
Very well done. It looks very real...doesn't seem staged. Thank you guys.
From a M&A strategy consultant and investment banker, this is my opinion for people who are planning on entering either one of those industries: If you like money, presitge, power and recognition, go for it. If you like the free things in life, such as relationships, health, time.. dont.
This is a wonderful video. I learnt so much. I'm going to start work in a consulting firm in a month and this video couldn't have come at a better time!
ua-cam.com/video/NgNjFgcHhgs/v-deo.html
Appreciate man. This is a brillant case interview example.
Any thoughts on how to share case structure and working in a virtual interview?
liked the structure, although the 3rd aspect wasn't really explored. Liked the structured brainstorming part that revolved around the tags of the target company (geography, industry, position, sales channel)
I've always wondered, can this kind of thinking be trained as with any other skill? I know some people are inherently better at structured thinking and expressing themselves. However, are these always the types of individuals who work at these top tier consulting firms? Or are there others that have achieved this level of thinking through practice and exposure? @CaseCoach
I think this most certainly comes from training. I used to be really bad at structuring my work and taking the leadership on all of my cases, but I improved so much after training with case partners on several cases. You can outsmart yourself and improve after each mock case.
In our experience, most candidates start by being bad at structuring. Of those who put in the effort to learn and practice, some will get it and others will not.
@@cutesy5090 I have some experience with case interviews but looking to improve further. What's the chance of you wanting/willing to be my case partner?
ua-cam.com/video/NgNjFgcHhgs/v-deo.html
Very interesting and informative. Thanks for uploading this video!
我的名字吗Happy Tng Tngyewbeng
Jason Tng
有三个名字。
Thank you, this is one of the best case interviews I have seen. Very informational. Appreciate it!
Thank you, this video is great!
Opa, BR aqui :)
Thankyou so much CaseCoach! its an amazing video
That guy with a beard looks eerily related to Jeff Bezos. He's got the same intense gaze. Only the diabolical laughter is missing
idk whether or not you can still see my comments, but i think the feature of flashfash that is the rapid process from design to the actual production is missed in the synergy bucket, which could bring benefits to the own brand of lamode.
Potentially with Lamode’s own brand but they are primarily a retailer and the personal brand was said to account for only 5% of sales.
good case but feel like most questions were targetting LaMode and how they can improve rather than recos to our client flashflash on their next steps
In 11:40 why does he calculate the market size in Asia Y0 x 6 ? thanks in advance
Because in five years the apparel market size will be multiplied by 2 and the share of online sales for this market will be multiplied by 3.
Let’s say that today the apparel market size is 4B and the share of online sails is 25%(1B)
So Y0 = 1B.
Five years later the apparel market size will have doubled so it will be 8B and the share of online sales will have tripled so it will be 75% of that number (6B)
Thus Y5 = 6B = 6 * 1B = 6 * Y0.
Hope it helps
@@CorRob319 Im sorry but why is 75% =6 B
@@adriannawei3582 75% of 8 = 6
I enjoyed every bit of this video
for the online sales of Fash fash vs Lamoute 16:42 what's so unique about that? FF's sales volume is much larger, naturally in absolute terms they will have more online sales?
Since LaMode is an on-line pure player, you would expect that they have e-commerce expertise to bring to FlashFash. However, when you look at the numbers, you realize that FlashFash does more business online than LaMode, and therefore that they must have plenty on in-house e-commerce expertise already - hence not much to gain on that front from acquiring LaMode.
@@CaseCoach But FlashFash is obviously a bigger company than LaMode so it makes sense for it to have more absolute sales online. That still doesn't eliminate the possibility of sales growth online were it to take LaMode's in-house e-commerce personnel.
Question. Soooo are you allowed to have a calculator? Or all these numbers must be calculated by mind?
Hi, very interesting video. Thanks. One thing though. 80 to 90 % of merger and acquisition fail...among the frequent reasons that explain that rate: integration obstacles: culture differences, no real leadership from top management, lack of mission embodiment, lack of vision etc...the numbers are the only thing we're looking at here, how come is it possible not to mention/talk/have the conversation about what can be a key element in the outcome? Thanks
Yes, you would typically include a section about capabilities and risk in your structure. That's what we did here. However we did not get to it. It is less of a priority than discussing whether the acquisition would make sense in the first place. If we had more time, we would have talked about it. Getting the priorities right is an important part of a case interview.
@@CaseCoach Thanks
Why have you not considered the revenue synergies driven by FF's experience in quickly collecting customer feedback and quickly translating that into products? Wouldn't that be a huge advantage in expanding LM globally? Couldn't that help LM get it right first time and acquire 4.2% of the Asian market in 5 years?
I would think that strategy is more applied to "mid-level" products, in terms of luxury goods, since LM is dealing mainly with existing luxury brands and it is more time consuming to establish a luxury brand, this fast production may not apply here.
hav my first casing interview tmr for my uni's bis club, wish me luck!
So good! Interesting case
When asking questions, is it ok to interrupt the interviewer or ask them at the end?
You don't want to be rude... but you also want to get what you need from the interviewer to solve the case. You need to find the right balance.
very helpful - thank you for laying this out so cleanly
This is a brilliant video - thank you for making this. Question, at 18:20, he calculates a quick gross profit of $40 for FlashFlash. This is based on FlashFlash's business infrastructure generating this gross profit. But then he compares this to LaMode's transaction cost and says that FlashFlash cannot profitably utilize LaMode's website to make a profit because the $40 gross profit is lower than LaMode's transaction cost of $48. But LaMode's transaction cost of $48 is specifically for the high-end luxury goods sold on its platform, why would the same transaction cost apply to FlashFlash if FlashFlash products were to be sold on LaMode? I could argue that the transaction cost of $48 only takes place as part of selling a premium service only for LaMode luxury products; and any FlashFlash item sold via the online-infrastructure of LaMode could just retain the regular transaction cost of $6 right? Is this a subjective part of the case or did I miss something? Essentially FlashFlash makes roughly $40 of Gross Profit and net of transaction costs it makes $34. La Mode makes $116 of gross profit and net of transaction costs it makes $68 or almost double what FlashFlash makes net of transaction costs. Is there something stopping FlashFlash from selling its items on LaMode without the $48 transaction cost incurred only as part of the high end website?
Yes, this is based on the hypothesis that the transaction cost of LaMode does not depend on how expensive the product purchased is (i.e., they have one service level that they apply to all of their sales). You could imagine LaMode starting to provide a "no frills" service but that's unlikely because not consistent with their brand.
Hi,
Can you please explain as to how did you/ he calculate the gross profit figure?
Average Purchase x (1 - Cost of goods sold)
The fact that an ONLINE luxury retailer is growing at such a fast pace, clearly speaks about the premium concierge services provided by LaMode to keep their HNI clients satisfied. So, if LaMode decides to sell FlashFlash on their channels with a reduced service quality, it will affect the overall brand reputation that LaMode has. Luxury segment is a lot about feeling special and exclusive. Hence there is no reason for fast growing LaMode to let go of these elements even if they start stocking mid-segment products from FlashFlash. A case in point will be Apple. Even with Iphone SE on the market, you will not be treated differently if you were to walk in into an Apple store for a purchase or a repair - irrespective of what your purchase is.
How would you do the 1/24 quickly on paper?
Can be the syngery comming from sell LaMode products in FlashFlash?
just realizing how consulting is like being in class and your teacher gives you a problem and you're taking a few minutes to solve the problem and raise your hand to ask your teacher more questions before you are sure of your explanation and answer. :') the only difference is just real life application and big numbers.
Amazing video guys. Keep making more case interviews. Helped a lot in understanding the structure.
This interview was very informative. Best case interview.. thank you
What kind of consultancy deals with M&A - is this more Risk Management or is it under Management consulting in general?
This is more of IV&R
Management Consulting firms do a lot of M&A (e.g., market scans, due diligence, 100 day-plans, post-merger integration) whether as part of their PE practice, their industry practices or their corporate finance practice. Big-4s are also very much involved, with more of a financial angle, as part of their transaction services practice, deal team or valuation practice.
Just wondering... It was mentioned there are no revenue synergies, but Flashfash has a 15 day turnaround so could benefit in producing mid market fashion based on luxury brands very quickly. This could help drive growth within Flashfash. Appreciate getting the 'right' answer is t the point here but would this be a sensible approach in the interview?
Thank you for this very insightful and informative video
Pretty impressive, but If it was me, I would ask the first question, what is the vision & mission of Flashfash? does Lamode fits in to it? what is their business aspirations and growing desire?
without knowing what flashfash want to do in future, all the other questions are good analysis. But we would not be able to measure the outcome of this study against the core objective of Flashfash.
I would not only just pay attention to revenue of 30 B. of Flashfash, but about their balance sheet health. how much cash do they have, do they have money to invest on Lamode? Do they need to take loan to acquire Lamode? if yes how much it would be in terms of % of Flashfash's net profit. How much PTI Lamode will generate to pay back (Time value of Money Calculation)
I would also pay attention on the net cash flow of Flashfash & Lamode. 30 Billion sounds pretty good, but if the PTI of Flashfash is 2-5% I would be not too impressed on it.
so , is is a good presentation on building a case study, how ever for M&A cases, net cash flow, health of balance sheet plays major role, I would put that as one of the primary information.
I am happy to receive constructive comments :-)
Very good case study interview
So, basically, thinking out loud is great for both the interviewee and the interviewer?
In a nutshell - yes. As long as your thoughts are organized!
Thanks a lot for this great case interview video!!
Great video, thank you for making this!
Very helpful..thank you.. we wish to have a video for a profitability case
How did he calculate 1/24 so quickly
At what moment did you use the FlashFlash distinctive business model in your structure ?
Hi, can you make a video about if Bytedance approaches one of you (Big 4, MMB) for countering US sanctions?
Thanks!
what if you offer more positive way to solve their integrating inflexions? he was using his analytical percentage skills rather than his interpersonal skills
Frankly put, the interviews in Asian offices especially China and Japan are far challenging , particularly in terms of hard calculations. This mock interview appeared fairly easy.
Which explains why so many world-class management consulting firms trace their roots to China and Japan - oh wait - none do.
But at least Japan and China have so many world-class business schools - wait - they don't again.
JamesJoyce12 There is absolutely no connection between the comment and what you are trying to suggest. Even your comment is lacking cohesion by itself.
@@Azzoic I am not convinced that you know what 'cohesion' means and I think that someone smart should really know what cohesion means - and I don't talk to non-smart people - so - sorry.
@@JamesJoyce12 Hahahaha
@@Azzoic *ha - ha - ha
Hi I have my case interview tomorrow, should I consider the corona virus when thinking about the economy during the case?
How was it ?
well?
you have to tell us man
@@manypistachios9442 went to IB instead haha
@@trapitusaventurez2190 congrats lol
Thank you so much for this video. great stuff really helpful
question unrelated to the interview. I am a data scientist, this structured way of thinking is very helpful to me in my job. I am interested to switch into consulting or own my business. But still, He sets hypothesis and answered kind of intuitively? Do you even incorporate data driven decisions in management consulting? Do you think that a data scientist/analyst is fit for it?
How did he do 1/24 in his head? = 4,2%?
Can someone explain how the calculations que made?
after he was told sales are 2bn and are expected to triple then 2bn *3 is ok but then why did he divide by 3
Very nice structure and ideias, but shouldn't he analyse the financials of la mode? Analyse the profit margin
Some questions I would have liked to see in the synergies section:
How can LaMode help Flashfash increase the average sales per transaction?
How can Flashfash help LaMode decrease their cost of production and reduce their transaction costs?
Given the margin opportunity, how can Flashfash help LaMode grow its Own Brand business?
Hi guys ,amazing work . Any tips on how a case interview for junior tax consultants would be .thank you !
I wonder whether in all the case interview they will introduce the case through talking instead of paper
Hi, can I ask what position he is applying for? Or is it the same question (hard level) for all positions?
How did u get the margin from average purchase and cost of goods sold % that fast?
Do you have to take notes in an interview?
what trick did he use to calculate 1/24=4.2% so quick?? it was so quick! Im worried now
Ah there is indeed a trick! 1/25=4%.
So you know the actual result will be a bit more than that.
Actually, it will be 1/24 more than 4%. 1/24 is also roughly 4%, which you can round to 5%.
4% * (1.05)=4.2%
@@CaseCoach okay thanks! Last question if you dont mind. Isit possible to join MBB without any prior work experience in consulting? I have experience in Industry as a Mechanical Engineer, but no consulting experience.
is this a typical case or is this one of the more difficult ones?
I see he developed his issue tree before stating his hypothesis? I thought it was supposed to be the other way around?
No, unless there is something obvious, I would not state an hypothesis before describing the first level of the logic tree. Once you have developed the first level you can explain your ratioanle by mentionning the hypotheses you want to test.
Excellent video!!
Very nice video
Is there anyone here in the comments who can say if that is really an accurate case interview in terms of mckinsey level of proficiency?
Hey! Looks like a great interview for advanced positions. Can you confirm again how I can download the case study? I have subscribed but have not received anything. I also cannot find a download link anywhere. Thanks in advance!
Hi Madalin - Have you signed up here:
link.casecoach.com/FreeMaterial/
We share a link to the PDF in one of the first emails you will receive.
Cheers
Cool video, thank you!
@Enguerran - how long did you take to write your framework on paper?
Normally I'd take 60-90 seconds, which only leaves me time to write the first level and the beginning of the second level. I'd write the rest "live", while I describe the structure to the interviewer.
@@CaseCoach very helpful answer!
Very good!
"he encompassed all of the core factors that could be important" not really~~~ One other thing worth asking would be the demographics which i think is important... age groups targeted buy both companies so there are is no overlap in them. It is good to target different age groups and cover more of them.
I think that falls under synergies. If you added that as a fourth category, there might be too much overlap with synergies which would result in the 4 categories not being mutually exclusive. Maybe a better way would be to add "demographics" as a sub-element of the synergies bucket.
@@alexchang3222 How is this "just" an advertisement video? lol. If you watch the mock interviews that Bain&Company Careers posted on their youtube channel, this isn't that far fetched from what their advice to candidates.
Wtf....age group targeted by both the companies should not be overlap???😂😂😂😂😂
@@JackSparrow-gy4gc Exactly... You cover more of a spectrum. In example Inditex company comprises of eight brands: Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius... every one of those targets different style of people. Same goes with other companies that in example market/ target jewelry for 18-30 years of age (youthful, playful kind of jewlery) and than you have in example more serious brands targeting 30-60 years old group. Now having both companies under your umbrella actually makes you cover large spectrum of consumers instead of focusing only on 1 brand. This is just one of the ideas. Hope you can understand from the examples I gave you.
Hi Uros - There are many ways you can segment a market. It would be absolutely fine to investigate whether the two companies are targetting different age segments, as you suggest. That said, in this case, this is not necessary. Once you know one company has a luxury positioning and the other has a mass-market positioning, you can conclude that the client bases will have limited overlap.
really cool video THX
Can I ask what his college bachelors degree is
Computer engineering.
Dios mio esto está muy bueno