CASE INTERVIEW WITH FORMER MCKINSEY INTERVIEWER: FLASHFASH 

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!!

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.

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.

I wish we done case studies like these in my college business program smh

As a b-school grad, I wish I had received such guidance for framing thoughts. This video is pure gold. Thanks!

This was so mesmerising to watch, 30 minutes flew past without me ever realising it

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.

Best case interview I´ve seen so far. Thank you very much, you have helped me a lot.

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

this is the most realistic interview video i've seen! thanks so much for sharing. will check out your other materials :)

Even the interviewer lights up when he answers.

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.

Very well done. It looks very real...doesn't seem staged. Thank you guys.

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!

Best case interview videos I have ever seen. Thank you so much for your time and help!

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)

very helpful - thank you for laying this out so cleanly

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!

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.

Amazing video guys. Keep making more case interviews. Helped a lot in understanding the structure.

Thank you, this is one of the best case interviews I have seen. Very informational. Appreciate it!

This interview was very informative. Best case interview.. thank you

This is an excellent video - I use this with my students to demonstrate the consultative method utiilising an Issue-based approach.

Very helpful..thank you.. we wish to have a video for a profitability case

Terrific. I aspire to be a consultant and this gave me a good idea about the process

Thankyou so much CaseCoach! its an amazing video

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!

Appreciate man. This is a brillant case interview example.

Thanks a lot for this great case interview video!!

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.

Great video, thank you for making this!

Very interesting and informative. Thanks for uploading this video!

Thank you, this video is great!

Hi guys ,amazing work . Any tips on how a case interview for junior tax consultants would be .thank you !

Thank you for this very insightful and informative video

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.

Cool video, thank you!

I enjoyed every bit of this video

hav my first casing interview tmr for my uni's bis club, wish me luck!

Any thoughts on how to share case structure and working in a virtual interview?

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

Thank you so much for this video. great stuff really helpful

Excellent video!!

Very good case study interview

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?

Very good!

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.

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

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

what if you offer more positive way to solve their integrating inflexions? he was using his analytical percentage skills rather than his interpersonal skills

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..."

really cool video THX

How did u get the margin from average purchase and cost of goods sold % that fast?

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.

When asking questions, is it ok to interrupt the interviewer or ask them at the end?

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?

Hi, can you make a video about if Bytedance approaches one of you (Big 4, MMB) for countering US sanctions? Thanks!

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, 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

This was helpful!

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.

I see he developed his issue tree before stating his hypothesis? I thought it was supposed to be the other way around?

So, basically, thinking out loud is great for both the interviewee and the interviewer?

Very nice video

This case sounds very similar to H&M fast fashion.

Can someone explain how the calculations que made?

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

What kind of consultancy deals with M&A - is this more Risk Management or is it under Management consulting in general?

At what moment did you use the FlashFlash distinctive business model in your structure ?

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?

My man literally sounds like andi Kaufman

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?

Dios mio esto está muy bueno

How did he calculate 1/24 so quickly

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?

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?

How would you do the 1/24 quickly on paper?

Can be the syngery comming from sell LaMode products in FlashFlash?

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.

That guy with a beard looks eerily related to Jeff Bezos. He's got the same intense gaze. Only the diabolical laughter is missing

Thank you for the video, it's super helpful! One question though: Acquisitions can sometimes be done for complementary strengths also. From that point of view, LaMode brings in the strength of being a 1. High-end luxury brand 2. Expertise in selling curated products (not own brand) as an aggregator. Hence, couldn't LaMode be still an interesting acquisition target for FlashFash?

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

@Enguerran - how long did you take to write your framework on paper?

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.

Get on well with

I wonder whether in all the case interview they will introduce the case through talking instead of paper

i am amused at how they grossly overlooked at a crucial factor of disparity in brand positioning of the 2 brands.

In 11:40 why does he calculate the market size in Asia Y0 x 6 ? thanks in advance

You should do a case study asking if LaMode should go into a profit sharing JV with FlashFlash to realize their expansion goals in new markets without diluting their brand value.

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?

Question. Soooo are you allowed to have a calculator? Or all these numbers must be calculated by mind?

Hi, can I ask what position he is applying for? Or is it the same question (hard level) for all positions?

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?

Hi I have my case interview tomorrow, should I consider the corona virus when thinking about the economy during the case?

is this a typical case or is this one of the more difficult ones?

Where is his hypothesis?

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?

In the section on organic growth, what if the interviewee questioned the rationale for the growth - asking to what end, or at what cost? I don't like providing answers to questions I haven't fully uncovered. Thoughts?

One quick question. In this case, interviewer led direction of the case to exploring opportunities in Asian market which was well reckoned by interviewee earlier. Did the interviewer lead the case to exploring opportunities in Asia because it was briefly mentioned by interviewee in market growth section or was this fixed from the very beginning. I just want to confirm causality to see how important it is to guess and throw a few ideas during the initial stages of the case (to direct case solving)