Paris Metro Market Sizing
Estimate the number of people in the Paris metro on a Monday morning at 9:00 AM.
This is a market entry case in the format of the interviews run at BCG, set in the Transport & Logistics sector. Allow 25 min to work through its 4 steps, at an intermediate level. It mainly trains business sense, calculation and structuring. Below you will find the brief and the questions of each step, without the answers: the point is for you to solve it yourself.
Skills practiced
- Business sense
- Calculation
- Structuring
The brief
The client's question
How many people are there, at time T, in the Paris metro on a Monday morning at 9 am? Justify your reasoning.
4 steps to solve this case
Here are the questions you'll need to answer.
Solve each step with the AI coach that guides and evaluates you in real time.
How to approach this case
A market entry case comes down to answering three questions in order: is the market worth it, can the client win there, and how to go in. Estimate the size and growth of the market, look at who is already there and what protects those players, then set that picture against the client's real strengths. The entry mode (alone, through a partnership, through an acquisition) comes last and depends on what you found before. The usual grid organises these questions well, but it breaks as soon as the case turns on one specific point, such as regulation or distribution: that point is then what you need to structure.
This case involves calculations: talk through your arithmetic out loud, round when it is reasonable and state the order of magnitude you expect before the exact result.
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Frequently asked questions
How long does this case take?▼
Allow 25 min to solve it under interview conditions. It is split into 4 steps, which you can also work on one at a time if you prefer to take it slowly.
What level is this case?▼
This case is rated intermediate. It assumes you can already structure a problem and carry a calculation without losing the thread, and it asks you to move from step to step without being guided at every question.
How can I practise this case?▼
On FrameLab, you can solve it in writing with the AI correcting each step, take it out loud with an AI interviewer leading the interview, or run it with a partner. The first 7 days are free.