Excellent video format- especially like how you go the extra mile to make it interactive and solvable for the viewers, for example by showing data onscreen, and telling us to pause the video. Wish there were more case interview videos like this!
Hey Nate-Scott here, thank you for watching our video! I'm glad the video features were helpful! Jake and I actually both started our consulting jobs a few months back, so we had to put a breif pause on creating more videos, but now we're excited to hop back into it, so you can expect more videos like this over the coming months! We really value your feedback, if you have any other ideas or thoughts on other features you'd like to see, please let keep commenting, or email us (casebinge@gmail.com). Let us know also if there's anything we can help you with!
@@casebinge7352 Thanks for the update! Nice to hear from you guys again. I'm not interviewing these days, but I've started TA'ing for a business course at my uni that involves case-solving, among other things! I think this will be a nice resource, so thanks again guys 👍
For the market size question. I went with total population of US> Number of Women> Women between ages of 16-50 (Since they're more likely to play golf)> Number of gold clubs (Since that's the only way to play golf)> Average number of women per golf club> Avg. Price of our products. Would this be a correct way to go about market sizing? (I would also add a small % onto the avg. number of women that play (to calculate volume) since, women can also purchase our product for casual wear and not only to play. I'm currently practicing case interviews to get into consultancy :)
Great video guys! For the questions you asked at the end: Types of cases I'd like to see: Not necessarily a type (e.g. profitability / market entry etc.) but rather on a random sector, which links to the second question: Parts I find hardest: Trying to make it fun / engaging / personal when the question may be on something like freighting engines. As it's not something you can really have much experience with (like golf) how do you find those nuggets to show you're trying to make it personal; and Being concise throughout - it's hard to know what is concise and what is too short to be deemed generic and regurgitated.
Hey Premesh! This is Scott--to your question about keeping energy when focused on a random industry: something good to keep in mind is that sometimes the least interesting sounding cases end up being the most interesting--both in real life and in interviews. The case interview I most distinctly remember running had to do with packaged ice manufacturing, which didn't sound very interesting initially, but ended up being fascinating! I would try to always go in with the mindset that not only is there something for you to learn in every case, but also plenty under the surface to be fascinated by. I've even reacted in cases before by saying things like: "Interesting... wow, I honestly know nothing about [industry], I've just never really thought about it before. This'll be super interesting to see how it actually works." As strange as that may look written out, in real-time, just having a genuine reaction like that can set you apart well, especially if you intentionally frame that reaction with a mindset that is expecting to find something both interesting and important, no matter the case. Consulting firms want to hire people who are excited by the work they're doing, because it'll make them do a better job at it and be a better teammate. Thankfully, being excited by the work, and by a case interview, is largely a decision you can choose to make, and simply practicing being excited and curious, even in cases about random, seemingly-dull industries, is a great way to prepare yourself to come across as that kind of enthusiastic and engaged interviewee during the real thing.
And to your point on being concise--as you can probably tell from my last reply, that's also a struggle for me. I would start getting a feel for that by having someone run a case for you, and tell them to make a note on their notes page of every time they felt like you didn't elaborate enough, and of every time where they were tempted to zone out, because you talked for so long. Don't beat yourself up over either end of that spectrum, but simply having someone specifically take note of those things can help you start gaining a frame of reference for when you're talking too much or too litte.
This is great, thanks guys! I'm just now getting started with my case study prep but I felt like I could clearly understand and even resonate with Scott's reasoning. Great video and will now binge watch the others!
Best case interview practice channel i have come across. Thank you! When breaking down age range i split into 3 groups 0-30 / 30 - 60 / 60 - 90 and estimated pop per group, made an assumption 30% of women play golf (in hindsight I think this is too high) then calculated 30% of each group and then 20% of that figure as per market capture estimation. Would this be an acceptable way of formatting?
Loved the video. Would love to have a look at the structure of the notes that the interviewee makes, probably at the end of the video to get an idea of the different ways to maintain structure in notes.
Hey Amit! Jake here - thank you for the kind words and great feedback. Scott and I love that idea and want to include notes in future videos. Quick question- what do you find hardest about taking notes? I think I might have a few tips to help you out. Thanks!
This is a good place to practice and solve cases, really very helpful because of the interactive format. Thanks for making such wonderful content!! Please do me a favor, increase the pauses by 2-3 seconds more, so that I can have the time to pause the video for my personal case solving. Thanks in Advance :)
Hi Dhiraj! I'm so glad to hear this was helpful! Jake and I are in the process of filming and editing some more videos, and we'll be sure to increase the length of the pauses to make them easier to use! Thank you for the feedback--please let us know if there's anything else that would be helpful!
@@casebinge7352 I tried practicing an interesting profitability case today, and I just couldn't work it out good because: 1.VERY IMPT - I did not collect much information before getting into the profitability structure (products, segmentations, etc.) 2. The problem was, the company was facing HIGH PROFITS since inception, and they wanted to find out why. Here, I did not ask a clarification question to understand why would Higher profits be an issue. The reason was to understand whether the higher profits were sustainable or not? 3. Could not think of much pointers to find out how in the value chain, factors could lead to higher profitability where costs of competitors were same, profit margin data was not available but we were producing 1.5 times our competitors. So, I would request you in future, to try and make a video on similar lines, because generally when we think of profitability cases, we always think from declining profits/revenues/sales perspectives. Thanks :)
@@dheerajrane Wow, that's definitely a bit of an unusual case--I'm with you, I generally expect any issues with profitability to be focused on losing profitability, not the reverse! That makes sense though that a company would be worried about whether or not high profitability is sustainable--because if they expect it is and set their strategy based off of that, and then it turns out to not be sustainable, their current strategy could turn out to put them way off base! One thing I try to remember in cases that seem unusual is that my interviewer is generally going to be trying to help me find the best path for the case. Cases are a give-and-take with your interviewer, as they are the one who holds all the information, and especially in a difficult or unusual case, they know that you'll be needing their help, sometimes in the form of verbal hints they'll give, in the form of data they choose to give you, or questions they ask. I'd suggest focusing on staying calm and collected, allow yourself to be curious and show that you're intrigued (rather than offput, frustrated, or frazzled) by the uniqueness of the case, and try to be receptive to the subtle ways the interviewer is trying to help guide you.
@@dheerajrane Also! Jake and I just filmed a profitability case this weekend--it's a fairly standard one (where the client is concerned about declining profits), but hopefully it can still be helpful! And we'll look at doing some cases with more curveballs thrown in them, like the one you ran, in the future! Thanks again for your feedback! Let us know if there's anything else we can help with!
Hey Dhiraj! We've just uploaded a new case video, and made the pauses longer, like you suggested. Also, our next case video will be a profitability case!
Good case but I think one clarifying question that should also be asked in the beginning of the case is what are Mike's current targeted customer segment. Since golf is not everyone's sport (in fact it is stereotyped as upper-class sport) so I think we should also clarify whether our current customer also comes from the upper-class segment or rather from middle-class segment. It might provide some issue for us in the acquisition process. For example, if Mike's apparel currently targeting customer from middle class or lower class for their current product, it might need a lot more effort if they wanted to market the golf apparel product that is targeted to an upper-class segment of customer because they usually target their product for a different class of customer. what do you think?
This is a great point Daniel! Keeping the company's target customer in mind is one of those important pieces of context that will always be helpful to keep at the forefront of your mind as you go throughout the case! Thanks for watching!
Hi, Thanks so much for this video. I have one case I've faced: "A chemical mfg player intends to decide if it can enter US market with 7Bn investment." Do we need to consider 7Bn in calculations? I directly went with 4Bn as capital and started doing profitability and came up with break-even. I missed other components you mentioned.
Excellent video I must say. You guys are doing a phenomenal job helping us.. I seek an answer to jsut one query. When the question of how can company venture into the new segment without incurring such high R&D was put, my thought process was 1) acquire a business already into women golf apparel(definitely if the acquiring price is lower than R&D) 2) Enter into a JV with the already existing business Are these solutions a deviation from what was asked? Thanks in advance :)
Hi Simran! Thanks so much for the feedback! I'm glad to hear it's been helpful! And I think that's a great way to think about it! Strategic acquisitions and joint ventures are an often-forgotten way to approach a new market, and suggesting those options are a great way to show that you're thinking about the broad range of Mike Apparel's real-world options. Great thoughts!
For entering the market, there are generally 3 ways to enter: organically (like was calculated in the video), acquisition of an existing women’s golf apparel company with the market share you want, or collaborate/joint venture. The first two options are expensive or time consuming so I would recommend going on a joint venture with a clothing company that’s not in the golf apparel market yet. You can split the r&d costs which satisfies the client and still enter. Only problem is you get half the profits and half the control.
Hi Kalimba! Thank you so much for the encouragement! Jake & I actually just filmed 2 more cases this past weekend, and will be filming 2 more this upcoming weekend, so be expecting some more coming soon!
Thanks Sammy! Jake and I really appreciate it, and are excited to make more like this! Please let us know if there's anything we can focus on that would be helpful!
Hey Iconomía! This is Scott, thank you for the comment! Jake and I are actually just getting back to creating more videos like this one after taking a break for a few months while starting our jobs, but now we're excited to go full-steam-ahead on it! Please always feel free to reach out to us with any questions or suggestions! Also-I just checkout out your channel, and your stuff looks awesome! It's always good to see other people out there creating resources to make important but complex subjects like economics more accessible!
This was a great case and I learned a lot, however, I felt like more questions should have been asked. For example, I would have asked more about why Mike's Apparel wants to enter the women's golf apparel market. Is there customer data to support it (i.e. a survey of customer shows that there is a demand for it)? Is there a need for more women's sport apparel in general, but not specifically golf apparel? I would want to make sure we are solving the right problem first. This would help me make a better recommendation at the end.
Hi Leah! That's a great point! I think it's always important to step back and try to understand at a high level why a company wants to enter the market. It's worth noting that during an interview case, the interviewer may not have as great of an answer for why as they might in real life, but it's still always worth asking, because it shows the interviewer that you're really thinking of this as a real world problem.
I did solve the case myself and really benefited from it thank you a lot! One comment would be that even if he showed his curiosity to the case, I am not sure if it's good to give that much of personal references assuming that we are solving the case in front of real consultants from top firms:) They will want us to think that they are real clients, and I thought it might not be plausible to go into personal references this much
Hey Ibrahim! This is Scott-I’m super glad the case was helpful and that you were able to solve it on your own! Your comment about making personal references is super fair-generally you don’t want to just go on and on with a client about your own personal observations, however, I think there is still a place for well-timed personal observations in the case interview, in a way that actually helps you! Here’s how I think about when to make those observations, and why they can actually help when used well-first, they show the interviewer that you’re comfortable, that you’re thinking of the problem as a real-world situation (not just a case), and that you’re not robotically spitting out memorized case frameworks. Second, it’s important to note that in a case interview, your interviewer generally represents someone you work with on the case, rather than the client themselves. In the case recommendation (when I’m asked to direct my thoughts to the client), I try to be concise and objective, and don’t include the personal references there. However, it’s okay to do so with a team member on your case (or in this case, the interviewer), because that’s often how it works on actual consulting cases. Without taking the time to check your analysis with what you know to be true about the world, it’s really easy to come to unreasonable conclusions, and operate with assumptions like: production costs are $0.02 per jacket, simply because your analysis says so. Without thinking about questions like: wait a second, how could a jacket cost only 2 cents to make? and using some common knowledge to help you, you might not realize that you made an error somewhere in your analysis, and come back to your manager with a number that’s pretty off. Sorry for the long response, hopefully this is helpful, and can give you a good frame of reference for when it’s a wise time to use a personal reference, and when it’s not. Thanks again for running the case with us!
@@ibrahimenesbulut3973 Of course! Happy to help! We just released our new case video, and hopefully our newsletter can be helpful too! It covers a ton of practical topics and gives suggested practice methods to continue improving. If you're interested, you can sign up at CaseBinge.com
Hi Maulana - Jake here! Super glad this helps you practice and we'll be releasing more videos soon. Always feel free to respond to this comment if you have any questions as you case prep. It can be a long journey and we're here to help!
Hi Li! We love to hear the video has been helpful! Jake & I are working on a couple new videos, one will be a Profitability case and one will be a Cost Reduction case. Hopefully one of them will be uploaded within a week or two! Please always feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions, and in the meantime, you can join our weekly case tips newsletter at CaseBinge.com, where we've been releasing helpful case tips and tangible ways to practice and keep getting better!
I think it'll be helpful to understand better the logic that goes behind the calculation when presented with an exhibit. Rather than being told the formula for the answer, I'd like to understand the dynamics for "why" that formula. I believe that way we'll get a better understanding and be to produce formulas for any given case.
That's a great point! It's always important to dig into the "why" behind what you're doing. Are there any specific questions you have as to why we did something in this case? We'd be happy to help explain!
Thanks for the input Prakash! This is Scott--we are definitely planning to solve more videos, and should have a handful of new videos up before the year is up! I like the idea of doing a profitabilty case--what other diverse markets would you like to see? Different and unique industry types, or different geographic markets? And are there any other case types you'd benefit especially from seeing us cover?
Thanks for the feedback Thea! We'll definitely plan on doing a pricing case in the future! I'm with you, sometimes those can be weirdly tough to find good examples of. Is there anything else that you think would be helpful to see?
Great video so far! I am going to have an interview with RB in a couple weeks so your video is very useful to structuring my thoughts. I can find a framework here.
Hey! We super appreciate that! We haven't quit, and will actually be posting a new interactive case video within the next day or two, and are hoping to be able to post a handful more in the coming months! In the meantime, we're sending out a case tips newsletter every other week that can help supplement your case prep! You can sign up at CaseBinge.com
Love the video, I found the video format particularly helpful! I just started to practise case interviews, and the most challenging part for me atm is to sync all key findings to form detailed recommendations in such a short time (especially under the pressure of real interviews). I know it takes practice but would like to know if you have any suggestions regarding how to stay focused while dealing with a large amount of info? Thanks and look forward to seeing more videos!
Hi Trinity! Thanks for watching our video! This is Scott, and I've struggled with the same thing in practicing cases. I'll give you my general advice for staying focused, and then some specific advice for forming recommendations: In general, I'd suggest writing the 1-2 key objectives of the case (ex: decide whether or not to make the acquisition; identify the reason for declining profits and figure out how to mitigate them; etc.) as the interviewer gives you the case prompt. Write these fairly largely and at the top of your page, and keep looking back to them. If you can continue to frame your analysis through the lens of how it relates to those questions, it'll be a lot easier to know what to focus on, and it can help set you apart from other interviewees. With recommendations/conclusions at the end of the case specifically, without being too robotic or formulaic, I do generally try to follow a general pattern that helps make my answer clear: 1) "The client should do X" - just super straight up and confident, even if you aren't positive, just take a definitive stance on the questions at hand that you wrote at the top of your page, 2) Give the key reasons why they should do X, 3) Give the risks associated with doing X, and any other hesitations you have with X, 4) similarly, where would you focus your attention if you had more time to focus on the question at hand, ex: "Ideally, I'd like to look more at Y in order to confirm that Z", 5) similar to #4, what would your short and long-term next steps be, 6) "But again, given what we know right now, the client should do X". I know that's a lot, and you certainly don't need to cover all of those bases everytime, but I'd say doing a high-level overview of those 6 things, in the course of 30-90 seconds, can be a really powerful way to conclude your case and stay focused.
Hopefully that can help! Please don't hesitate to reply back to this comment if you have any other questions, and please let us know if you have any suggestions of additional features we could include in the videos we're working on now to make them even more helpful!
@@casebinge7352 Hi Scott, thank you so much for the suggestions! I've just tried them for another case today and found them super useful - they really helped me stay focused on tackling the key issue. Really appreciate it!
@@casebinge7352 In terms of additional features, I would recommend showing viewers how interviewee organizes his/her frameworks, notes, calculations on paper so that viewers could easily see the interviewee's logical flow and practise taking structural notes while cracking the case. For future videos, I would personally like to see profitability cases and operation cases (not very common but seems quite challenging), or maybe videos about general case interview skills e.g. how to practise MECE. But again amazing video, look forward to the upcoming ones!
Beginner here! Loved the video and I applaud what you guys are trying to do with this channel. I am not sure if I'm right here, so your thoughts would be helpful! For the question about suggesting alternatives to paying the one-time fixed costs for R&D, could selling other brands (like Lacoste, I guess) at "Mike Apparel" stores also work if the objective was just to enter this market? Additionally, once the break-even point is reached, maybe then put out feelers for the original product? Just asking because this was the first alternative that crossed my mind. Thanks!
This is a great video! I'd like to see a Profitability case and I'd need advice on how to better structure the things in between - such as the brainstorm. How do you approach it?
Thanks Menghua! Jake & I really appreciate it! And we actually have a profitability case out right now! You can find it here: ruclips.net/video/Z7hyiIOihyQ/видео.html Also, that's a great point! Jake & I are actually working on creating a detailed, written course covering how to do each part of the case, including brainstorming. We're hoping to release the course in September!
Thanks Harrison! This is Scott--we definitely want to include something about case note structuring in future videos. For you, would it be helpful to see my actual paper after I finish a case, or to specifically talk about the strategies behind how I'm laying things out on a page? Is there anything else like this that would be helpful for us to cover or include?
Hey Harrison! We just uploaded a new video, and it shows my notes! Our newsletter also recently covered tips for structuring notes! You can sign up at CaseBinge.com if you're interested
Thanks so much, Vedang! Jake & I really appreciate it, and will be posting more over the coming weeks & months! And we'll even have a written course that we'll be creating with all of our tips and tricks!
Maybe if the question is how to enter the market with a lower investment I would have suggested some kind of partnership, joint venture, or even a leveraged buyout to not put the cash upfront.
Hi Niccolò! Jake here - great recommendation. A partnership or joint venture is a creative way to enter the market and shows your interviewer that you're thinking beyond the case. Even better if you could draw from personal experience and name a few companies that you'd like to partner with or acquire. Great stuff!
Hey Abraham! Jake here - glad you liked the video. Thank you for that suggestion, and we'll make the pauses longer on future videos. Let me know if you need any help or have any questions as you case prep more. Always here to help!
255/85 doesn’t seem right. 85 is the profit of total market and Mike is not the only player there, probably targeting a 30% market capture in 3 years,(10% each year), on the basis of 8.5 B$ could be used instead of 85 for breakeven point.
No. The 600k is the 20% target market share they said they would be able to capture. The entire women’s golf apparel market was projected at like 3 million customers.
That's a great idea, Emmanuel! We'll definitely think about doing something regarding environmental effects & sustainability for one of our future cases! Thanks so much for watching! If you ever have any other suggestions, feel free to let us know!
Thanks so much! Honestly, you definitely could be right! A lot of running an effective case is about feeling the room and getting a sense for when your interviewer wants you to keep explaining something and when it's better to be more concise. You're definitely right, though, that in general it's better to be more concise rather than long-winded. Thanks for watching!
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Excellent video format- especially like how you go the extra mile to make it interactive and solvable for the viewers, for example by showing data onscreen, and telling us to pause the video. Wish there were more case interview videos like this!
Hey Nate-Scott here, thank you for watching our video! I'm glad the video features were helpful! Jake and I actually both started our consulting jobs a few months back, so we had to put a breif pause on creating more videos, but now we're excited to hop back into it, so you can expect more videos like this over the coming months!
We really value your feedback, if you have any other ideas or thoughts on other features you'd like to see, please let keep commenting, or email us (casebinge@gmail.com). Let us know also if there's anything we can help you with!
Hey Nate! We've got a new video up, and are working towards some more! Hopefully it can help--thank you again for the feedback a few months back!
@@casebinge7352 Thanks for the update! Nice to hear from you guys again. I'm not interviewing these days, but I've started TA'ing for a business course at my uni that involves case-solving, among other things! I think this will be a nice resource, so thanks again guys 👍
@@natehartwig7036 That's awesome! If we can ever help out with anything, feel free to reach out to us at casebinge@gmail.com
For the market size question. I went with total population of US> Number of Women> Women between ages of 16-50 (Since they're more likely to play golf)> Number of gold clubs (Since that's the only way to play golf)> Average number of women per golf club> Avg. Price of our products. Would this be a correct way to go about market sizing? (I would also add a small % onto the avg. number of women that play (to calculate volume) since, women can also purchase our product for casual wear and not only to play. I'm currently practicing case interviews to get into consultancy :)
amazing content of case, awesome video graphics, concise to 20 minutes..this video is gold mine for case prep!
I'm so glad to hear it Alisha! Thanks so much! We're glad it could be helpful!
Great video guys! For the questions you asked at the end:
Types of cases I'd like to see:
Not necessarily a type (e.g. profitability / market entry etc.) but rather on a random sector, which links to the second question:
Parts I find hardest:
Trying to make it fun / engaging / personal when the question may be on something like freighting engines. As it's not something you can really have much experience with (like golf) how do you find those nuggets to show you're trying to make it personal; and
Being concise throughout - it's hard to know what is concise and what is too short to be deemed generic and regurgitated.
Hey Premesh! This is Scott--to your question about keeping energy when focused on a random industry: something good to keep in mind is that sometimes the least interesting sounding cases end up being the most interesting--both in real life and in interviews. The case interview I most distinctly remember running had to do with packaged ice manufacturing, which didn't sound very interesting initially, but ended up being fascinating! I would try to always go in with the mindset that not only is there something for you to learn in every case, but also plenty under the surface to be fascinated by. I've even reacted in cases before by saying things like: "Interesting... wow, I honestly know nothing about [industry], I've just never really thought about it before. This'll be super interesting to see how it actually works." As strange as that may look written out, in real-time, just having a genuine reaction like that can set you apart well, especially if you intentionally frame that reaction with a mindset that is expecting to find something both interesting and important, no matter the case. Consulting firms want to hire people who are excited by the work they're doing, because it'll make them do a better job at it and be a better teammate. Thankfully, being excited by the work, and by a case interview, is largely a decision you can choose to make, and simply practicing being excited and curious, even in cases about random, seemingly-dull industries, is a great way to prepare yourself to come across as that kind of enthusiastic and engaged interviewee during the real thing.
And to your point on being concise--as you can probably tell from my last reply, that's also a struggle for me. I would start getting a feel for that by having someone run a case for you, and tell them to make a note on their notes page of every time they felt like you didn't elaborate enough, and of every time where they were tempted to zone out, because you talked for so long. Don't beat yourself up over either end of that spectrum, but simply having someone specifically take note of those things can help you start gaining a frame of reference for when you're talking too much or too litte.
Honestly. Just brilliant- absolutely brilliant. This was such a useful video/video format
Thanks so much Mohamed! We really appreciate it!
That was very well formatted! Thank you so much ! You were both amazing
Excellent, simple, well-performed case! Thanks for the practice
Thanks so much Dino! We really appreciate it!
This is great, thanks guys! I'm just now getting started with my case study prep but I felt like I could clearly understand and even resonate with Scott's reasoning. Great video and will now binge watch the others!
Thanks so much Martina! Jake & I really appreciate it, and we'll continue to add some new videos over the coming months!
I loved the video! Why didi you guys stop doing them?
Really helpful example. Also, liked the straightforward and clear presentation.
Thanks so much! I'm glad it could be helpful! We really appreciate the feedback!
Best case interview practice channel i have come across. Thank you!
When breaking down age range i split into 3 groups 0-30 / 30 - 60 / 60 - 90 and estimated pop per group, made an assumption 30% of women play golf (in hindsight I think this is too high) then calculated 30% of each group and then 20% of that figure as per market capture estimation.
Would this be an acceptable way of formatting?
very clear case and love the interactive part! hope to see more!
Loved the video.
Would love to have a look at the structure of the notes that the interviewee makes, probably at the end of the video to get an idea of the different ways to maintain structure in notes.
Hey Amit! Jake here - thank you for the kind words and great feedback. Scott and I love that idea and want to include notes in future videos. Quick question- what do you find hardest about taking notes? I think I might have a few tips to help you out. Thanks!
Hey Amit! We have a new video up, and we've included the notes at the end, just like you suggested! Feel free to go check it out!
This is a good place to practice and solve cases, really very helpful because of the interactive format. Thanks for making such wonderful content!! Please do me a favor, increase the pauses by 2-3 seconds more, so that I can have the time to pause the video for my personal case solving. Thanks in Advance :)
Hi Dhiraj! I'm so glad to hear this was helpful! Jake and I are in the process of filming and editing some more videos, and we'll be sure to increase the length of the pauses to make them easier to use! Thank you for the feedback--please let us know if there's anything else that would be helpful!
@@casebinge7352 I tried practicing an interesting profitability case today, and I just couldn't work it out good because:
1.VERY IMPT - I did not collect much information before getting into the profitability structure (products, segmentations, etc.)
2. The problem was, the company was facing HIGH PROFITS since inception, and they wanted to find out why. Here, I did not ask a clarification question to understand why would Higher profits be an issue. The reason was to understand whether the higher profits were sustainable or not?
3. Could not think of much pointers to find out how in the value chain, factors could lead to higher profitability where costs of competitors were same, profit margin data was not available but we were producing 1.5 times our competitors.
So, I would request you in future, to try and make a video on similar lines, because generally when we think of profitability cases, we always think from declining profits/revenues/sales perspectives.
Thanks :)
@@dheerajrane Wow, that's definitely a bit of an unusual case--I'm with you, I generally expect any issues with profitability to be focused on losing profitability, not the reverse! That makes sense though that a company would be worried about whether or not high profitability is sustainable--because if they expect it is and set their strategy based off of that, and then it turns out to not be sustainable, their current strategy could turn out to put them way off base! One thing I try to remember in cases that seem unusual is that my interviewer is generally going to be trying to help me find the best path for the case. Cases are a give-and-take with your interviewer, as they are the one who holds all the information, and especially in a difficult or unusual case, they know that you'll be needing their help, sometimes in the form of verbal hints they'll give, in the form of data they choose to give you, or questions they ask. I'd suggest focusing on staying calm and collected, allow yourself to be curious and show that you're intrigued (rather than offput, frustrated, or frazzled) by the uniqueness of the case, and try to be receptive to the subtle ways the interviewer is trying to help guide you.
@@dheerajrane Also! Jake and I just filmed a profitability case this weekend--it's a fairly standard one (where the client is concerned about declining profits), but hopefully it can still be helpful! And we'll look at doing some cases with more curveballs thrown in them, like the one you ran, in the future! Thanks again for your feedback! Let us know if there's anything else we can help with!
Hey Dhiraj! We've just uploaded a new case video, and made the pauses longer, like you suggested. Also, our next case video will be a profitability case!
Excellent video! Really helps with case prep, would love to see more
Good case but I think one clarifying question that should also be asked in the beginning of the case is what are Mike's current targeted customer segment. Since golf is not everyone's sport (in fact it is stereotyped as upper-class sport) so I think we should also clarify whether our current customer also comes from the upper-class segment or rather from middle-class segment. It might provide some issue for us in the acquisition process. For example, if Mike's apparel currently targeting customer from middle class or lower class for their current product, it might need a lot more effort if they wanted to market the golf apparel product that is targeted to an upper-class segment of customer because they usually target their product for a different class of customer. what do you think?
This is a great point Daniel! Keeping the company's target customer in mind is one of those important pieces of context that will always be helpful to keep at the forefront of your mind as you go throughout the case! Thanks for watching!
Hi, Thanks so much for this video. I have one case I've faced: "A chemical mfg player intends to decide if it can enter US market with 7Bn investment." Do we need to consider 7Bn in calculations? I directly went with 4Bn as capital and started doing profitability and came up with break-even. I missed other components you mentioned.
Excellent video I must say. You guys are doing a phenomenal job helping us..
I seek an answer to jsut one query. When the question of how can company venture into the new segment without incurring such high R&D was put, my thought process was 1) acquire a business already into women golf apparel(definitely if the acquiring price is lower than R&D) 2) Enter into a JV with the already existing business
Are these solutions a deviation from what was asked? Thanks in advance :)
Hi Simran! Thanks so much for the feedback! I'm glad to hear it's been helpful! And I think that's a great way to think about it! Strategic acquisitions and joint ventures are an often-forgotten way to approach a new market, and suggesting those options are a great way to show that you're thinking about the broad range of Mike Apparel's real-world options. Great thoughts!
For entering the market, there are generally 3 ways to enter: organically (like was calculated in the video), acquisition of an existing women’s golf apparel company with the market share you want, or collaborate/joint venture.
The first two options are expensive or time consuming so I would recommend going on a joint venture with a clothing company that’s not in the golf apparel market yet. You can split the r&d costs which satisfies the client and still enter. Only problem is you get half the profits and half the control.
thanks for your clarity, great Video!
Of course! Glad to hear it!! Thank you!
Structure of case and the video is excellent, please do more.
Hi Kalimba! Thank you so much for the encouragement! Jake & I actually just filmed 2 more cases this past weekend, and will be filming 2 more this upcoming weekend, so be expecting some more coming soon!
Thanks so much for this video. Calm, cool, collected, and insightful- this was a great example of a market entry case◡̈
Thanks Sammy! Jake and I really appreciate it, and are excited to make more like this! Please let us know if there's anything we can focus on that would be helpful!
Very well structured!
Awesome and usefull video, great format. Keep uploading these videos please!
Hey Iconomía! This is Scott, thank you for the comment! Jake and I are actually just getting back to creating more videos like this one after taking a break for a few months while starting our jobs, but now we're excited to go full-steam-ahead on it! Please always feel free to reach out to us with any questions or suggestions!
Also-I just checkout out your channel, and your stuff looks awesome! It's always good to see other people out there creating resources to make important but complex subjects like economics more accessible!
Hey Iconomía! Thanks again for the encouragement a while back--we've actually got a new video up now!
This was a great case and I learned a lot, however, I felt like more questions should have been asked. For example, I would have asked more about why Mike's Apparel wants to enter the women's golf apparel market. Is there customer data to support it (i.e. a survey of customer shows that there is a demand for it)? Is there a need for more women's sport apparel in general, but not specifically golf apparel? I would want to make sure we are solving the right problem first. This would help me make a better recommendation at the end.
Hi Leah! That's a great point! I think it's always important to step back and try to understand at a high level why a company wants to enter the market. It's worth noting that during an interview case, the interviewer may not have as great of an answer for why as they might in real life, but it's still always worth asking, because it shows the interviewer that you're really thinking of this as a real world problem.
Helpful, I'm preparing my interview and think the pace and content is representative enough. Also cool final 3 mins drill. Thanks!
I'm glad to hear that, Sherry!! We really appreciate that! Let us know if we can ever help!
I did solve the case myself and really benefited from it thank you a lot! One comment would be that even if he showed his curiosity to the case, I am not sure if it's good to give that much of personal references assuming that we are solving the case in front of real consultants from top firms:) They will want us to think that they are real clients, and I thought it might not be plausible to go into personal references this much
Hey Ibrahim! This is Scott-I’m super glad the case was helpful and that you were able to solve it on your own! Your comment about making personal references is super fair-generally you don’t want to just go on and on with a client about your own personal observations, however, I think there is still a place for well-timed personal observations in the case interview, in a way that actually helps you! Here’s how I think about when to make those observations, and why they can actually help when used well-first, they show the interviewer that you’re comfortable, that you’re thinking of the problem as a real-world situation (not just a case), and that you’re not robotically spitting out memorized case frameworks. Second, it’s important to note that in a case interview, your interviewer generally represents someone you work with on the case, rather than the client themselves. In the case recommendation (when I’m asked to direct my thoughts to the client), I try to be concise and objective, and don’t include the personal references there. However, it’s okay to do so with a team member on your case (or in this case, the interviewer), because that’s often how it works on actual consulting cases. Without taking the time to check your analysis with what you know to be true about the world, it’s really easy to come to unreasonable conclusions, and operate with assumptions like: production costs are $0.02 per jacket, simply because your analysis says so. Without thinking about questions like: wait a second, how could a jacket cost only 2 cents to make? and using some common knowledge to help you, you might not realize that you made an error somewhere in your analysis, and come back to your manager with a number that’s pretty off. Sorry for the long response, hopefully this is helpful, and can give you a good frame of reference for when it’s a wise time to use a personal reference, and when it’s not. Thanks again for running the case with us!
@@casebinge7352 thank you very much for the answer!! looking forward to new videos :)
@@ibrahimenesbulut3973 Of course! Happy to help! We just released our new case video, and hopefully our newsletter can be helpful too! It covers a ton of practical topics and gives suggested practice methods to continue improving. If you're interested, you can sign up at CaseBinge.com
Excellent for practicing. Definitely, looking forward to the next video. The case I'd like to see: Pricing, M&A, profitability
Hi Maulana - Jake here! Super glad this helps you practice and we'll be releasing more videos soon. Always feel free to respond to this comment if you have any questions as you case prep. It can be a long journey and we're here to help!
Hey Maulana! Our newest video is up! It's a cost reduction case, and after that we've got a profitability one coming!
Any new uploads? Really enjoy your content
Hi Li! We love to hear the video has been helpful! Jake & I are working on a couple new videos, one will be a Profitability case and one will be a Cost Reduction case. Hopefully one of them will be uploaded within a week or two! Please always feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions, and in the meantime, you can join our weekly case tips newsletter at CaseBinge.com, where we've been releasing helpful case tips and tangible ways to practice and keep getting better!
Hey Li! Our new video is up! Thanks again for the feedback!
Excellent
Post more case solving videos on different type of cases
Thanks
Thank you Payal! We're actually working on filming some new ones! Are there any types of cases you'd especially like to see?
I think it'll be helpful to understand better the logic that goes behind the calculation when presented with an exhibit. Rather than being told the formula for the answer, I'd like to understand the dynamics for "why" that formula.
I believe that way we'll get a better understanding and be to produce formulas for any given case.
That's a great point! It's always important to dig into the "why" behind what you're doing. Are there any specific questions you have as to why we did something in this case? We'd be happy to help explain!
Awesome video! please solve more cases, especially profitability ones and including other diverse markets
Thanks for the input Prakash! This is Scott--we are definitely planning to solve more videos, and should have a handful of new videos up before the year is up! I like the idea of doing a profitabilty case--what other diverse markets would you like to see? Different and unique industry types, or different geographic markets? And are there any other case types you'd benefit especially from seeing us cover?
Hi! Great video! I would love to see a pricing case, since there aren't many of them out there. Thank you!
Thanks for the feedback Thea! We'll definitely plan on doing a pricing case in the future! I'm with you, sometimes those can be weirdly tough to find good examples of. Is there anything else that you think would be helpful to see?
Great video so far! I am going to have an interview with RB in a couple weeks so your video is very useful to structuring my thoughts. I can find a framework here.
I'm so glad to hear that! I hope the video was helpful, and I hope things turned out really well!
You two are amazing! Can you do some ops driven cases please?
Why did you quit? It's pure quality. Keep up pls
Hey! We super appreciate that! We haven't quit, and will actually be posting a new interactive case video within the next day or two, and are hoping to be able to post a handful more in the coming months! In the meantime, we're sending out a case tips newsletter every other week that can help supplement your case prep! You can sign up at CaseBinge.com
Our new case is up! Feel free to go check it out!
I'd love to get more content on structuring!
Love the video, I found the video format particularly helpful! I just started to practise case interviews, and the most challenging part for me atm is to sync all key findings to form detailed recommendations in such a short time (especially under the pressure of real interviews). I know it takes practice but would like to know if you have any suggestions regarding how to stay focused while dealing with a large amount of info? Thanks and look forward to seeing more videos!
Hi Trinity! Thanks for watching our video! This is Scott, and I've struggled with the same thing in practicing cases. I'll give you my general advice for staying focused, and then some specific advice for forming recommendations: In general, I'd suggest writing the 1-2 key objectives of the case (ex: decide whether or not to make the acquisition; identify the reason for declining profits and figure out how to mitigate them; etc.) as the interviewer gives you the case prompt. Write these fairly largely and at the top of your page, and keep looking back to them. If you can continue to frame your analysis through the lens of how it relates to those questions, it'll be a lot easier to know what to focus on, and it can help set you apart from other interviewees. With recommendations/conclusions at the end of the case specifically, without being too robotic or formulaic, I do generally try to follow a general pattern that helps make my answer clear: 1) "The client should do X" - just super straight up and confident, even if you aren't positive, just take a definitive stance on the questions at hand that you wrote at the top of your page, 2) Give the key reasons why they should do X, 3) Give the risks associated with doing X, and any other hesitations you have with X, 4) similarly, where would you focus your attention if you had more time to focus on the question at hand, ex: "Ideally, I'd like to look more at Y in order to confirm that Z", 5) similar to #4, what would your short and long-term next steps be, 6) "But again, given what we know right now, the client should do X". I know that's a lot, and you certainly don't need to cover all of those bases everytime, but I'd say doing a high-level overview of those 6 things, in the course of 30-90 seconds, can be a really powerful way to conclude your case and stay focused.
Hopefully that can help! Please don't hesitate to reply back to this comment if you have any other questions, and please let us know if you have any suggestions of additional features we could include in the videos we're working on now to make them even more helpful!
@@casebinge7352 Hi Scott, thank you so much for the suggestions! I've just tried them for another case today and found them super useful - they really helped me stay focused on tackling the key issue. Really appreciate it!
@@casebinge7352 In terms of additional features, I would recommend showing viewers how interviewee organizes his/her frameworks, notes, calculations on paper so that viewers could easily see the interviewee's logical flow and practise taking structural notes while cracking the case. For future videos, I would personally like to see profitability cases and operation cases (not very common but seems quite challenging), or maybe videos about general case interview skills e.g. how to practise MECE. But again amazing video, look forward to the upcoming ones!
@@trinityhuang7816 Absolutely! So glad to hear that!
Beginner here! Loved the video and I applaud what you guys are trying to do with this channel. I am not sure if I'm right here, so your thoughts would be helpful! For the question about suggesting alternatives to paying the one-time fixed costs for R&D, could selling other brands (like Lacoste, I guess) at "Mike Apparel" stores also work if the objective was just to enter this market? Additionally, once the break-even point is reached, maybe then put out feelers for the original product? Just asking because this was the first alternative that crossed my mind. Thanks!
This is a great video! I'd like to see a Profitability case and I'd need advice on how to better structure the things in between - such as the brainstorm. How do you approach it?
Thanks Menghua! Jake & I really appreciate it! And we actually have a profitability case out right now! You can find it here: ruclips.net/video/Z7hyiIOihyQ/видео.html
Also, that's a great point! Jake & I are actually working on creating a detailed, written course covering how to do each part of the case, including brainstorming. We're hoping to release the course in September!
actually pretty good, nice
Thanks Armando! We really appreciate it!
Great video! I would love to see something about how to structure notes for cases.
Thanks Harrison! This is Scott--we definitely want to include something about case note structuring in future videos. For you, would it be helpful to see my actual paper after I finish a case, or to specifically talk about the strategies behind how I'm laying things out on a page? Is there anything else like this that would be helpful for us to cover or include?
Hey Harrison! We just uploaded a new video, and it shows my notes! Our newsletter also recently covered tips for structuring notes! You can sign up at CaseBinge.com if you're interested
Great video thank you
Thanks so much JJ!
That was an amazing video. Thankyou!!
Thanks so much, Vedang! Jake & I really appreciate it, and will be posting more over the coming weeks & months! And we'll even have a written course that we'll be creating with all of our tips and tricks!
Great format and hilarious that I didn’t realize it was the same two guys cause of the beards
Thanks Jada! And hahaha it really does change the look
Keep up good work guys
Thanks so much! Hopefully our newest video can be helpful to you too!
My breakeven time is 2.4 years which is 2 years and 4 months. I dont understand how you got to 3 years.
Maybe if the question is how to enter the market with a lower investment I would have suggested some kind of partnership, joint venture, or even a leveraged buyout to not put the cash upfront.
Hi Niccolò! Jake here - great recommendation. A partnership or joint venture is a creative way to enter the market and shows your interviewer that you're thinking beyond the case. Even better if you could draw from personal experience and name a few companies that you'd like to partner with or acquire. Great stuff!
Loved the video, maybe in the future make the pauses a little longer? Every time I go to pause it goes into the interviewees response lol
Hey Abraham! Jake here - glad you liked the video. Thank you for that suggestion, and we'll make the pauses longer on future videos. Let me know if you need any help or have any questions as you case prep more. Always here to help!
Hey Abraham! We've just uploaded a new video, and made the pauses longer to make it easier--thanks again for the suggestion!
@@casebinge7352 Awesome! Keep up the super valuable content. It’s helped a lot!
Keep the Beard Mate!!
Stay tuned to find out if it's there in future videos... :)
255/85 doesn’t seem right. 85 is the profit of total market and Mike is not the only player there, probably targeting a 30% market capture in 3 years,(10% each year), on the basis of 8.5 B$ could be used instead of 85 for breakeven point.
No. The 600k is the 20% target market share they said they would be able to capture. The entire women’s golf apparel market was projected at like 3 million customers.
Sustainability cases
That's a great idea, Emmanuel! We'll definitely think about doing something regarding environmental effects & sustainability for one of our future cases! Thanks so much for watching! If you ever have any other suggestions, feel free to let us know!
Great video, but do you think you spent too much time on explaining your population breakdown?
Thanks so much! Honestly, you definitely could be right! A lot of running an effective case is about feeling the room and getting a sense for when your interviewer wants you to keep explaining something and when it's better to be more concise. You're definitely right, though, that in general it's better to be more concise rather than long-winded. Thanks for watching!
where did his beard go?!
Hahaha you'll have to stay tuned to future videos to find out!
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