The Sample Essay is of a fictitious profile - a Marketing lead working for an e-commerce start-up that tried to disrupt Amazon's model of low-cost delivery.
The failure is the team’s inability to stick to the DNA that made them unique. Eventually, the volume pressure caught up with the management, and the quality of the products declined.
Columbia MBA Essay 3: Please provide an example of a team failure of which you have been a part. If given a second chance, what would you do differently? (250 words)
Columbia MBA Essay 3: Please provide an example of a team failure of which you have been a part. If given a second chance, what would you do differently? (250 words)
The applicant sets the background for the failure and cites instances where she had a chance to intervene but choose not to do so as the volume had turned the niche brand into a global player.
Sample Columbia MBA Essay #3 (Marketing Lead) (242 Words)
Our entry into the competitive e-commerce landscape made Amazon nervous. Instead of competing on price, the uniqueness of the product made price the last of the concerns for buyers. As our platform scaled, we no longer sold the idea of "quit your day job," but became just a hobbyist platform for the majority, and a targeting platform for mass manufacturers. The economy of the exchange rate and globalization favored sellers from the developing economy.
The transition to a platform of scale took 2-3 years - a time when I was leading the marketing team. On a couple of occasions, I had escalated the rate of churn and the ineffectiveness of our messaging to..
