Here's a story about how Laravel/Rails might fix the "pipeline problem," giving a new grad real-world SaaS experience and creating a useful tool I've always wanted. Here's what happened... The Pipeline ProblemA while back, I tweeted about how Rails and Laravel have a "pipeline problem:"
On the MegaMaker Slack, people mentioned another challenge for young developers: even senior developers are having difficulty getting work in this economy. It's even harder for a junior developer to get hired, which means they're not getting the experience they need to start their careers. Enter FerdinandI met Ferdinand at a hack night where he showed me a bot he'd built for Discord that could synthesize my voice using AI. Last June, Ferdinand graduated with his CompSci degree. He had done dozens of interviews, but nobody was hiring. I knew that without experience, it would be difficult for him to get that first gig. This gave me an idea: using my own money, I would hire Ferdinand for the summer to build me a Laravel app I've wanted for a while. The aim was to get him to experience building a fully functional SaaS app (with Stripe billing) using Laravel, Alpine, Livewire, and Tailwind. The SwagFan projectAt Transistor, we've found that giving away free t-shirts and hats is a great way to promote our brand. When folks receive something from us, they share pictures on social media.
These posts provide Transistor with great PR, social proof, testimonials, and goodwill. We've been using Printful to create merch and handle shipping and fulfillment. However, Printful doesn't offer a way to give away swag or run a storefront. I wanted an app where I could send people a link, let them choose their swag, select their size, enter their shipping details, and have Printful handle the rest. So, the web app I hired Ferdinand to build me was a tool to simplify the process of giving away branded swag. We called it SwagFan. Here's the crazy part: Ferdinand had never really built a project in Laravel before, and he completed most of it in six weeks. A few days ago, I did a quick demo on a livestream: Here's how it works:
I'm excited about this for a few reasons:
What's NextWe plan to launch it publicly in the next few weeks. I want Ferdinand to experience the entire cycle of conceptualizing, building, and shipping a functional SaaS. It will be invaluable to him as a dev and give him a taste of what it's like to be an indie hacker. (We're thinking of offering at $99/year for early access users) What do you think?I'm curious what you think about the Laravel/Rails "pipeline problem" and if hiring juniors for projects like this might be a good solution. Want to be one of our first users? Sign up here for a 14-day free trial: https://app.swagfan.com/register/1 (We already have two people signed up, and Ferdinand is stoked!) Cheers, P.S. Ferdinand is now looking for his first full-time tech job. I can personally vouch for him: he's a fast learner, works independently, and quickly grasps web app concepts. If you're interested in offering him a FT position (good bosses only!), check out his resume: https://ferdinand737.github.io/profile-page/
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I'm the co-founder of Transistor.fm (podcast hosting and analytics). I write about SaaS marketing, bootstrapping startups, pursuing a good life, building calm companies, business ethics, and creating a better society,.
I'm headed out on (another!) trip, this time for a wedding. Before I leave, I wanted to send you three things. ------------- Draft: I'm 44, and my brain is getting worse 🧠🔥 I'm working on this draft for a future newsletter/blog post. If you want to read it in its current form and give me feedback/comments, it's here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15mrg8c3HGKEJyC9tgSwBVuIvWPYUr9Xw0fEkReRH0Fw/edit#heading=h.kgdbinp41iso If you have thoughts, please comment on the Google Doc or reply to my...
I'm back from my two-week trip to the US. I've been meaning to write you an update about my experiences in the podcast industry, hanging out with my co-founder in Chicago, and attending Laracon (the Laravel conference). I have lots of thoughts to share! Unfortunately, it will have to wait because I'm heading to San Francisco tomorrow to watch the Acquired podcast (Transistor customer!) do an arena show at Chase Center, where they'll be interviewing Mark Zuckerberg on stage. 😮 But... I've been...
Tomorrow, I'm headed to DC for Podcast Movement. Then, I'm flying to Chicago to spend time with my Transistor co-founder Jon Buda. Finally, I'll be attending Laracon in Dallas. If you will be at Podcast Movement or Laracon, please let me know, and let's try to meet up! Going beyond "B2B SaaS" Before I go, I wanted to share this blog post with you: https://justinjackson.ca/beyond-b2c-b2b The classic thinking in business is that you have to choose to serve either consumers (B2C) or businesses...