Taylor Otwell: "PHP (and a cheap laptop) changed my life"

Jon is away so Justin called up Taylor Otwell, the creator of Laravel. In this episode we covered:How Laravel become the most popular backend framework on GitHub.Surprise! Taylor wasn't really into computers before he created Laravel.What was Taylor's motivation? Why did he create this, even though there were other alternatives?What's Laravel's secret? Why did it succeed?How is Laravel a business? How does it earn revenue?"Before Laravel, there were a lot of programmers that were burnt out on PHP. These folks hated their job. But after Laravel, they enjoyed their job more. It helped them in a personal way."Here's the timeline we discussed:2010: Taylor starts working on Laravel.2011: Taylor launched version 1.0 of Laravel.2013: Taylor launches an ebook2013: Start working on Forge2013: First Laracon conference (90 people)2014: Launches Forge at Laracon (240 people)2014: after a month he had 1000 customers, $90k / ARR almost right from launch. (He thought it would maybe make $2-$3k / month). Plans started at $10 / month.End of 2014: decided to go full-time on Laravel.2015: Full-time on Laravel, developed a competitive nature, really driven to see Laravel 2015: Launched Envoyer.io 2016: Launched Spark, as a “SaaS starter kit.”2016: First full-time employee, Mohamed Said.2017: Launched Laravel Echo, Passport, Notifications. 2017: Second hire, 2018: Laravel Nova.★ Thanks to our sponsors:Balsamiq: They make a low-fidelity wireframing tool, specifically geared for non-designers. Get in the zone, and I feel creative right away. Try out their free trial: balsamiq.comClubhouse.io: Clubhouse is the first project management platform for software development that brings everyone together. It's designed for developers, but product folks, marketing, support folks love using it. Get two months free: clubhouse.io/build.Show notes:Taylor Otwell on TwitterTaylor Otwell's podcastLaravel.comLaracon - the Laravel conferenceJustin's article: Why many products struggle, and only a few succeedJeffrey Way and LaracastsCreate your own podcast at transistor.fmYou can reply to this podcast here:Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected] to our monthly supporters:Simon Bennett - SnapShooterCorey HainesMichael SitverPaul Jarvis and Jack EllisDan BudaDarby FreySamori AugustoDave YoungBrad from CanadaKevin MarkhamSammy SchuckertDan EricsonMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)Balsamiq.cloudClubhouse.ioGetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sasse Austin Loveless Michael Sitver Colin Gray Dave Giunta 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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