Case interview questions.

82 case interview questions from the bank, ready to practice out loud.

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Fermi estimation: decompose, anchor, sanity-check Market sizing: top-down vs bottom-up Profitability trees and MECE decomposition STAR and CARL: structuring your story Answer-first: delivering findings under time pressure Prioritization: RICE and impact vs effort Sizing a market you have never sized Unit economics: CAC, LTV, and payback

All 82 questions

Grocer acquiring meal-kit companyYour client is a regional grocer thinking about acquiring a meal-kit company. Walk me through how you'd structure your analysis.Problem framingEntry–senior

Pharma patent cliff strategyA pharma client's flagship drug is going off-patent in 18 months. What does the patent cliff strategy framework look like?MECE structureMid–senior

Airline profitability decline analysisA US airline has seen its profitability decline 30% over the last two years. Walk me through your initial hypotheses.Hypothesis Driven analysisMid–senior

Valuing high-growth SaaS companyWalk me through how you'd value a mid-stage SaaS company with $40M ARR growing at 80% year over year.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathMid–senior

Pricing strategy executive summaryYou've done two weeks of analysis on a client's pricing strategy. The CEO wants three slides. Walk me through what's on them.Executive synthesisSenior–leadership

Consumer goods market share growthA consumer-goods client's market share has plateaued. They want to grow 25% in two years. What would you analyze first?Problem framingEntry–senior

Hospital telemedicine launch analysisYour client is a regional hospital system thinking about launching telemedicine. Walk me through the analysis framework.MECE structureMid–senior

Mortgage origination slowdown causesA bank's mortgage origination has slowed 40% year over year. The team thinks rates are entirely to blame. What would you check?Hypothesis Driven analysisMid–senior

Fast-food franchise unit economicsWalk me through the unit economics of a typical fast-food franchise in the US.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathEntry–mid

Portfolio company missing plan assessmentAn LBO sponsor's portfolio company is missing plan. The CEO asks for your assessment in 5 minutes. Walk me through it.Executive synthesisSenior–leadership

Media company streaming service evaluationYour client is a media company evaluating whether to build a streaming service. What does the case look like?Problem framingMid–senior

EV-charging market entry analysisAn industrial client wants to enter the EV-charging market. Walk me through the analysis structure.MECE structureMid–senior

Losing share to Chinese competitorA consumer-electronics company's flagship product is losing share to a Chinese competitor. Walk me through your investigation.Hypothesis Driven analysisMid–senior

Valuing portfolio company before saleWalk me through how you'd value a private equity portfolio company being prepared for a sale in 18 months.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathSenior–leadership

Presenting pricing recommendation to CFOYou've analyzed a client's pricing for three months. Walk me through how you'd present the recommendation to a skeptical CFO.Executive synthesisSenior–leadership

Retail e-commerce growth stalledYour retail client's e-commerce growth has stalled while competitors are growing. Walk me through the diagnostic.Problem framingMid–senior

Regional bank branches versus digitalA regional bank's CEO wants to know whether to invest in branches or digital. Walk me through your framework.MECE structureMid–senior

Industrial client high turnover causesAn industrial client thinks their high turnover is a wage issue. What hypotheses would you test alongside that?Hypothesis Driven analysisMid–senior

B2B SaaS addressable market estimateWalk me through how you'd estimate the addressable market for a B2B SaaS product targeting US plumbing contractors.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathMid–senior

Delivering exit recommendation to boardYour engagement found that the client should exit a major business line. Walk me through how you'd deliver that finding to the board.Executive synthesisSenior–leadership

Non-profit literacy program expansionA non-profit wants help deciding whether to expand a literacy program into three new regions. Walk me through the case.Problem framingEntry–mid

Real-estate developer parcel selectionA real-estate developer wants to choose between two parcels in the same city. What's the framework?MECE structureMid–senior

Consumer brands commodity cost impactA consumer-brands client thinks rising commodity costs are eating their margin. Walk me through how you'd verify or challenge that.Hypothesis Driven analysisMid–senior

Valuing high-growth healthcare servicesWalk me through valuing a private healthcare-services company growing at 25% with mid-teens EBITDA margins.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathSenior–leadership

Acquisition recommendation with mixed dataYou have ten minutes with the CEO to deliver findings on whether to acquire a target. The data is mixed. Walk me through the conversation.Executive synthesisSenior–leadership

Auto OEM EV portfolio strategyYour client is an auto OEM trying to decide how aggressively to push EVs in their portfolio. What's the case structure?Problem framingSenior–leadership

Grocery chain premium private-label launchA grocery chain wants to launch private-label premium products. Walk me through how you'd evaluate which categories to enter first.MECE structureMid–senior

Logistics on-time delivery rate declineA logistics client's on-time-delivery rate dropped 8 points last quarter. Where do you start?Hypothesis Driven analysisMid–senior

Urban gym chain unit economicsWalk me through the unit economics of a typical urban gym chain location.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathEntry–mid

Cost-cutting recommendation in one sentenceYour team has been asked to recommend cost cuts on a 25%-margin business. The CFO wants the recommendation in one sentence. Walk me through how you'd land it.Executive synthesisSenior–leadership

Coffee shop foot traffic declineA coffee shop chain has seen foot traffic drop 15% over the past six months. Walk me through how you'd frame the problem and identify potential causes.Problem framingEntry–mid

Tutoring business profit driversYour client runs a tutoring business and wants to understand their profit drivers. Break down revenue and costs in a MECE way.MECE structureEntry–mid

Mobile app user retention declineA mobile app's user retention has fallen from 60% to 45% in three months. What are your top three hypotheses for why this happened?Hypothesis Driven analysisEntry–mid

Annual haircuts in your cityEstimate how many haircuts happen in your city each year. Walk me through your approach and calculation.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathEntry–mid

Food delivery unit economicsWalk me through the unit economics of a typical food delivery order—what are the key revenue and cost components per transaction?Market Sizing or unit Economics mathEntry–mid

Bookstore sales decline diagnosisYou've spent a week analyzing why a bookstore's sales are declining. The owner has five minutes before their next meeting. What do you tell them?Executive synthesisEntry–mid

Bakery online delivery expansionA local bakery wants to start selling online for home delivery. Walk me through how you'd structure your thinking about whether they should do this.Problem framingEntry–mid

Coffee chain same-store sales declineA private equity firm acquired a specialty coffee chain 18 months ago. Same-store sales are down 8% despite strong category growth. The GP wants your diagnostic framework in the next partner meeting. What do you present?Problem framingMid–senior

Insurance claims cost inflationYour client is a national insurance carrier seeing claims costs rise 15% annually while premiums are only up 6%. Walk me through how you'd break down the problem.MECE structureEntry–mid

SaaS net revenue retention dropA B2B SaaS client's net revenue retention dropped from 115% to 98% in six months. The product team says nothing changed. What hypotheses would you test first?Hypothesis Driven analysisMid–senior

EV charging station market sizingEstimate the total addressable market for electric vehicle charging stations along US highways over the next five years. Walk me through your approach.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathEntry–mid

Retailer omnichannel strategyYou've spent three weeks analyzing a retailer's omnichannel strategy. The board meeting is tomorrow and you have eight minutes. What's your story?Executive synthesisSenior–leadership

Telecom fiber wholesale monetizationA telecom operator wants to monetize its fiber network by selling wholesale access to competitors. Walk me through the business case framework.Problem framingMid–senior

Manufacturing labor productivity declineYour manufacturing client's largest plant has seen labor productivity decline 20% over 12 months. Turnover is at industry average. How do you structure the analysis?MECE structureEntry–mid

Fintech path to breakevenA fintech startup is burning $8M per month with 14 months of runway. The board wants a path to breakeven or Series C readiness. What's your framework?Problem framingMid–senior

Cloud kitchen unit economicsWalk me through the unit economics of a cloud kitchen operating in a major metropolitan area. What are the key value drivers?Market Sizing or unit Economics mathEntry–mid

Biotech trial failure strategyA biotech client has a Phase 3 trial failure. They have two earlier-stage assets and 18 months of cash. The CEO wants options by end of week. What do you analyze?Hypothesis Driven analysisSenior–leadership

Bank digital banking build-buy-partnerYour client is a mid-market bank evaluating whether to build, buy, or partner for digital banking capabilities. How would you structure the decision framework?MECE structureMid–senior

CPG flat revenue profit declineA consumer packaged goods brand's revenue is flat but profit is down 18%. The CFO blames commodities. What else would you investigate?Hypothesis Driven analysisEntry–mid

Medical imaging AI revenue opportunityEstimate the annual revenue opportunity for a new AI-powered medical imaging tool targeting US radiology practices. Walk me through your logic.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathMid–senior

Commercial excellence board narrativeYou're presenting to a private equity portfolio company's board on commercial excellence. You have ten slides and fifteen minutes. What's the narrative arc?Executive synthesisSenior–leadership

Logistics on-time delivery declineA logistics company's on-time delivery rate dropped from 94% to 87% over six months. Volume is up 12%. Walk me through your initial hypotheses.Hypothesis Driven analysisEntry–mid

Urgent care behavioral health entryYour client operates 200 urgent care centers. They want to add behavioral health services. What does your market entry framework look like?Problem framingMid–senior

Subscription box company valuationWalk me through how you'd value a subscription box company with 80,000 active subscribers, 5% monthly churn, and $35 average order value.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathMid–senior

Hotel RevPAR decline analysisA hotel chain's RevPAR is down 15% year-over-year. Occupancy is flat. The GM thinks it's all market-driven. What would you check first?Hypothesis Driven analysisEntry–mid

Life sciences lab space developmentYour client is a commercial real estate developer considering building life sciences lab space. Walk me through the go/no-go analysis structure.MECE structureMid–senior

Aerospace supplier order cut responseAn aerospace supplier's largest customer just cut forecasted orders by 35%. The executive team meets in two hours. Walk me through your initial assessment.Executive synthesisSenior–leadership

Residential solar market entryA renewable energy developer wants to enter the residential solar market. They currently only do utility-scale projects. What's your analysis framework?Problem framingMid–senior

Bank cybersecurity staffing estimateEstimate the number of cybersecurity professionals a Fortune 500 bank should employ. Walk me through your assumptions and logic.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathMid–senior

Aligning team on root causeYour consulting team disagrees on the root cause of a client's inventory problem. You're leading the team meeting to align. How do you structure the discussion?MECE structureSenior–leadership

Rising users, falling revenue per userA gaming company's daily active users are up 20% but revenue per user is down 18%. The product lead says engagement is great. What do you investigate?Hypothesis Driven analysisMid–senior

Assessing struggling retail chainThe CEO of a struggling retail chain asks you to assess the business in one week. You can pick only three areas to deep-dive. Which do you choose and why?Problem framingSenior–leadership

Diagnosing slow monthly closeThe CFO of a multi-entity manufacturer tells you the monthly close takes fifteen days and nobody trusts the numbers. You have four weeks to diagnose it. How do you structure the assessment?Problem framingMid–senior

Revenue growth with margin declineA distribution client grew revenue 12% but gross margin fell six points, and finance blames “mix.” Walk me through your hypotheses and how you'd test them.Hypothesis Driven analysisMid–senior

Quality of earnings diligenceYou're running quality-of-earnings diligence on a target whose EBITDA doubled in two years. How do you structure the work, and which adjustments do you expect to spend the most time testing?MECE structureSenior–staff+

Early payment discount decisionA client's supplier offers 2/10 net 30 terms, and the client's credit line costs 9%. They ask whether taking the early-payment discount is still worth it. Walk me through the math and your recommendation.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathEntry–mid

Extending payment terms for salesSales wants to extend standard payment terms from 30 to 90 days to win a large retail account. The CFO asks you to assess the full financial impact and make a recommendation. Walk me through it.Executive synthesisMid–senior

Outsourcing versus automating financeA private-equity-owned services company wants to cut its finance function cost by 30%. Structure how you'd evaluate outsourcing transactional accounting against automating it in-house.Problem framingSenior–leadership

Entering small-business insuranceYour client is a regional P&C carrier that writes only personal lines. They're considering entering small-business commercial insurance. Walk me through how you'd structure the analysis.Problem framingMid–senior

Exiting hurricane-exposed marketsA national homeowners insurer is deciding whether to stop writing business in a hurricane-exposed coastal state. How would you structure the decision?MECE structureSenior–leadership

Renters insurance premium pool estimateEstimate the annual premium pool for renters insurance in a US city of one million people.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathEntry–mid

Losing submissions to insurtech MGAsA commercial-lines carrier is losing small-business submissions from its independent agents to insurtech MGAs. What are your initial hypotheses, and how would you test them?Hypothesis Driven analysisMid–senior

Customer acquisition economicsA direct-to-consumer auto insurer spends $600 in marketing to acquire each new customer. Walk me through how you'd determine whether those economics work.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathMid–senior

Combined ratio deterioration synthesisYou've spent six weeks diagnosing a specialty carrier whose combined ratio drifted from 96% to 105%. Pricing turned out to be adequate — claims leakage and expense creep are the culprits. The CEO gives you five minutes. Deliver your synthesis.Executive synthesisSenior–leadership

Stabilizing active equity outflowsA mid-size active equity manager has had net outflows for three straight years as clients shift to passive. The CEO asks you to structure an assessment of how to stabilize the business. Walk me through it.Problem framingSenior–leadership

Shifting to passive index fundsAn endowment is considering moving 20% of its public equity allocation from active managers to index funds. How would you analyze the decision?Hypothesis Driven analysisMid–senior

Fund P&L and breakeven AUMA fund runs $2 billion at a 65 basis point management fee. Sketch the P&L of that fund, and estimate the AUM at which a newly launched strategy breaks even.Market Sizing or unit Economics mathMid–senior

Digital advice tier cannibalizationA full-service wealth management firm is considering launching a low-cost digital advice tier. Structure the analysis of whether it feeds the advisory business or cannibalizes it.MECE structureMid–senior

Underperformance diagnosisA multi-asset fund has trailed its benchmark three years running. The board wants to know whether it's bad luck, bad process, or the wrong benchmark. Structure the diagnostic.Hypothesis Driven analysisSenior–staff+

Closing fund to new investorsYour firm's small-cap fund has strong performance and heavy inflows. Leadership asks whether to close it to new investors. Walk me through the analysis.Problem framingMid–senior

Boutique asset manager acquisitionYour firm is evaluating the acquisition of a boutique asset manager with $8 billion in AUM. What does your due diligence framework look like, and what kills the deal?MECE structureSenior–staff+

Distribution platform fee cut demandYour largest distribution platform is demanding a fee cut on your flagship fund as a condition of staying on its recommended list. Walk me through your analysis and recommendation.Executive synthesisMid–senior