In an hour, rank four businesses from best to worst investment using quick maths: growth, EBITDA margin, capex share, cyclicality and cash conversion are given, and one company's growth is 60% organic and 40% acquired.

Dhruvtara Software, then Vasudha Seeds, Kiranya Staffing and Sagarmani Shipping. The one number is cash conversion: EBITDA less capex less the working capital growth needs, over EBITDA. Dhruvtara converts 107% because customers pay in advance, Vasudha 60%, Kiranya 46% and Sagarmani 40%. Dhruvtara's bought growth costs Rs 60 crore a year; organic growth of 15% still ranks it first.

With four businesses and an hour, argue from one cash number rather than five scores. Think of four shopkeepers who each earn the same profit: the one who must restock shelves on credit and wait months for payment has less money to spend than the one paid in advance. Cash conversion, EBITDA less capex less the working capital this year's growth ties up, divided by EBITDA, says how much of the profit a buyer can actually use to pay debt or return to investors. It folds margin, capex and working capital into one figure; cyclicality and growth quality then decide close calls.

Dhruvtara first: a 30% margin, low capex and Rs 10 crore of cash released each year by advance payments, so it converts 107% of EBITDA and its revenue is contracted. Vasudha second: 60% conversion, pricing power from proprietary hybrids, but 180 days of stock and dealer credit, and a weak monsoon can cost a season. Kiranya third: low capex but a 4% margin, and 60 days of receivables on fast growth absorb half of EBITDA; staffing is also the first cost a client cuts in a slowdown. Sagarmani last: the largest EBITDA, Rs 175 crore, but 60% goes back into vessels and charter rates can halve the rest.

Split the growth before you credit it. Of 25% growth, 10 points are bought: Rs 20 crore of revenue a year at 3x revenue is Rs 60 crore of acquisition spend, which takes conversion from 107% to 7% once it is counted. Bought growth adds value only if the targets are bought for less than they are worth inside Dhruvtara and actually integrated; otherwise it is the fund's own cash recycled into revenue. Strip it out and Dhruvtara still grows 15% organically and converts 100%, so it stays first, but the interviewer will want to hear you price the acquisitions separately: what multiple, how much revenue retained a year later, and how much of the group's return came from them.

Close with what would change the ranking. If Vasudha's hybrids lost a patent or a seed variety failed in the field, its pricing power would go and Kiranya might pass it. If Sagarmani could lock its fleet into five-year charters, its cyclicality would fall and its cash would become bankable. The limit of a one-hour ranking is that it uses one year of numbers; a real screen would look at conversion across a full cycle, which would push Sagarmani further down and Vasudha slightly down for monsoon years.