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Doubling an Indian online language school in three years

You run the case. Read the prompt, answer questions from the notes below, and share data only when the candidate asks for it or gets stuck. Score at the end.

Case timer

00:00

Target length:

1. Read the prompt aloud

Read it slowly, then pause. Let the candidate ask questions before they structure.

An online English-language school in India, run from Pune, wants to double its revenue in three years. How should it do it?

Format note: Candidate-led: you lay out the sources of growth and ask for the numbers behind each; the interviewer answers only what you ask.

2. Answers to clarifying questions

Give these answers only if the candidate asks. If they ask something not listed, give a sensible answer or say it does not matter here.

If asked: Double revenue, or double profit?
Answer: Revenue, in three years, without losing money.
If asked: How does the business make money?
Answer: Students pay a monthly subscription for live online English classes.
If asked: Are there limits on what we can do, for example buying other companies?
Answer: The founders would consider an acquisition if the organic plan falls short.

3. The hypothesis a strong candidate states

Listen for an early, testable guess like this one. It does not need to match word for word.

In a subscription business, keeping students usually matters as much as winning them. My hypothesis is that cutting churn is the biggest lever, and that organic levers alone may not quite double revenue.

4. A model structure

Compare the candidate's structure with this one. A different split can be just as good if it is clean and fits the problem.

Core, adjacent, and inorganic growth, sized against the target
- Key: Core: keep students longer (churn), win more, price
- Adjacent: sell to companies for their staff
- Inorganic: buy a smaller rival to close any gap

5. The working, step by step

Each step shows how a strong candidate works it out. Share a new fact from it only when the candidate asks or is stuck, and let them do the math: the result in the dark box is what they should reach.

Step 1: Today's revenue
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "How many students, at what price?" Interviewer: "About 50,000 students paying INR 1,000 a month."
Revenue today (INR a year): 50,000 × 1,000 × 12 = 600,000,000
Step 2: The target
What a strong candidate does: Doubling means INR 1,200 million (INR 120 crore) a year in three years, about 26 percent growth a year.
Target revenue (INR a year): 50,000 × 1,000 × 12 × 2 = 1,200,000,000
Step 3: Why the student count is stuck
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "How many join and how many leave each month?" Interviewer: "About 3,000 join, and about 6 percent of students leave each month." Candidate: "Then the school settles where joiners equal leavers: 3,000 divided by 6 percent."
Students where joiners equal leavers: 3,000 ÷ 0.06 = 50,000
Step 4: Lever 1: cut churn to 4 percent
What a strong candidate does: Interviewer: "Better teacher matching could cut monthly churn to 4 percent." Candidate: "Then the student base can grow to 75,000 with the same joiners."
Revenue at 4 percent churn (INR a year): 3,000 ÷ 0.04 × 1,000 × 12 = 900,000,000
Step 5: Lever 2: a 10 percent price rise
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "How do our prices compare with rivals?" Interviewer: "About 15 percent below the main rivals." Candidate: "Then INR 1,100 looks possible, if churn does not rise."
Revenue with lower churn and INR 1,100 (INR a year): 3,000 ÷ 0.04 × 1,100 × 12 = 990,000,000
Step 6: Lever 3: company clients
What a strong candidate does: Interviewer: "A pilot suggests 200 companies could buy 50 seats each at INR 800 a seat per month."
Company-client revenue (INR a year): 200 × 50 × 800 × 12 = 96,000,000
Step 7: The gap
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "Organic levers reach about INR 1,086 million. What is left?"
Gap to target (INR a year): 50,000 × 1,000 × 12 × 2 - 3,000 ÷ 0.04 × 1,100 × 12 - 200 × 50 × 800 × 12 = 114,000,000
Step 8: Lever 4: close the gap by buying
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "Is there a smaller rival for sale?" Interviewer: "One, with about INR 150 million of revenue." Candidate: "That would take us above the target, with some room if a lever falls short."
Revenue with the acquisition (INR a year): 3,000 ÷ 0.04 × 1,100 × 12 + 200 × 50 × 800 × 12 + 150,000,000 = 1,236,000,000

The recommendation to listen for

At the end, say: "The CEO walks in. What is your recommendation?"

The school can roughly double revenue in three years, and the plan should lead with keeping students, not winning them. First, cutting monthly churn from 6 to 4 percent lets the student base grow from 50,000 to 75,000 with the same number of joiners, adding about INR 300 million a year, the largest single lever. Second, a 10 percent price rise and a company-client offer add about INR 90 million and INR 96 million, taking organic revenue to about INR 1,086 million. Third, that leaves a gap of about INR 114 million, which buying the smaller rival would close, reaching about INR 1,236 million once the student base settles at 75,000. Start with teacher matching and track churn by monthly group of new students; decide on the acquisition after one year, once the churn result is clear.

Risks a strong answer names: A lower churn rate takes time to show: even if churn falls to 4 percent at once, the student base reaches only about 69,000 by month 36, not 75,000, which leaves year-three revenue about INR 40 million short of the target even with the rival, so start teacher matching now and look for a further gain in churn or price; A price rise could push churn back up; Company clients may buy fewer seats than the pilot suggests; The founders asked for growth without losing money, and this plan sizes revenue only; the cost of better teacher matching, the company sales team, and the rival's price still need to be checked against profit.

Next steps: Launch better teacher matching for new students this quarter and track monthly churn by joining month; Test the INR 1,100 price on new students in two cities; Open early talks with the rival and value it.

Strong versus weak

A strong answer

Split growth into core, adjacent, and inorganic, found that churn caps the student base, sized each lever against the target, and used an acquisition only to close a measured gap.

A weak answer

Proposed more advertising to win new students, never asked about churn, and could not say whether the plan reached the target.

Score the candidate

Score each criterion from 1 to 5. A 2 or a 4 sits between the descriptions.

This case has no exhibit. Score Exhibit reading on how the candidate used the data you gave them: did they pick out the number that matters and say what it means?

Structuring

1: No clear structure, or a memorized framework that does not fit the problem.
3: A sensible structure, but with some overlap, a gap, or no clear priority.
5: A structure built for this problem, with no overlap and no gaps, a stated hypothesis, and a clear first step.

Math

1: Frequent errors, no units, or needed heavy help to finish.
3: Right answers but slow or messy working, or one error caught late.
5: Accurate and clearly narrated, with units, a sense check, and what the number means.

Exhibit reading

1: Read the chart aloud without finding the number that matters.
3: Found the key number but gave only part of the so-what.
5: Pulled the right number quickly and said what it means for the case.

Synthesis

1: Summarized what was done, with no clear answer.
3: Gave an answer, but with weak reasons or no next step.
5: Answer first, then two or three reasons with numbers, the main risk, and next steps.

Communication

1: Hard to follow: long silences, no signposting.
3: Clear most of the time, with some rambling.
5: Calm and concise, signposted each step, and checked in with the interviewer.

Total

0 out of 25

Score all five criteria to see the band and the feedback template.