Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes: Lean Startup in the Wizarding World
Everyone who knows me even a little bit, will know that I’m an absolute Potterhead. Like any true fan, I’ve read and re-read the books and watched the movies countless times. So much so, my friends threatened to boot me out of the room, if I prompted another dialogue during a Harry Potter movie marathon.
As a devoted Potterhead, my fascination with the Wizarding world runs deep. From childhood adventures with Harry, Hermione and Ron to adulthood reflections on the richness of the series, the magic of J.K. Rowling’s creation has always captivated me.
Yet, I’ve come to realize that the lessons woven into the narrative extend far beyond mere fantasy and enchantment. As an avid reader and a product manager, I’ve uncovered an unexpected parallel between the wizarding world and the principles outlined in Eric Ries’ “The Lean Startup”.
I realised that the perfect example of this principle lies not far but in the Weasely Twins’s ravingly successful Weasely’s Wizarding Wheezes. This offer a unique lens to appreciate the depth of Rowling’s storytelling and the timeless wisdom of Lean Startup methodology.
Before diving deep into parallels between the two, what is the idea of Lean Startup. The main principle of Lean Startup is Build → Measure → Learn.
Success isn’t just about having the right idea, but it is about following the right processes.
Vision
Validated Learning: Instead of relying solely on great ideas, startups should focus on learning from customers or real-world data
- The biggest advantage for the Weasely twins, was their enterpise was by Hogwarts students, for Hogwarts students and built in Hogwarts. They had unlimited access to customers not just to sell but to interact and validate their ideas on, which they tapped into relentlessly
Freedom to Experiment: Entrepreneurs should test hypotheses and iterate quickly
- The twins spent hours locked up in their room, testing our their contraptions and trying out various combinations. Once they were almost sure and ofcourse after testing on themselves first, they hired what we today call beta testers in the form of first year students to try and test their products.
Steer
Minimum Viable Products: Startups should create the simplest version of their product to test assumptions and gather feedback
- The Skiving Snack boxes was one of the earliest products. They created the prototype version and started off by selling just to Hogwarts students and based on the response created new variants in the same to even expanding to mini size to full range of Snackboxes.
Pivot or Persevere: The toughest question for startups: when to change direction (pivot) or stay the course (persevere)
- Luckily for the Weasely Twins, they never reached a state where they had to actually ask the hard questions, but they were not shy to pivot when they saw a more lucrative opportunity. They created the Shield hats as protective wearables for wizards who cannot do a simple shield charm. The roaring success of this product due to bulk orders from the Ministry of Magic, inspired them to create a whole range of products in the defense against dark arts range, which were the real money makers, in addition to the existing products for children.
Accelerate
Think Big, Start Small: Set ambitious goals but break them down into smaller, achievable steps
- This is exactly what the twins did, they started off as a single product of Skiving snack boxes and serving orders via mail. Slowly, (or rather suddenly for those who know 😛) they opened up a physical shop. They progressively even expanded their product range, from snack boxes, to the “WonderWitch” for witches, the Defense Against Dark Arts products for adult wizards and even muggle tricks for enthusiasts.
Innovate in a Sandbox: Create a safe space for experimentation and innovation
- As I wrote earlier, Hogwarts was the biggest accelerator for the Weasleys. It was their sandbox to innovate, experiment iteratively and the biggest advantage was that the customer base was easily accessible, no acquisition cost or paid marketing required.
The Weasely twins, are the Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs of today’s silicon valley. They identified the user need, which as in the most successful products the users themselves didn’t know existed. This was something which they deeply identified with so they threw themselves into it and the results were nothing short of miraculous.
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