Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking

Welcome to an interview with Gaia Bernstein, a Law Professor, Director of the Institute for Privacy Protection and Co-Director of the Gibbons Institute for Law Science and Technology at the Seton Hall University School of Law. She writes, teaches and lectures in the intersection of law, technology, health and privacy. Gaia is also the mother of three children who grew up in a world of smartphones, iPads and social networks.

Her forthcoming book: Unwired: Gaining Control Over Addictive Technologies shatters the illusion that we can control how much time we spend on our screens by resorting to self-help measures. Unwired shifts the responsibility for a solution from users to the technology industry, which designs its products to addict. The book draws out the legal action that can pressure the technology industry to re-design its products to reduce technology overuse.

Gaia has academic degrees in both law and psychology. Her research combines findings from psychology, sociology, science and technology studies with law and policy. Gaia’s research has been featured extensively by the media including the New York Times, Forbes, ABC News and Psychology Today.

Gaia has spearheaded the development of the Seton Hall University School of Law Institute for Privacy Protection’s Student-Parent Outreach Program. The nationally acclaimed Outreach Program addresses over-use of screens by focusing on developing a healthy online-offline balance and the impact on privacy and online reputation. It was featured by the Washington Post, CBS Morning News and Common-Sense Media.

Gaia delivers lectures to parents and general audiences about the harms of excessive screen time, the effectiveness of self-help measures, and the options for technology re-design through social and legal action.

Get Gaia’s book here:

Unwired: Gaining Control Over Addictive Technologies. Gaia Bernstein

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Welcome to an interview with the author of How to Listen, Oscar Trimboli.

Effective communication is not all about eloquent speaking. The key sits on the ability to listen and how you react and respond to what you hear. As Oscar said in the episode, “The difference between hearing and listening is action”.

In this episode, we discuss what good listening and communication is. We also highlighted the impact of good listening in your career, organization, and personal life.

Oscar Trimboli is on a quest to create 100 million Deep Listeners in the world. He is an author, host of the Apple Award winning podcast—Deep Listening and a sought-after keynote speaker. He is passionate about using the gift of listening to bring positive change in homes, workplaces and the world.

Through his work with chairs, boards of directors and executive teams in local, regional and global organizations, Oscar has experienced first-hand the transformational impact leaders and organizations can have when they listen beyond the words.

He consults with organisations including Cisco, Google, HSBC, News Corp, PayPal, Qantas, TripAdvisor helping executives and their teams listen to what’s unsaid by the customers and employees.

Oscar lives in Sydney with his wife Jennie, where he helps first-time runners and ocean swimmers conquer their fears and contributes to the cure for cancer as part of Can Too, a cancer research charity.

Get Oscar’s book here:

How to Listen: Discover the Hidden Key to Better Communication. Oscar Trimboli

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For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classic where we speak about our practice styles.

Over the course of the case interview training program, it becomes very important for us to change our coaching style. First, candidates become used to solving cases in just this one style and we need to ensure they can adapt to any style. Second, candidates become adept at reading the "tell" in the coach/mentor so they know when they, the candidate, is making a mistake etc. By changing our coaching style and introducing mentors, we can easily avoid this problem and ensure candidates are becoming stronger at cases versus merely stronger at doing cases with the one coach. Ensure you are also practicing with partners who have different styles.

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Welcome to an interview with the co-author of The Burnout Challenge, Michael P. Leiter, Ph.D.

Burnout is one of the major contributors driving people to leave their job. It results from unsuccessfully managed workplace stress and is a combination of exhaustion, psychological distancing, and a low sense of accomplishment. So how do we address burnout and who is responsible for managing this issue?

In this episode, we discuss the factors contributing to employee burnout and what leaders and managers can do to understand, protect, and manage their employees to alleviate the distress from the elements that result in burnout.

“Some people are looking for something from that job that it's not providing, that there is a mismatch.” —Michael P. Leiter, Ph.D.

Michael P. Leiter, Ph.D., is an organizational psychologist interested in the relationships of people with their work. He has been a professor of Industrial and Organisational Psychology at Deakin University in the Faculty of Health and Canada Research Chair in Occupational Health at Acadia University.

Michael lives in Nova Scotia where he writes and consults with workplaces on preventing burnout while improving respect among people. 

Get Michael’s new book here:

The Burnout Challenge: Managing People’s Relationships with Their Jobs. Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter

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Welcome to an episode with Christina Maslach, PhD, a professor of psychology (Emerita) and a researcher at the Healthy Workplaces Center at the University of California, Berkeley. 

In this episode, we discuss the causes of burnout and the factors contributing to it, and how leaders and organizations can address this issue to provide a sustainable and healthy working environment for their employees. 

Christina Maslach, PhD, received her BA from Harvard and her PhD from Stanford. She is best known as the pioneering researcher on job burnout, producing the standard assessment tool (the Maslach Burnout Inventory, MBI), books, and journal articles. She has received numerous awards for her work, including both academic (the 2020 award for scientific writing from the National Academy of Sciences) and public (named in 2021 as one of the top 100 people transforming business, by Business Insider).

In addition, she is an award-winning teacher and was Professor of the Year in 1997. As an administrator, she was Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Instructional Technology, and the Chair of the faculty Academic Senate (twice) at UC-Berkeley. She was the president of the Western Psychological Association when it celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2020. She is now interviewing women faculty who arrived at Berkeley in the 1970s, after the historic low point for women in the 1960s.

Get Christina’s new book here:

The Burnout Challenge: Managing People’s Relationships with Their Jobs. Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter

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For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classic where we discuss why candidates fail profit cases.

Most candidates would tackle a McKinsey profitability case by presenting a revenue-cost framework and offer options to lower costs and increase revenue. The reality is that such a framework and explanation shows a deep misunderstanding of business and business strategy. In this podcast, we present the correct way to understand profitability cases which require candidates to understand the growth and cost of growth needs of shareholders. This logic never fails to impress interviewers.

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For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classic where we provide a simple set of priority areas that a novice aspiring consultant should focus upon in the building up to the MBA full-time September interviews. It ties together themes from existing podcasts but presents them in the format of a case interview preparation roadmap.

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Welcome to an episode with a Senior Partner and the global leader in the Tech and Telecommunication practice at McKinsey and Company, Venkat Atluri.

In this episode, we defined the emerging ecosystem economy and how most successful companies navigate and thrive in this new world. 

Venkat Atluri is a thought leader at McKinsey, a prolific author, and a sought-after speaker at industry events. He collaborates with top executives, boards, and investors to create value through end-to-end performance transformation, programmatic M&A, and new business building from scale-up to IPOs. He is keenly focused on the future of technology, with special emphasis on the cross-sector opportunities at the intersection of new technologies and emerging business models. He serves clients in the high-tech, media and telecommunications, advanced industries, and consumer sectors. He has a passion for advising venture capital and private equity investors.

Venkat is a leading expert on vast and emerging opportunities created by the network connectivity of devices, systems, platforms, and people that are powered by software and hardware. He draws on this expertise to guide clients through the design and deployment of network and ecosystem-based businesses across sectors.

He has held many leadership positions throughout his tenure at the firm. He co-founded and led McKinsey’s IoT (Internet of Things) Practice. He also created a group that aims to incubate new analytic and digital assets, develop innovative client offerings, and build alliances and partnerships with innovators. He previously spearheaded digital, analytics, and tech-enabled transformations for clients in advanced industries, and also led the firm’s global efforts in the Technology, Media & Telecommunications Practice to help clients fast-track and sustain transformational impact through leadership alignment, execution support, capability-building, and leadership development via a distinctive set of assets and exceptional digital-learning programs.

Prior to joining McKinsey, Venkat held global operating leadership roles overseeing large businesses and functions, with a focus on product development, management, and deployment.

Outside of McKinsey, Venkat serves on the board of 1871, a world-leading not-for-profit start-up incubator. He is the current chairman of the board and a founding member of Current Water, a not-for-profit that seeks sustainable solutions to water challenges through innovation and collaboration for developing and deploying the tools, practices, and technologies to promote sustainable blue economy growth.

Get Venkat’s new book here:

The Ecosystem Economy: How to Lead in the New Age of Sectors Without Borders. Venkat Atluri and Miklós Dietz

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For this episode, we interviewed the coauthor of Monster: A Tough Love Letter on Taming the Machines that Rule our Jobs, Lives, and Future, Ben Pring.

Who is responsible for regulating and overseeing technology and online platforms? Is it the government? The ITs and developers? Or maybe…the users?

In this episode, we deliberated the significance of technology in human lives and the negative consequences brought by irresponsible and abusive use of technology.

Ben Pring is a widely acknowledged IT futurist and thought leader with a storied track record working with the biggest and fastest-growing IT vendors and with the most demanding and sophisticated IT buyers.

Get Ben’s book here:

Monster: A Tough Love Letter On Taming the Machines that Rule our Jobs, Lives, and Future. Ben Pring and Paul Roehrig.

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For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classic where we discuss how to capture and use feedback correctly.

Candidates good through a lot of trouble finding practice partners and reaching out to current and former consultants. We do, however, find that despite all of this effort, they tend to be very weak at the manner in which they capture valuable lessons. There is far too little planning and it is largely a trial and error process. They reach out to 10 people hoping that at least 3 will provide great feedback and possibly 7 will provide some feedback. We find the best candidates have a list of items that they want assessed in the practice session and this rolling list is continuously being updated after every session.

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For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classic where we discuss four classic math mistakes in cases.

Candidates mess up calculations for 4 primary reasons: missing units, complicated equations, weak visual layout and poor technique. Notice that we ignore speed and arithmetic. There is a reason for that and it is discussed in the podcast. The most surprising one of the lot is missing units. We have trained PhDs who graduated first in their schools and many tend to drop units thereby producing meaningless answers. These are all simple mistakes but the impact is substantial.

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For this episode, we interviewed the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, Luke Burgis.

Why do we want what we want? This topic is rarely presented in conversations, business meetings, or political agendas, but it has a comprehensive impact on our lives and shapes our societies. This episode explores the psychology behind human desires, role modeling, competition, and the awareness of intentional wanting.

Luke Burgis has founded and led multiple companies. He’s currently entrepreneur-in-residence and director of programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at the Catholic University of America, where he also teaches business and develops new education initiatives. He's also the founder and director of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator for people and companies that contribute to the formation of a healthy human ecology. He graduated from NYU Stern School of Business and later from a pontifical university in Rome, where he studied theology. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Claire.

Get Luke’s book here:

Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, Luke Burgis.

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For this episode, we interviewed Jenn Lim, the CEO of Delivering Happiness, also known as DH.

In this episode, Jenn speaks about her journey of discovering and understanding the meaning of happiness and purpose. What is the source of genuine happiness and how does it impact your work and career?

Delivering Happiness, also known as DH is a company that Jenn Lim and Tony Hsieh, the late CEO of Zappos.com, cofounded to create happier company cultures for a more profitable and sustainable approach to business. DH started as a book and evolved into a business consultancy and global movement that has impacted and inspired over 400 companies around the world.

Jenn’s mission is something both simple and profound: to teach businesses how to cultivate cultures that generate profit, sustain all people at every level of the organization with humanity, and share how we can make an impact by being true to our authentic selves. In 2017, Jenn was selected to be on the Global Happiness Council of Work and Wellbeing with the charter to scale the impact she's made in even more sustainable ways. In 2020, DH was on Inc. 5000’s list of fastest-growing companies.

Get Jen’s book here:

Beyond Happiness: How Authentic Leaders Prioritize Purpose and People for Growth and Impact. Jenn Lim

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For this episode, we interviewed the author of Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World that Never Stops Changing, Frank Cespedes.

How do you manage sales in a world that never stops changing? In this episode, Frank shares valuable insights to equip sales professionals and business leaders in managing sales within their organization and how to better improve and develop themselves while managing constant change.

Frank Cespedes is a sales expert and Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School. He runs a business, has served on the boards of corporations and start-ups, and has consulted to companies around the world. He is the author of articles in Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, Organization Science, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications as well as 6 books, including Aligning Strategy and Sales, which was cited as "the best sales book of the year" (Strategy+Business), "a must read" (Gartner), and "perhaps the best sales book ever" (Forbes).

Get Frank’s book here:

Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World that Never Stops Changing. Frank Cespedes.

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For this episode, we interview the coauthor of The Power of Trust, Sandra Sucher. In this book, Sandra Sucher and Shalene Gupta examine the economic impact of trust and the science behind it and conclusively prove that trust is built from the inside out. Trust emerges from a company being the “real deal”: creating products and services that work, having good intentions, treating people fairly, and taking responsibility for all the impacts an organization creates, whether intended or not.

Sandra Sucher is a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School and studies trust and moral leadership. She’s authored 110 business cases, technical notes, video interviews, teaching notes, and three books.

Sucher is on the Edelman Trust Institute advisory board and has collaborated with Deloitte on TrustIQ™, a proprietary tool that measures key elements of trust in major corporations and public sector organizations.

Sucher was a business executive for 20 years before joining Harvard. As a senior executive at Fidelity Investments, she measured customer loyalty, redesigned back-office operations, and improved the quality of service. In retailing, she co-authored the proposal to expand Filene’s Basement from a single-unit business to a national chain. She has served on corporate and nonprofit boards and as the Better Business Bureau chair.

Get Sandra’s book here:

The Power of Trust: How Companies Build It, Lose It, Regain It. Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

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For this episode we interviewed one of Wall Street’s legendary tech analysts, Mark Mahaney. 

In this episode, Mark discusses ten lessons that are proven to help investors succeed in tech stock investing. He shares powerful advice and knowledge from analyzing the most explosive sector on Wall Street over the past quarter century. 

Lesson 1: There Will Be Blood… When You Pick Bad Stocks
Lesson 2: You Can Lose $...Even When You Pick The Best Stocks
Lesson 3: Don’t Play Quarters
Lesson 4: Revenue Matters More Than Anything
Lesson 5: It Doesn’t Mean a Thing, If It Ain't Got That Product Swing
Lesson 6: TAMs - The Bigger The Better
Lesson 7: Follow the Value Prop, Not the Money
Lesson 8: Management Matters Most
Lesson 9: Look for Ballpark Reasonable Valuation
Lesson 10: Hunt for DHQs - Dislocated High-Quality Stocks

Mark Mahaney has been covering internet stocks on Wall Street since 1998, with Morgan Stanley, American Technology Research, Citibank, RBC Capital Markets, and Evercore ISI. Institutional Investor magazine has ranked him as a top Internet analyst every year for the past 15 years, including five years as number one, and he has been ranked by the Financial Times and StarMine as the number-one earnings estimator and stock picker. In addition, TipRanks has placed Mahaney in the top one percent of all Wall Street analysts in terms of single-year stock picking performance. 

Get Mark's book here:

Nothing But Net: 10 Timeless Stock-Picking Lessons from One of Wall Street’s Top Tech Analysts. Mark Mahaney

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Welcome to an episode with the author of Digital Transformation Payday, Tim Bottke.

Why do companies embark on digital transformation? Is it because they need it? Or is it because it’s the trend?

In this episode, we deep dived into the world of digital transformation. We discussed the common mistakes companies make when pursuing digital transformation and the rationale that CEOs and leaders must have to succeed in this endeavor.

Tim Bottke is a senior Strategy Partner at Monitor Deloitte and an Associate Professor for Strategy and Digital Transformation at SDA Bocconi, a Financial Times, Forbes, and Bloomberg Businessweek top five European business school. He has more than 22 years of top management consulting and digital transformation experience from two global strategy boutiques and Deloitte, working with clients in more than 20 countries.

Digital Transformation Payday: Navigate the Hype, Lower the Risks, Increase Return on Investments. Tim Bottke

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For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classics where we interviewed Suneel Gupta, the author of the international bestselling book Backable (2020). This book is rooted in his inner journey from twice-failed entrepreneur to becoming a leader behind two IPOs and being named “The New Face of Innovation” by the New York Stock Exchange. The book reveals the mindset shifts and hidden habits of people who are extraordinary at pushing new ideas forward. It shows how the key to success is not charisma, connections, or even your résumé, but rather your ability to persuade others to take a chance on you.

As the founding CEO of RISE, a breakthrough wellness company, Suneel helped thousands of people establish a way to personalize their physical and mental health journey while connecting with certified nutritionists and trainers at an affordable price. The company was named “App of the Year” and partnered with then first-Lady Michelle Obama before being acquired by the NASDAQ-listed company One Medical Group. In 2022, with its acquisition of One Medical Group, RISE is now part of Amazon.

As visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School, Suneel researches and teaches the interconnection between inner well-being and outer leadership. He is also emissary for Gross National Happiness between the United States and the Kingdom of Bhutan.

Suneel is currently the host of Business Class, a docuseries created by American Express where he showcases entrepreneurs and business visionaries who embody struggle and resilience. He is joined on the show by guests like Top Chef's Tom Colicchio, former monk Jay Shetty, and Martha Stewart.

Suneel has also personally backed ventures including Impossible Foods, AirBnB, 23andMe, and SpaceX. He was one of the very first investors in CALM, which now helps millions of people achieve a greater sense of work/life balance.

Get Suneel’s book here:

Backable: The Surprising Truth Behind What Makes People Take a Chance on You. Suneel Gupta

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For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classics where we interviewed the former Amazon Digital Media VP, Bill Carr. Bill is the coauthor of Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon, an insider's breakdown of Amazon's approach to culture, leadership, and best practices from two long-time, top-level Amazon executives. 

Bill Carr joined Amazon in 1999 and spent more than 15 years with the company. As the former Vice President of Digital Media, Bill launched and managed the company's global digital music and video businesses, including Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Amazon Studios. After Amazon, Bill was an Executive In Residence with Maveron LLC, an early-stage, consumer-only venture capital firm. Bill later served as the Chief Operating Officer of OfferUp, the largest mobile marketplace for local buyers and sellers in the U.S.

Today, Bill is the co-founder of Working Backwards LLC where he coaches executives at large and early-stage companies on how to implement the management practices developed at Amazon. Bill holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colby College and a Masters in Business Administration from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

Get Bill’s book here:

Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon. Bill Carr and Colin Bryar.

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Welcome to an episode with the Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Business Review Group, Adi Ignatius.

In this episode with Adi Ignatius, we discussed timeless pieces from the Harvard Business Review, deep-dived into the business ideas and concepts within, and discussed how its perspective on business ideas helps us prepare for the future. Adi shared how HBR’s mission changed from the time it was founded and how it is improving for readers.

Adi Ignatius oversees the editorial activities of Harvard Business Review, hbr.org, and HBR’s book-publishing unit. Prior to joining HBR in 2009, Mr. Ignatius was the No. 2 editor at TIME. He is the editor of two books: President Obama: The Path to the White House and Prisoner of the State: The Secret Diaries of Premier Zhao Ziyang. Both made the New York Times Bestseller List.

Adi lived and worked overseas for nearly 20 years. He was Editor of Time’s Asian edition and served as Beijing Bureau Chief and Moscow Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal. He is also host of the HBR Channel.

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