Management Consulting Interview Question - Strategy for Teleportation Company 

Our client is a startup company and they have invented a machine which can teleport anyone from one point to another. Please help them with a detailed strategy for taking it to the market and determining the right use cases. 

Strategy for Teleportation Company 

Interviewer: Our client is a startup company and they have invented a machine which can teleport anyone from one point to another. Please help them with a detailed strategy for taking it to the market and determining the right use cases. 

Priyanka: This sounds interesting. Let me start by asking a few clarifying questions. 
Interviewer: Yes, please go ahead. 

 
Priyanka: I would like to start by clarifying my understanding of a teleportation machine. To use the machine, one can enter the coordinates of the location they want to reach. They will be teleported to the location within a few seconds. 
Interviewer:  Yes. 

 

Priyanka:  Once they reach the desired location, will they need another machine to come back?  
Interviewer:  No, the same machine works both ways. One machine is sufficient. 

 
Priyanka: We can go anywhere on Earth using the machine, are there some limitations in height or depth? Can this be used in space as well? 
Interviewer:  No such limitations. 

 

Priyanka:  What will be the approximate size of the machine? 

Interviewer:  You can assume it to be the size of a phone booth. 

 

Priyanka:  I am assuming we can teleport both humans and objects? 

Interviewer:  That’s a fair assumption. 

 

Priyanka: How safe is this machine, can this be hacked? 

Interviewer:  It is extremely secure, and it cannot be hacked. 

 

Priyanka: Do we have any close competitors? If not, does our client already have a patent for this machine? 

Interviewer:  Our client’s machine is one of a kind. We already have a patent. 

 

Priyanka:  What is the cost of using this machine? 

Interviewer:  It is close to ~$100k per usage. 

 

Priyanka: I would like to start by analyzing the use cases where this machine can be used. I will take it account the factors like speed and security that this machine will offer. 

Interviewer:  Sure  
 

Priyanka: I would like to break this down in the following way: 

• Personal use: Only billionaires can afford to use this machine for critical purposes like medical emergencies. 
• Business use: Businesses can use it to transport their executive leadership to different locations on the same day for business-critical meetings. They can also use this machine to facilitate time-sensitive financial transactions. 
• Military use: This machine can come in handy for rescue missions or national security threats where we need to deploy army troops immediately. 
• Disaster relief use: The machine can be used to deliver relief to disaster-stricken areas during war, flood, famine etc. 
• Research use: Scientists can use this machine to research dangerous and remote areas like volcanoes, deep sea exploration etc. 
• Space use: We can use this machine to teleport astronauts to other planets, assuming that it is a possibility. 
• Mining use: Mining industries can use it to transport either people or their mining produce to locations which are difficult to reach otherwise. 
• Industrial use: Industries that produce gold, diamonds, and gems can use this machine to transport their goods to any part of the world securely. Since the machine is the size of a phone booth, they can easily fit a lot of these inside the machine. 

Interviewer: That’s comprehensive. 
 

Priyanka: I would like to think of the different business models through which we can monetize this. 
- Pay per teleport: Implement a pay-per-use model where the user pays for every teleportation. The charges can be determined using factors like destination, type of service etc. 

- Teleportation subscription service: We can offer a subscription model to individuals or businesses to use our teleportation service. Through this model, we can limit the set the number of times they can use it every year. 

- Sell Upfront: We can also sell our teleportation machine upfront. For example, If Jeff Bezos or other high-profile, influential and wealthy people around the world would like to own this machine, they can also buy such a machine for their personal use. 

- Teleportation tour package: We can also start a teleportation package for explorers who would like to get a one-time life experience of our technology. 
 
However assuming that there will be a limited number of teleportation machines that our client can manufacture, and they will be long-lasting, I believe selling the machine upfront should not be the best model. Rather pay per use will help our client get the maximum revenue. 

Interviewer:  These are great suggestions. What are some of the challenges that you can think of?  
 
Priyanka:  Some of the challenges I can think of are: 

• Navigating legal challenges related to transportation 
• Maintaining the privacy of individuals using teleportation 
• Building technological infrastructure for teleportation and protecting it against hacking  

Interviewer:  Good job. It was a great discussion.