Strategy question

Pretend Google Next wants to acquire iRobot. What do you look for/how do you position your decision?

Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.

What this question tests

M&A style strategic thinking: evaluating market fit, synergy, and risk for an acquisition rather than just liking the target's product.

Clarify the strategic goal behind the acquisition, for example entering home robotics hardware versus acquiring mapping and navigation technology.
Assess the market: home robotics (led historically by iRobot's Roomba) is growing but hardware heavy and low margin compared with Google's core software business.
Evaluate competitors already in the space, such as Roborock and Ecovacs, and whether Google can differentiate post-acquisition.
Identify Google's advantage: Google Home ecosystem, mapping expertise from Maps, and Assistant integration could make iRobot's home mapping data more valuable.
Weigh the options: full acquisition, licensing the mapping technology, or building in-house, and compare cost and speed to market.
Recommend a position with explicit risks, such as antitrust scrutiny on data collection from in-home mapping.

Names the real strategic asset, indoor mapping data from vacuuming robots, not just the product line, as the reason to acquire.
Flags a concrete risk: regulators scrutinizing a large tech company collecting detailed floor plans of people's homes.
Considers a lighter alternative to full acquisition, such as a data partnership, and explains why acquisition still wins on integration speed.

Evaluating the deal only on product fit and ignoring antitrust and privacy risk.
Failing to state what specific asset justifies the price versus building in-house.

Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.