7 Startup Lessons from Harry Potter

Joe Du Bey
Nov 4 · 4 min read

When we started building Eden, our now 4-year old workplace management platform, we deemed ourselves a “Harry Potter inspired” startup.

So…why did we do this?

Well, the founding team loved the books, and Harry’s personal story was particularly striking to us. “The Boy Who Lived”, overcoming almost certain defeat through a combination of hard-nosed determination and lucky breaks. Starting as a baby, growing to an awkward teen, and blossoming into an expert who could rival the greatest dark wizards in his industry. Facilities software incumbents, beware!

As we have reached our 60th full-time employee, we have taken our Harry Potter theme with us, and it continues to evolve with our business. All new team members are called “Wizards” and we have a “wanding” ceremony when they join the team, and yes, it involves a fog machine (see: spooky).

Across our three offices –– SF, NYC, and Austin –– we also have a shared aesthetic.

The Gryffindor conference room at the SF office
A “Wanding Ceremony” for new Wizards at the SF office
Wizards in the Austin office with new broomsticks
Austin office chalkboard art
The wand that chose an Eden Wizard in our NYC office

Fast forward to today, Eden is live across the US and major international markets. Our facilities services marketplace and vertical SaaS offering has been growing revenue at an average monthly clip of 20% over our first 40 months of startup life.

Aside from the visual inspiration and cultural ties, here are some lessons learned from Harry Potter that have proven helpful as we have scaled Eden:

  1. You’ll need to recruit Dumbledore’s Army to take an initial stand. At Eden, one essential company builder was founding team member, Camille Merritt. Shortly thereafter, folks like Lauren Kroenung, Maryn Juergens, and Karen Zelby joined, similarly ready to take on all aspects of building a company, usually wearing multiple hats. The first 50–100 team members of a fast-growing startup will typically need to use their Gryffindor bravery and Ravenclaw wit to solve a wide array of hard problems, especially since the team will feel understaffed.
  2. Don’t hire Gilderoy Lockhart. There are many folks out there who are way better on paper than in reality, and they typically come with fancy degrees from top schools and short stays at companies with great brands. The best way to avoid this mistake is through reference calls where you ask, point blank, whether the prior manager is trying to hire the person now. If not, and there is a not a structural reason (they have left the region and job cannot be done remotely), then move on to a different candidate.
  3. Don’t create too many Horcruxes in the first couple of years. It is important to not spread yourself too thin, you just won’t have time. Do work (within limits), exercise at least a little, sleep enough, and save some time for loved ones. You won’t have room for anything else in the first couple years.
  4. If your customers speak Parseltongue, hire a Slytherin. Hire a local expert for every field. When we begin serving large enterprises for facilities services, we hired facilities services veterans with 30+ years experience. When we launched Sao Paulo, we hired a local on-the-ground team member. Authenticity is required to make customers happy.
  5. Rally around your Hagrids. Culture is everything at a startup. Take risks on competence, but never around values. If you find a true believer who enhances culture, take a risk on them, like Dumbledore did with Hagrid at Hogwarts.
  6. Visit Moaning Myrtle. Especially if your customers are upset, you should pay them a visit. Learn what happened. The very best path to a better product –– and defeating the dark lord incumbent –– is solving your customers’ problems.
  7. When the time is right, assemble The Order of the Phoenix. Once you have some scale ($4+ million ARR) or raised significant funding ($10+ million), begin assembling a proven executive team. Hire people who have done that job before, ideally at a larger startup. You should be hiring for the next 18 months of a job well-done.

Joe Du Bey

Written by

CEO & Co-Founder of Eden, the leading workplace management platform (www.eden.io). Gryffindor house with some Slytherin attributes.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade