Mostly Technical

129: The Bounds of My Pettiness

28 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss how Aaron wants to destroy (?) Solo's competitors (!), using AI to find security holes in your app, delaying Token Town until Ma...

128: LaraProm

21 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss Solo finally being ready & why its MCP capabilities are so intriguing, LaraProm (?!) at Laracon US (!), Ian's conundrum corn...

127: Charge It To The Game w/ John Drexler & Daniel Coulbourne

14 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian is joined by John Drexler & Daniel Coulbourne of Thunk to talk about their new app Tidy, what constitutes a moat in the age of AI, why phone s...

126: Scope Explosion

07 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about why neither of them shipped this past week, how to surface features in an application, tweets going viral....oh, and they're ...

125: No Turning Back

31 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about setting a release date (!) for Outro, huge updates to Solo, a new Cloudflare course, exciting news on the real estate front, ...

124: Old Man Yells At Cloud

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about choosing between Faster.dev & Solo (which one is more likely to pay off?), the pros and cons of using AI to build bespoke...

123: Isolate The Claude

18 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about more poker adventures, transcoding videos at scale, escaping the permanent underclass, worktrees vs. copy on write, and so mu...

122: I Just YOLO'd It

10 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss their trip to Laracon EU, the all-new Solo, using the AI SDK for Outro, "poker propaganda", Gen-Z Abby's 2004 camera, and so muc...

121: Let Ian Cook

24 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss Ian shipping (!) the HelpSpot website and cooking on Outro, Aaron's complete overhaul of Solo, why it's nice to have a wife, and...

120: The Counselors

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss Aaron's new AI tool Counselors, something called "Hell Week", what's new with Solo and Outro, and so much more.Register today fo...

119: Anti Slop Vibe

10 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about the launch of Solo, Aaron's new terminal app for the desktop (!) plus Ian's return to Twitter and so much more.Register today...

118: We’re Going To Europe

03 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about the Mostly Technical Pre-Party at Laracon EU (!), Aaron's new desktop app (!!), sleeping on planes, and so much more.Register...

117: The AI Is Out There

29 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about being stuck at home due to the weather, major updates to Outro.fm and Faster.dev, an important update to the Laravel New expe...

116: Inside The Token Factory

20 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron recap their trip to San Francisco to see the first demo of the Laravel AI SDK before going in-depth on the Faster.dev announcement!Spons...

Sweet Hang #4: Laravel AI SDK w/ Taylor Otwell

16 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron are joined by Taylor Otwell for their first ever in-person episode of Mostly Technical to talk about everything from the Laravel AI SDK ...

115: Do You Wanna Win?

13 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about opinionated frameworks in the era of AI, Aaron's new pivot (!), Ian being right, and so much more.Sponsored by SavvyCal Appoi...

114: Fight Fire With Fire

06 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron are dealing with the liminal space of the holiday season, talking about their upcoming trip to San Francisco to see the Laravel AI SDK d...

113: 2026 Predictions

30 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron are answering your questions about what's coming in 2026, covering everything from AI shrinking dev teams to Elon becoming a trillionair...

112: Token Machine

23 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about Santa (obviously), do you still need an MBA (maybe not so obvious), why Ian isn't burning as many tokens as possible to get O...

111: Hearts & Minds

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss how Aaron's orchestrating fly.io boxes for Database School, why sometimes you need to use AI to help AI, and why Costco is truly...

110: The Big Boy Plan

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss all things AI this week - from Claude Max to pairing Gemini with Claude to why people want to code but they don't want to sell a...

109: AI Bro

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss Claude vs. Gemini, *another* Laravel New idea, drama on Thanksgiving, and so much more.Sponsored by Bento, Flare, Ittybit, tldra...

108: Database School Launch 🚀

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about the launch of Database School - the branding, everything he did the morning of the launch, building the site with Gemini, and...

Sweet Hang #3: Matching Tattoos w/ John O'Nolan

20 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron are joined by John O'Nolan, creator of Ghost, to talk about double Laravel New'ing, side projects for your side projects, building an RS...

107: A Ruthless Capitalist

18 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss screen time for kids, the impending launch of Database School, why Ian acquired Bootstrapped.fm, and more.Sponsored by Bento, Fl...

106: We've Got ARR!

11 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about 20 years of HelpSpot, Aaron's big week on Twitter, and....talk about burying the lede....Aaron's got ARR!  Subscription reve...

105: Laravel New, Again

04 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about the first ever Wire:live conference, what's new in Livewire 4, the best book Aaron's ever read, and....oh no.  Oh no.  Ian ...

104: Cash Cow Mode

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about everything from leasing horses to Aaron's new studio addition to what comes next for Database School and so much more.Sponsor...

Sweet Hang #2: Humans Still Required w/ Jeffrey Way

16 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron are joined this week by Jeffrey Way, creator of Laracasts, to talk about everything from their opinions about JavaScript to the evolutio...

103: Developer Dad

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about how Outro is shaping up, why we all need a handyman, why Ian is bullish on Sora, what's happening with Aaron's next batch of ...

102: Vision Quest

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about Aaron's recent "Vision Quest", accidentally inventing transcendental meditation, realizing he's addicted to Twitter, and the ...

101: Infinite Feed of Content

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron recap Commit Your Code 2025, dive into the business of Aaron Francis, and wonder what we're all going to do with this AI slop.Sponsored ...

Sweet Hang #1: Fever Dream w/ Michele Hansen

25 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron are joined by Michele Hansen, CEO of Geocodio, for the first in a series of Sweet Hangs to talk about everything from Aaron's upcoming v...

100: Bury The Hatchet

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about PlanetScale, launching Aaron's new YouTube channels, traction tables that will change your life, and so much more.Sponsored b...

99: Laravel New

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about adventures with TypeScript, huge updates re: Outro & Database School, and revisit exactly what happened with Once.com.Spo...

98: Inventing The Wheel

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron dive deep into what's cooking with Database School and discuss everything from upcoming videos to the correct business model to Aaron's ...

97: Young Forever

02 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about being in the pocket of big moisturizer, taking Mostly Technical to the next level of domination, Ian's "stable of horses", an...

96: No More Amateur Hour

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about Aaron's mysterious trip to Boise, Ian's investment in Tiny Seed, wire:live, and so much more.Sponsored by: Bento, Honeybadger...

95: Face Man of the Empire

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss sleep, what's next for Database School, the "Fake Date", and so much more.Sponsored by: Bento, Honeybadger, Laravel Nightwatch, ...

94: Full Sleazy Lock In

12 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss pricing for Outro.fm, what kind of sponsors Aaron should have on Database School, trips vs. vacations, GPT-5, and so much more.S...

93: Laracon US Recap

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron recap everything that happened during Laracon US 2025 - the Mostly Technical parties, highlights from the conference, the "longest night...

92: Hot Takes!

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss timezones, visiting the rodeo, the Hot Takes Game, and so much more.Sponsored by: Bento, ForwardMX, Laravel Nightwatch, and Flar...

91: Up & To The Right

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss haters on the internet, doing more with AI, why Aaron is automating as much as possible with Telegram, and so much more.Sponsore...

90: So Overpowered

08 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about what's going on with Outro, building slip & slides, Aaron's Mac Studio wizardry, and so much more.Sponsored by: Bento, Fo...

89: Money Mindset

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about what’s new with Outro.fm, why Aaron suddenly has an embarrassment of Mac hardware riches, and what’s new with Aaron after...

88: Steve's Leaving Try Hard?!

24 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about Ian’s new side project….which already has a domain name (!?!) before digging deep into an even bigger bombshell: Steve is...

87: No Sparkle Buttons

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about UI Kits in the era of AI, dreams of being at Laracon, Aaron’s next steps, Ian’s mysterious side project, and more.Sponsor...

86: Focus Hard

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about Ian’s new love of Codex, what happened after “panic mode”, Aaron’s weekend with the guys, and more.Sponsored by Bento...

85: Screencasting.com Launch Failure

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about the disastrous Screencasting.com launch and what’s next for Aaron, Steve, and Try Hard.Sponsored by Bento, WorkOS, ForwardM...

84: Fabricated Hype

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss the need for an AI Newsletter, being beamed up to the mothership, web components, and more.Sponsored by Bento, WorkOS, NativePHP...

83: Use Your Brain

20 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss a certain viral tweet about Livewire, the benefits of being a regular, Aaron's video about Cloudflare, & more.Sponsored by B...

82: Peak Bubbly

13 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about getting feisty on Twitter, a possible AI bubble, NativePHP, an awesome game idea for Laracon, and more.Sponsored by Bento, Wo...

81: Nothing Ever Happens

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron give updates on the Mostly Technical Party & what's new with Try Hard Studios before talking a little bit about politics (tariffs!),...

80: The Big Announcement w/ Taylor Otwell

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron are joined by Taylor Otwell to discuss the Mostly Technical Party at Laracon, what exactly Taylor does on a day-to-day basis, how they a...

79: Super Ultra Tilted

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss their respective trips to Vegas and Miami, Aaron's latest video, making new friends in real life, & more.Sponsored by Bento,...

78: The Haters Were Right

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss upcoming travel to Miami & Vegas, Aaron's new 'Dead Drop" command, the future of Fusion, & more.Sponsored by Bento, Work...

77: Eye on the Future

08 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss Ian's trip to PHP x NYC, Aaron's new art, how to try to thrive if you think a recession is coming, and so much more.Sponsored by...

Bonus Episode: PHP × NYC Chaos-Cast™

07 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Recorded live after PHP × NYC with Ben Holmen, John Drexler, Daniel Coulbourne, Chris Morrell, Ian Landsman, Dave Hicking, and Joe Tannenbaum.Conside...

76: Distribution & Taste w/ Adam Wathan

01 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Aaron is joined this week by Adam Wathan to talk about everything from Disney Cruises to what he wants to do on YouTube and a whole lot more.Sponsored...

75: Mob Mentality

25 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss Ian's trip to Disney World, Aaron's adventures with Reddit & Hacker News, building a new billing system, and so much more.Sp...

74: The Hourglass w/ Jordan Gal

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Aaron is joined this week by Jordan Gal (Ian's off at Disney World) to discuss everything from finding product market fit for his new product Rosie to...

73: Explore vs. Exploit

11 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about scheduling your day, Aaron's newsletter, setting big goals, and a whole more.Sponsored by Bento, Stream, Laravel Cloud, and P...

72: The Big Tweet

04 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss Aaron's viral tweet, more problems with HVAC, accountability for your own time, and so much more.Sponsored by Bento, Stream, Lar...

71: Laravel's Big Day

27 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss Aaron's day off, 90s news anchors, Laravel's Big Day, and so much more.Sponsored by Bento, Moonbase Labs, and Packetly.Intereste...

70: Robber Baron Mentality

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss why Aaron needs a hobby, HelpSpot's new logo & 20 year (!) revenue graph, microwave power settings, the release of Fusion, a...

69: Don't Be A Dummy

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss the release date of Fusion, winning money at poker, ideas for Laracon swag jackets, and a whole lot more.Sponsored by Bento, Moo...

68: Right Off The Stage

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss Aaron's reveal of Fusion at Laracon EU, the new Backstage Pass concept, the Laracon US announcement, and more.Sponsored by Bento...

67: The Big Reveal

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss all things related to AI, Ian's new thing he built, a Rails course, and more.Sponsored by LaraJobs & Screencasting.com.Inter...

66: Zombification

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss the importance of seeing your friends in person, why Blade needs to be as fast as possible, weapons grade social media, conferen...

65: The Existential Threat

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian & Aaron talk about Aaron's upcoming JS library, a new course idea, "AI Aaron Francis", Disney Adults, and a lot more.Sponsored by LaraJobs, &a...

64: Yes Man

23 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian has a Christmas present for Aaron; the guys look back on 2024 and forward to 2025. Finally, they break down MT ad revenue for 2024 and set a goal ...

63: Unreliable Narrator

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss Aaron's TUI app, what it's like being a founder over 40, "the drones", and so much more.Sponsored by LaraJobs, Screencasting.com...

62: Doing Too Much

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about everything from Interstellar to the Late Night Wars of the 90s to speaking at conferences to maybe the greatest question of t...

61: Chasing Vanity

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron go in-depth on Aaron's highly anticipated arrival on Bluesky - what's good, what's bad, and why he doesn't like when people tell him he'...

60: The To-Done List

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss feedback on ads for the podcast, what the heck Ian does every day, updates on the Try Hard empire, & so much more.Sponsored ...

59: Definitely For Profit

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron are back this week to discuss Aaron's adventures with the terminal, Ian's ideas for the future of Mostly Technical, a trip to Boise, and...

58: The Multi-Select with Caleb Porzio

11 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian is joined by Caleb Porzio and we talk about recent consumer product acquisitions, a dive deep into Flux's multi-select and more advanced component...

57 - Bonus: HBO Show Tiermaker!

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A special bonus episode from a post-show Tiermaker. We were doing this for video so sorry in advance if it's not totally clear on audio. You can watch...

57: 10,000 Pennies

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian's joined by Matt Swanson while Aaron is out ✂️. We cover the forgotten victims of the Wordpress drama like Gravatar and Day One, if a bootstra...

56: Tier Maker

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss Aaron's trip to San Francisco, Bluesky vs. Twitter, and why Ian's not doing his secret side project plus our tier rankings for.....

55: Try Hard Empire

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss updates on Aaron's house, the Try Hard Factory, his course launch, and so much more.Sponsored by LaraJobs & Screencasting.co...

54: Create A Spectacle

15 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron discuss everything from Aaron's dream for a Try Hard Factory to Ian being unimpressed with SpaceX rockets to the biggest question of all...

53: Talking About Liquid

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron reunite to talk about bad design, WordPress drama, Aaron's secret physical product, why you want to be liquid, and more.Sponsored by Lar...

52: Statamic Roundtable with Jack McDade, John O'Nolan, Caleb Porzio, & Adam Wathan

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian is joined this week by Jack McDade, creator of Statamic, and a motley crew (John O'Nolan, Caleb Porzio, and Adam Wathan) to discuss what the futur...

51: Launching Flux (Live) with Caleb Porzio

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron are joined this week by Caleb Porzio (friend of the show) on our very first live stream in honor of Flux, which Caleb literally launches...

50: Paid In Respect

18 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian is back (!) with Aaron to check in about what happened to Ian's gallbladder, Aaron's announcement video, dreaming big, and so much more.Sponsored ...

49: Stay Lean, Stay Clean with Caleb Porzio

03 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Aaron is joined this week once again by Caleb Porzio to discuss everything that happened at Laracon (including a basketball game?!) before diving deep...

48: Mostly NPTM with Caleb Porzio & Daniel Coulbourne

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Aaron is joined this week by Caleb Porzio (back-to-back weeks!) and Daniel Coulbourne (first-time guest!) to dive deep into prep for Laracon, text edi...

47: Jank Free With Caleb Porzio

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Aaron is joined this week by special guest Caleb Porzio (filling in for Ian) to talk about everything from solo parenting to Caleb's new project to re...

46: Aaron Francis, Inc.

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron check in about everything from tacos in NY to Twitter vs. Threads plus how Aaron found his next Linda, Aaron's new video series, & m...

45: The Contest

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about the investment that got away, why Try Hard is a media company, bringing back the forum, and an incredible idea for a new cont...

44: Idea About Ideas

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron talk about Ian's new idea that's got him frazzled and on tilt, Aaron's sales milestone, the game Factorio, and a lot more.Sponsored by L...

43: Just Do Stuff

09 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian & Aaron talk about Ian's adventures with hiring (and Ian unveils a blisteringly hot take), how Aaron's course performance, why Aaron needs a s...

42: Push The Button

02 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron check in the results of Aaron's course launch, talk about the new developer position that Ian just posted, dive into the benefits of "sc...

41: Beginning of the Empire

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian & Aaron discuss the launch of Aaron's new course, a trip to Texas Hill Country, the idea of 'Profit First', and a whole lot more.Sponsored by ...

40: One Big Bet

18 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian & Aaron discuss Aaron's various small bets, why they're both so tired, the upcoming variety show 👀, & more.Sponsored by LaraJobs & ...

39: Mostly HVAC with Dan Myers, CEO of Flair

13 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron are joined by Dan Myers, CEO of Flair, for a very special episode about Aaron's HVAC system, Ian's feelings about batteries, why people ...

38: Morning Person

11 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian & Aaron discuss what's going on with Aaron's course and Ian's feistiness on Twitter before diving into what's going on with Aaron's HVAC syste...

37: S-Tier Software with Taylor Otwell

04 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Aaron are joined this week by Taylor Otwell, founder & CEO of Laravel, to discuss the Laravel vs. JS Twitter wars, new stuff coming down t...

36: Business Dad

28 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ian & Aaron discuss Aaron's DHH interview, Ian's phishing fiasco, and are joined by special guest Sam Rose to talk about high effort content &...