Bike DVD Rental Service in NYC

Case Study Prompt

Your friend has approached you with a business idea and wants your advice. 

He wants to open a DVD Rental service in New York City, specifically Manhattan. For competition, assume that Netflix and comparable services are not available.  

DVDs would be delivered to customers via delivery people on bicycles. DVDs would be stored in your friend’s apartment (he has plenty of space for the collection).

1 year is the acceptable breakeven period. What would you tell your friend?

Case Study Overview

In this non-traditional Bain style consulting case study, you are being asked to give your friend advice about a potential business idea. He has come to you for guidance. It’s up to you to pull together information, run the numbers and give your friend well researched take on how he should proceed.

Are you preparing for a second round interview at Bain? We recommend using the Market Study Framework to solve this case, however, take the initiative and build a custom framework specific to the case by blending frameworks and your own business experience.

This case has no math exhibits. The qualitative difficulty is 3 out of 4, making this a more advanced level interview you can expect to see in a Bain final round.

Bain Interview Tips

What does Bain look for in its candidates? Practicality – straight and simple.

When building out your structure, make sure it has real life application for this case.

In this case, focus on 2 things:

1. Timing yourself throughout the case: 2min to build a structure, 2min to present it, 5min for math, 2min for brainstorming, and 2min for a conclusion
2. Focus on your communication and out-loud structure as you run through the case

For out-loud practice with an expert, book an hour with an ex-MBB coach.