Strategy question
Where would you geographically expand the Facebook Marketplace if it was only available in the US and Canada?
- Meta
- Strategy
- Hard
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What this question tests
Tests market expansion strategy: choosing a next geography using a clear framework of demand signal, infrastructure readiness, and competitive landscape.
How to approach it
- Set criteria for expansion: existing Facebook penetration and trust, local secondhand or classifieds culture, and logistics or payment infrastructure readiness.
- Shortlist candidates: UK, Australia, and India are natural next markets given large existing Facebook user bases and strong classifieds culture.
- Evaluate competition: check for entrenched local classifieds players (such as Gumtree in the UK or OLX in India) that would raise the bar for adoption.
- Weigh market size versus competitive intensity: India offers massive scale but strong OLX presence, while the UK offers a smaller but Facebook-trusting, less contested market.
- Recommend the UK or Australia as a lower-risk next step given existing Facebook trust and weaker entrenched competition, with India as a longer-term, higher-effort target.
- Define success: transaction volume and active listings within the first 6 months post-launch in the chosen market.
What a strong answer includes
- Uses explicit criteria (existing trust, local classifieds culture, competitive intensity) rather than picking a country arbitrarily.
- Weighs a genuine trade off between India's scale and its strong incumbent competitor (OLX), showing real market awareness.
- Recommends a specific market with reasoning, not just a list of candidate countries with no decision.
- Ties the recommendation to measurable early success criteria for the first 6 months.
Common mistakes
- Naming a country with no competitive or infrastructure analysis behind the choice.
- Ignoring entrenched local competitors that would make an otherwise attractive market much harder to win.
Likely follow-up questions
- How would your recommendation change if OLX were much weaker in India than assumed?
- What localization changes would Marketplace need to succeed in your recommended market?
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Learn the skill behind it
Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.
- Chapter 4: Discovery and strategy for AI products
- Chapter 9: Prove it paid off: outcomes, economics, and pricing
- Chapter 14: Get the job: the AI PM interview loop