i completely froze during a mock interview last week when asked to estimate electric vehicle adoption in SEA. my mentor says I need a ‘top-down framework’ like consultants use, but I’m struggling to apply it under time pressure. how do you all systematically break down these problems without getting lost in the weeds? what’s your go-to structure for keeping calculations organized?
top-down frameworks are overrated until you realize they’re the only thing saving you from looking like a babbling idiot. start with total population then slice it like birthday cake - just don’t forget to subtract 30% because governments lie about census data. pro tip: pick round numbers so you can backtrack without looking lost
wait does this mean starting broad like total population first? tried that but got stuck on age brackets 
how granular shud we get for banking interviews vs consulting?
Break it into three layers: 1) Total addressable market (use World Bank/statista data), 2) Segmentation drivers (age/income/urbanization), 3) Adoption rate filters. I coach candidates to verbalize each layer first - ‘I’ll start by examining regional population demographics’ sets clear structure before diving into math.
Data point: 78% of passed Bain/McKinsey candidates use GDP-per-capita thresholds when sizing emerging markets. Example framework: 1) GDP stratification > 2) Urban/rural split > 3) Existing ICE vehicle penetration > 4) EV subsidy analysis. Always end with sanity checks against BloombergNEF reports.