Auctus Advisors Interview Questions, Process, and Tips

Q1. How much time has it been since you joined IIM Lucknow?
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Q2. Do you think its justified that summer placements happen only after 3 months of joining?
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Q3. How did you decide upon which domain you want to join?
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Q4. What do you want me to look at in your CV?
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Q5. Any questions for me?
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Suggest improvements in IIML summer placement process.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C- I would first like to identify the stakeholders in the placement process - Students, Companies, Placement Committee and IIM L administration.

Then, I would like to identify the objectives of each stakeholder. For students its getting placed in minimum time, for companies its getting the best candidate, for placement committee it is getting all students placed as soon as possible and for the
administration it is smooth functioning during the process so that the institute's reputation is maintained.

Then I would like to identify the concerns of each stakeholder. And after that we can make a roadmap of the whole process with potential
road blocks.

I- Now that you have made the whole structure and identified the major problems in the current process. Would you like to suggest some alternatives?

C- Yes. I would like to suggest 4 alternatives and their pros and cons as well-

First two are based on timeline and the next two are based on logistics constraint.

Swap Lateral placements and summers with each other. Gives first years more time to decide upon the domain and well suited candidates for companies. It will be difficult for second yeartides though as their STEX might get jeopardized.

Shift the whole process ahead. First HEPP, then finals and then summers. Again STEX will be an issue.

HEPP and summers together, but logistically difficult for administration.

Cluster model and HEPP and summers together

I- Okay, thanks.

Q1. Introduce yourself.
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Q2. Walk me through your work experience.
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Q3. Couple of questions related to GST policy as they were relevant to work experience.
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Your client is a large retailer based in a Tier 1 city that sells multiple fashion related accessories. They want to sell a new brand of premium perfumes but are unsure of the demand of these products. Help them forecast the right amount of inventory they should buy?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: Could you please help me understand the retailer a bit better, when we are talking about a multiple brand retailer, can I think of something like a Shopper's Stop based in Delhi?

I: Yes, Shopper's Stop would be very similar to what the client does. However, our client only has one store in a premium mall in Delhi.

C: Thank you, understanding the perfume the client wants to sell, is it a known premium brand or a completely new one? Also, what is the price range of the perfume, and does it make products for a single gender?

I: It is a famous existing brand, and the perfumes range from INR 15000. They make perfumes exclusively for women.

C: So, can I assume that the consumer of these perfumes will be high income females above a certain age.

I: Yes, that would be right.

C: So, demand of the perfume would be a function of number of people visiting the shop on average, number of them making high value purchases, popularity of the brand, advertisement push and external economic factors.

Do we have any numbers on any of these metrics?

I: Our team has already done the data crunching and have suggested 3 alternatives along with the requisite probabilities of the stock getting sold off.

20000 units: 100% sales, 30000 units: 80% sales, 40000 units: 65% sales.

The store will have to dispose of any units not sold and best the loss of their cost.

The rest of the case was calculating the cost and benefits of each decision alternative and calculating the expected profit to give the right answer.

Q1. Tell me about yourself.
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Q2. Why consulting?
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Q3. What kind of projects did you work on while at ZS?
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A film producer decides to release a movie through reviews from a pre-release that had a limited audience.

The pre-release costs Rs. 1 crore. A hit movie would earn Rs. 200 Cr and a flop movie would earn Rs. 50 Cr. There's a 50-50 chance that the audience gives a thumbs up or thumbs down to a movie.

If the audience gives a thumbs up, there's 80% probability that the movie would be a hit and 20% that the movie would be a flop and 40% & 60% respectively if the audience gives a thumbs down. It costed Rs. 10 Cr to produce the movie.

Suggest the most profitable option to the producer.
I solved the case through the decision tree method where I created several branches considering all the situations.

Further, I calculated success probability and total earnings for each option to suggest the most profitable way.

The client wants to invest in a business that installs telecom towers. How can they decide if they should invest or not?
I solved this case using a mix of market entry and growth strategy frameworks and highlighted the metrics I would recommend the client to look at to come to their final decision.

Analyze if you should invest in Paytm's IPO?

Puzzle - You have two eggs, and when one is thrown, it'll get broken only if dropped from above a certain floor level. What is the max floor number from which the egg can be thrown such that it doesn't break?

Q1. Buddy Interactions: 1st was a general and work-ex based interaction and 2nd was a case interaction. Did a decision tree case over call.
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Q1. Manager Interaction: Did a profitability case in the insurance industry.
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Tell me something about yourself.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C- Told about background and work experience.

I- How has been your interaction so far? Whom did you interact with so far at Auctus? What did they tell you about Auctus?

C- Told about buddy and manager interactions and the cases that were discussed. Also told that the work they are doing sounds interesting.

I- What work did the buddy tell you about?

C- He helped clients with an M&A. It was really exciting to know how big scale changes are driven at Auctus.

I- Since you find M&A interesting, let's do an M&A case.

C- Sure, with a smile said that will try my best.

Case 1:

Client is a highway developer and is looking to sell a toll asset but is unable to convert any potential deal. Help him with the case.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C- Reiterating the problem statement. Asked about the client's market position and history.

I- Client is in the highway construction business since 10 years and is one of the major players in the market. He is looking forward to sell a toll asset and is unable to sell it.

C- What all comes under a toll asset?

I- So government gives a highway contract to a developer and the contractor gets a license to collect toll tax from the riders for a period of 10 years. When you sell you give that license to the buyer. Assume it to be Delhi Chandigarh toll plaza near Zirakpur.

C- Ok, so how long have you been trying to sell it?

I- 6 months

C- Ok, so is it that the deal is not getting any interested parties or parties are there but not buying.

I- The parties are interested but after looking at the asset they don't want to buy.

C - Ok, Let us look at both the revenue and the cost side for the buyer. It may be that the revenues are unable to compensate for the costs incurred. Let's look at the cost side first. The toll will have operating costs like salaries of operators at toll, cost of electricity supply, cost of maintenance of machines, toll gates and the entire toll plaza area.

I- There will be another set of costs. What are they? Repair of highway is also taken care of by the toll asset owners.

C- This will become a separate cost which can be calculated as = Total length of highway x Cost of repair per km x Frequency of repair.

I- Okay, great we can assume that there is no problem on this side. Do you want to look into cash flows?

C- Okay, Cash flows are of 3 types, cash flow from operating activities, cash flow from financing activities and cash flow from investing activities with inflows and outflows in each of them. Which one would you want to look into first?

I- So cash flows from operating activities is fine. Let's look into financing activities.

C- Ok, so in inflows there, we will have any loans received, and outflows we will have any outstanding debt repayment in terms of interest or principal amount repayment.

I- So what happens if there is outstanding debt at the time of buying the asset.

C- During the deal, the entire assets and liabilities will get transferred to the buyer. So any outstanding debt also gets transferred to the buyer.

I- Where will the outflows for financing activities be funded from?

C- It will be from the operating activities. So, if the operating activities are unable to finance the loan repayment, the buyer will not be interested in buying the toll asset.

I- Great! Have you heard of Net Present Value. What is it?

C- It is the sum total of all the monetary value that can be availed from an asset in its future years + its salvage value.

I- Conceptually bang on. But how do we calculate it. What will it be in this case?

C- In this case it will be negative or zero since the costs incurred overshoot the revenues that will be earned. Because of this, the potential buyers are not proceeding with the deal.

I- Congratulations! You have correctly solved the case.

C- What are your expectations from a potential hire?

I- First you tell me what are your expectations from us?

C- I am looking for a steep learning opportunity and make impact at a larger scale. Believe that projects that Auctus does has large scale implications and I'll be able to get a good learning opportunity here too.

I- : If you get your expectations fulfilled, our will be simultaneously met.

Hi, How is your morning coming. Who did you interact with at Auctus so far? How did it go?

What do you know about Auctus? Let's do a role play. You are at a blacksuit event which has high profile CEOs in attendance. You being a Consultant at Auctus have to introduce yourself to a CEO. Go ahead with it.

Why did you join MBA and finally why do you want to come to Auctus. Do you think you will get the required jump from your previous work experience. How?

What do you want to do in the long run. How will Auctus help you in that?

This was a case round.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C- Reiterated the problem statement. What was the previous business that the entrepreneur was in? Which geography is he looking to target?

I- He was in building construction business. He is a Filipino national looking to enter in Philippines.

C- What is the telecom towers business. Can you tell a bit more about it?

I- He is planning to build telecom towers and rent it out to telecom operators on a monthly subscription basis.

C- Ok great. Let's do a nation level analysis (macro) and industry level (micro) analysis in terms of the market.

I- Sure, let's look into the industry.

C- Started applying Porter's 5 forces? 1) Suppliers: Are there adequate suppliers in the for construction of telecom towers?

I- Yes, supply of raw materials is not a problem.

C- Let's look at the customers. Telecom operators will be buying the services. How does the telecom landscape look like currently?

I- It is a duopoly. There are 2 major players serving majority of the demand.

C- Do they need more towers? Do they have any expansion plans?

I- What do you think is the concern of players in a duopoly?

C: To expand the market.

I- But the market is fairly saturated. What would be there concern now?

C- To increase market share by trying to take over other's market share.

I- Market share is not a concern. (After a lot of questioning guided me) Prevent entry of newer players. It is this simple.

C- I am sorry. I assumed the infrastructure cost of telecom towers is already high that would create barriers to market entry.

I- Yes, correct. So what would happen if we go ahead with this idea?

C- I get your point. Because of the availability of rental telecom towers, the barriers will no longer be there. Hence the telecom operators will not be interested in buying the service.

I- Right, so there would not be any initial demand to buy the rental subscription of the telecom towers.

[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C- How has your journey been at Auctus so far? What excites you at Auctus?

I- : Described his entire journey in brief and how he then setup a practice in Philippines headed by him.

C- Do you feel satisfied today, given the big scale things you are doing at Auctus? Are you making the impact that you had always wanted to make?

I- Gave normal answers with a smile. Seemed very genuine answers.

Background- Auctus Advisors is different from other typical consulting firms in the sense that it follows an uncertainty-based approach to solving problems. It involves a decision tree structure with below steps:

a, Breaking down the problem into uncertainties involved and decisions to be taken.

b, Work with associated cost of the outcomes.

c, Choose/recommend the branch with least cost/highest profit etc.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

Case 1:

The interviewer had a quick look at my resume and identified that I was an athlete during undergrad. He then went on asking about the events I do, my best performance and the Indian national record in those events.

I- Ajay, let us assume you have a relative whose child is also an athlete like you. Knowing that you chose academics over sports as your career choice, he reached out to you for suggestions on how he should go about his child’s career plans. How will you help him?

C- Can I have a minute to gather my thoughts around this?

I- Sure.

C- I would need some more information around the situation. Can I ask some clarifying questions?

• In what class is the child currently studying in? (Class 8)

• What is the gender of the child? (Male)

• Does the child have any siblings? (Yes, a younger sister)

• What is the financial status of the family?

• Typical middle-class family from Andhra Pradesh

• No family assets and properties

• How good is he in academics? (Does fairly well – within top 10 in the class)

• How good is he in sports? (Already mentioned in the case statement)

C- Let me start with the Pros and Cons of each of the career options.

I- Do you usually conduct the pros and cons analysis while taking decisions?

C- Not always. But it helps to have a qualitative view before going ahead with the decision-making situation.

There is one important question I failed to ask earlier. What is the final objective of this career choice decision making?

I - What can be the objective?

C- : I can think of the following:

• Higher Income (and properties)

• Societal status

• Self-satisfaction

Some of these might be difficult to quantify but these are broadly what I can think of.

I- Sounds good. Let’s consider all those factors you just listed

C- Now that we have a broader view, let me start by identifying the uncertainties and decisions involved. Assuming that the decision has to be taken as soon as possible, we have 2 uncertainties and 2 decisions.

Uncertainties:

• Whether or not he performs well in academics in future.

• Whether or not he performs well in sports in future.

Decisions:

Should the parent consider sports as a career options. If yes, should it be given more preference? In this case, we have two alternatives

• Join him in a sports academy with lesser focus on education.

• Work on education and send to sports coaching everyday.

• Focus more on education with coaching only on weekends.

I- Looks good. What would the decision tree look like?

C- First comes the decision 1 with two branches. If the parent doesn’t choose to consider sports as an option, there is nothing much left.

However, if he chooses to consider it, the branch will further have 3 branches (each to the respective options listed above). For each of these 3 branches, there will be uncertainty 1 and uncertainty 2. In the end, there will be outcomes of each of the branches.

Ex: Parent chooses to consider sports and joins him in a sports academy. What is the probability that he will do well in sports and do well in academics?

We will then assign probability to each of the branch and calculate the expected value of the outcomes. The decision can be based on these values.

Case 2: I have a piece of land with me. What should I do with it? How would you approach this problem?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C- Sure. I would start with asking the objective of using this land.

Following are the few I can think of

• Make a lump sum money immediately

• Generate constant stream of cash flows

• Invest in the long term

Based on the duration before which you would expect the money to start flowing in, we can choose one of the above. For each of the above options, following can be done:

• Sell the land.

• Lease the land to some other corporate entities.

• Start a business. Can be one among below.

• Hotels.

• Amusement parks .

• Malls

I- Good. Can you summarize this?

C- Sure. The following things should be considered for making a decision.

•Mode of making money (Lump sum, Stream of cash flows)

•Time until which you can wait for money to start coming in (Long vs short term)

•Type of business to invest in (competitor analysis, SWOT)

I- You mentioned cash flows. Are you aware of cash flow statement? What does it tell about? How do you prepare a cash flow statement from if I give you income statement and balance sheet?

C- Explained and solved a small numerical which the interviewer gave with reasons behind why some line item is subtracted and why others are added to get the final net cash flow.

Walk me through your resume. You have only 3 minutes to do so.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C- Sure sir.

I- What is it that you are proud of, in your resume? What section do you want me to focus on, other than academics?

C- It would be sports sir.

I- Okay. Let us solve a problem. Tell me the probability of you making it to the Indian athletics team that represents Olympics? I am more interested in your approach than the final answer.

C- Sure. In order for me to be in the Indian team, I should pass through multiple stages – District, State and National. I will calculate the probability at each level and multiply it to get the final probability.

At the district level, considering a state like UP, there would be ~200 participants per event. Assuming that I am interested in only one event and only top 3 participants make it to the state level, the probability that I am in those is 3/200.

At the state level, there would be ~80 districts, each with 3 participants per the event. Top 3 here would be selected for national level. The probability is 3/240.

Same goes with national level. 28 states with 3 participants each and top 3 would be selected for the Indian team.

I- : You have taken around 15 minutes to solve this. If I give you only 3 minutes, how would you go about it?

C- Our population is 130 crores. I will take the percentage of population that plays sports (let us say ~15%).

Within those 15%, I will consider the percentage of them who play athletics. Then I will boil down to the event I am taking part in. Assuming that top 3 would be in Indian team, the answer would be 3/(above number)

I- The margin of error would be high in this approach. Can you think of another way?

C- : I will rank the current active athletes that take part in my event based on their best performance. I will have a particular rank among them, say 1800. I will then calculate the probability of me beating those above me and improve my rank to top 3. This would give a rough estimate of the required probability.

I- Fine. Let’s solve a puzzle. There is a 100 floor building and you have two eggs with you. Consider a hypothetical situation where the eggs would break only if you drop it from a particular floor or any floor above that. How many trials would you need to find out that floor? How do you minimize the number of trials?

C- The easiest way would be to start from ground floor and start dropping the egg from each floor. In the worst case, this would take 99 trials to find the
required floor.

The next way is to use binary search. Divide the building into two halves. Drop the egg from 50th floor. If it breaks, start from floor 1 to find out the required floor. If it doesn’t break, start from 51st floor and go up until the required floor. In the worst case, this would take 49 trials.

The other way is to break down the building into a set of 10 floors instead of two halves and drop the first egg from 10th, 20th, 30th, ….90th floor. Based
on the floor at which it breaks, start from the bottom. For example, if the first egg breaks at 30th floor, start dropping the second egg from 21st floor onwards. This approach would take around 19 trials in the worst case.

I- Good. You have considered 10 floors to come up with 19 trials. I believe the trials could still be reduced if you consider another size of the band of floors (say 11 floors, 12 floors etc.,). Using which size of the floors would you get minimum trials and how do you calculate it?

I- So, what are your thoughts about the current economic slowdown? Should we be concerned about it? Why is there a slowdown in the first place?

Suggest few steps to be taken to revive the
economy?

Business case started with guesstimate of 2 wheelers and then discussion of market entry of a company in 2nd hand market of 2 wheelers

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