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Mostly Technical

Ian Landsman and Aaron Francis

Hosted by Ian Landsman and Aaron Francis, Mostly Technical is a lively discussion on Laravel, business, and an eclectic mix of related topics.

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23 episodes
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Avg 1 hr 16 min
English

Episodes 23

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#153
Tuesday · 1 hr 32 min
146: Do Things & Tell People
Ian and Aaron discuss Aaron's trip to Copenhagen for Laravel Live DK, meeting DHH, having "the hell trip home", using AI to beat Air Canada's bureaucracy, and so much more. Sponsored by Bento, DropInBlog, Valorin Security, and Svix. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. (00:00) - Back In the Land of the Free (01:52) - Happy Anniversary! (04:22) - Aaron's First Intl Biz Class Flight (12:04) - Laravel Live DK (22:05) - Aaron's Talk & Meeting DHH (32:58) - DHH & Taylor's Fireside Chat (42:27) - The Spoon Is An Airplane (56:22) - The Hell Trip Home (01:17:41) - Scheming With Codex (01:27:34) - A Quick Controversy Links: Abigail Otwell's airport photo (Aaron in line behind Taylor & Abigail) Laravel Live DK DHH on Twitter/X Omacom Foundation launches with $8 million (Omarchy blog) Geocodio Tom Crary on Twitter/X Taylor's video of Aaron trying caviar Flighty (iOS app) Ian's tweet of the chairs Aaron slept on
- Chapters
#152
August 19 · 1 hr 49 min
Sweet Hang #5: My Psychosis Moment w/ Jesse Hanley
Ian is joined by Jesse Hanley, founder of Bento, to discuss everything from Grok Bot to finding your ideal customer to the future of knowledge work and so much more. Sponsored by Bento, DropInBlog, Valorin Security, and Svix. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. (00:00) - Settle All Family Business (02:04) - Grok's Bot (12:43) - AI & Knowledge Work (35:17) - How much can one person automate? (46:42) - Will normies use bots? (59:29) - Jesse's videos (01:12:17) - Growing Revenue (01:20:11) - Finding your ideal customer (01:33:56) - Cameras (01:41:51) - Life in Japan Links: Jesse Hanley / @jessethanley — founder-in-the-park videos live here Grok "bot" agent app (xAI) OpenClaw Hermes Agent (Nous Research) Less Annoying CRM Ben Orenstein Laravel Live Japan Tatami Max MRR article Hidden Multipliers (book/audiobook) Find Your Carol workshop A Smart Bear blog Jason Cohen Sony FX30 Sony a6000 (body) Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8 (Sony E) Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM II Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS (Ian's) Kase Filters Patrick McKenzie
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#151
August 18 · 1 hr 10 min
145: Marketing As Engineering
Ian & Aaron discuss what's coming to Solo, how Aaron's running marketing at Laravel, why Ian swears by a cabana, and so much more. Sponsored by Bento, DropInBlog, Valorin Security, and Svix. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. (00:00) - Cabana Life (12:44) - Using Linear for Marketing (22:57) - Who's agent should you use? (33:02) - Marketing = Engineering? (45:37) - Aaron's hit tweet (56:42) - Solo Updates (01:04:27) - Laravel Live Denmark Links: Sandpearl Resort, Clearwater Beach Martha's Vineyard Surf Style Jason Cohen has the DropInBlog founder on the show Jason Cohen's new book, Hidden Multipliers Laracon US photos Sam Sappenfield's tweet "We built laracon.us/photos. We're not developers." Aaron's codebase-audit tweet Soloterm Laravel Live Denmark Aaron's DSA audit prompt gist
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#150
August 11 · 1 hr 22 min
144: First Week as VP
Ian and Aaron discuss Aaron's first week as VP of Marketing & Community at Laravel, why he's writing manifestos in Notion, Ian's huge week with AI coding, and an update on Nachogate. Plus Ian's live from a cabana, ending Token Town (RIP to a real one), and so much more. Sponsored by Bento, DropInBlog, Valorin Security, and Svix. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. (00:00) - Live from a cabana (03:26) - The End of Token Town (10:39) - Aaron's First Week (28:03) - A few manifestos (44:24) - 1:1's (53:40) - Ian's Mega AI Coding Week (01:10:21) - Nachogate Update (01:12:43) - Aaron's Studio Update (01:18:25) - The next Illustrated Classics Links: Aaron's Notion setup Taylor's tweet about Trello Rands In Repose: The Update, The Vent, and The Disaster John O'Nolan's tweet indicating some discrepancies with the nacho story Great Illustrated Classics
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#149
August 5 · 1 hr 6 min
143: Rice On Your Nachos
Ian and Aaron are back for a second episode this week to talk about more LaraProm & Laracon follow up, why Ian will never ship Outro (kidding), and.....adding rice to your nachos? Sponsored by Bento, DropInBlog, Valorin Security, and Svix. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. (00:00) - Aaron's First Real Day (04:38) - LaraProm -> Laracon (23:05) - Never Ship (37:33) - Nachos With Rice (47:06) - First Class Is Better (53:29) - Aaron's Sewing Machine (01:02:47) - Shower Wine Follow Up Links: Laracon US Day 1 Stream Laracon US Day 2 Stream Hannah Gzehoviak on Twitter House of Blanks
- Chapters
#148
August 4 · 1 hr 23 min
142: Aaron's a VP at Laravel?!
Ian and Aaron are back after Laracon US to talk about....Aaron's new job as VP of Marketing & Community at Laravel?! Plus a recap of LaraProm, something called "shower wine", and more. Sponsored by Bento, DropInBlog, Valorin Security, and Svix. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. (00:00) - We're back, baby (01:26) - VP of Marketing & Community (14:15) - What prepared Aaron for this position? (27:31) - Grand Unifying Theory of Laravel Marketing (50:21) - What's next for Try Hard? (55:28) - Shower wine (?) (01:04:06) - The future of MT (01:16:11) - LaraProm Links: Laracon US Laravel Live UK Aaron's tweet announcing his new job Chris Fidao on Twitter Solo Ian's LaraProm Photos
- Chapters
#147
July 21 · 1 hr 17 min
141: The Era of Sol
Ian and Aaron discuss letting Sol Ultra rip for over 2 days straight, Aaron's new side project, problems with macOS, trying to price AI usage in apps, and more. Sponsored by Bento & DropInBlog. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. Going to Laracon? Sign up for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party! (00:00) - Tim Cook's Office (06:00) - Introducing cfmpeg (12:27) - Ian & ElevenLabs (15:04) - Subscriptions In Outro (18:45) - World Cup (24:06) - Sol Ultra (28:07) - An Update on HelpSpot AI Pricing (52:04) - Aaron’s Custom Model (01:07:40) - Next Week: Laracon US! (01:10:23) - Great Illustrated Classics Links: cfmpeg ElevenLabs GPT-5.6 Sol Ian on Notes on Work HelpSpot AI Token Town Episode 008 BigSkyDevConf Laracon US Great Illustrated Classics
- Chapters
#146
July 14 · 1 hr 10 min
140: Eating The Burst
Ian and Aaron talk about pricing AI usage in apps, what's coming next for HelpSpot, a Jay-Z concert in NYC, and so much more. Sponsored by Bento & DropInBlog. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. Going to Laracon? Sign up for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party! (00:00) - Aaron got a ticket (06:45) - Jay-Z Concert (11:47) - World Cup Update (22:36) - Blogging & SEO (29:19) - Pricing AI Usage In Apps (43:43) - HelpSpot & AI (59:54) - GPT Sol & Fable Links: Jay-Z at Yankee Stadium Clock Radio Speakers Patreon 19th.com GPT Sol 5.6 Token Town Episode 007
- Chapters
#145
July 7 · 1 hr 3 min
139: High On Fable
Ian and Aaron talk about saving a kid's life (!), Solo's big update, and an emerging controversy - do you still need to read the code? Sponsored by Bento & DropInBlog. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. Going to Laracon? Sign up for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party! (00:00) - Aaron Saved A Life (05:18) - No Good Comes From A Bounce House (11:40) - 4th of July Parades (15:20) - Workspaces In Solo (24:33) - Should You Still Read The Code? (40:05) - Aaron's Breakout Tweet (51:05) - Outro Update Links: Big Tex is Destroyed By Fire Solo Aaron's tweet about Louis CK Nate Bargatze Jim Gaffigan Filament
- Chapters
#144
July 1 · 1 hr 13 min
138: Back In The Game
Ian and Aaron discuss Ian's misadventures with poker, a huge update for Solo (Windows!), why Aaron thinks languages don't matter but frameworks & ecosystems do, and so much more. Sponsored by Laracon AU, Honeybadger, Bento, Vask, and DropInBlog. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. Going to Laracon? Sign up for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party! (00:00) - Mostly Poker (10:55) - Poker Town? (13:34) - Outro Update (20:46) - Solo for Windows (!) (30:50) - Pricing Advice (33:52) - Laravel Live UK (42:58) - Languages Don't Matter (56:09) - LaraProm Update (01:04:46) - World Cup Links: World Series of Poker Resorts World Las Vegas Outro Solo
- Chapters
#143
June 23 · 1 hr 28 min
137: You Do Have To Care w/ John Drexler & Daniel Coulbourne
Aaron is joined by John & Daniel of Thunk to talk about why you should think like a PM, what they want to see from Solo, trash cans in New York, "footy", and a whole lot more. Sponsored by Laracon AU, Honeybadger, Bento, Vask, and DropInBlog. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. Going to Laracon? Sign up for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party! (00:00) - Introduction to the Thunk Boys (04:13) - Working on Laravel Forge (09:22) - What does Daniel do? (14:30) - Big week for New York (22:34) - World Cup Social Media (29:13) - Laravel Live (36:33) - AI Code Responsibilities (41:52) - Think Like A PM (51:08) - Do Old Best Practices Still Apply? (58:12) - Daniel's Solo Gripes & Asks (01:20:34) - Tidy (01:24:02) - Where Is Ian? Links: Thunk Talking Businessly Tighten Laravel Forge Laravel Live UK Laravel Live Japan Laravel Live Denmark Solo Tidy
- Chapters
#142
June 16 · 1 hr 15 min
136: Big, Audacious Goals
Ian and Aaron discuss why HelpSpot raised prices, what Aaron's building for teams with Solo, the short-lived reign of Fable 5, pros & cons of DJ's, and so much more. Sponsored by Laracon AU, Honeybadger, Bento, Vask, and DropInBlog. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. Going to Laracon? Sign up for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party! (00:00) - The Great DJ Debate (07:58) - Aaron's Going To Laravel Live UK (14:22) - Ian Raised Prices (27:26) - Teams & New Solo Pricing (42:45) - New Frontiers (56:51) - RIP Fable 5 (01:09:43) - Outro's Sponsorship System Links: "Forever Young" Laravel Live UK HelpSpot Pricing RIP Fable 5
- Chapters
#141
June 9 · 1 hr 16 min
135: Ian's Over AI Coding?!
Ian and Aaron discuss hiring new employees, Ian claiming he's over AI coding, huge updates to Outro, going big or going home on Token Town, and more. Sponsored by Laracon AU, Honeybadger, Bento, Vask, and DropInBlog. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. Going to Laracon? Sign up for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party! (00:00) - Down to the River (05:33) - Ian's Over AI Coding?! (13:45) - Aaron's Employee's First Week (21:42) - Marketing & Content (27:27) - Ian's Been Busy With Outro (37:41) - Slash Brag Update (41:06) - Ian Finally Hired Somebody! (47:00) - Token Town Update (55:28) - Horse Business (01:04:14) - Aaron Went Fishing (01:13:16) - Kids Sports Links: Texas Hill Country Token Town w/ Josh Pigford Kristen Foxen SEP IRA Corey Haines Marketing Skills on GitHub BlockNote Ian's tweet about AI & coding faster Joe Masilotti's post about deleting WebSockets
- Transcript
- Chapters
#140
June 2 · 1 hr 10 min
134: The Edge of Safety
Ian and Aaron discuss Aaron's new employee, the latest on Outro, a surprise trip to Portland, and more. Sponsored by Laracon AU, Honeybadger, Bento, Vask, and DropInBlog. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. Going to Laracon? Sign up for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party! (00:00) - Where Was Ian? (02:26) - Outro Update (12:32) - Kelsey Is Gone (22:11) - Is Cloudflare Up? (24:53) - Aaron's New Employee (40:10) - LaraProm Update (42:14) - A Little Technical (54:35) - Aaron Went To Portland (01:06:35) - Slash Brag Links: Brett Adcock Managed Queues on Laravel Cloud Outro.fm TinySeed Jason Lengstorf Web Dev Challenge Kelsey Hightower
- Chapters
#139
May 26 · 1 hr 21 min
133: Do The Hardest Thing with Jesse Hanley
Aaron is joined this week by Jesse Hanley, founder of Bento, to talk about building a seven figure business, why he feels less stress now than he did when he started, migrating from Heroku to Planetscale, and more. Sponsored by InterNACHI, Honeybadger, Bento, Vask, and NativePHP Ultra Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. Going to Laracon? Sign up for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party! (00:00) - 5 TB of Data (11:12) - Laravel Live Japan (15:46) - Seven Figure Business (24:32) - Advice for Indie Hackers (28:57) - Pick Better Problems (32:50) - Friends of Bento (42:33) - Heroku to Planetscale (01:15:02) - What's Next Links: Jesse Hanley Speedshop Jesse's Database School episode Tatami Dragonfly RedisShake Laravel Live Japan Daniel Coulbourne
- Chapters
#138
May 19 · 1 hr 18 min
132: Ian Shipped Outro!
Ian and Aaron discuss finally recording Token Town, Ian finally shipping Outro, the benefits of working in public, what's coming next to Solo, and more. Sponsored by InterNACHI, Honeybadger, Bento, Vask, and NativePHP Ultra Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. Going to Laracon? Sign up for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party! (00:00) - We Finally Recorded Token Town (07:43) - Outro Is Live! (21:43) - Working In Public Is Required (27:54) - What's Next For Outro (30:22) - What's New With Solo (43:59) - Free vs. Paid (55:20) - First Actual Resume (01:04:41) - Starting A Movement (01:12:36) - Everybody Loves Discord Links: Token Town Outro Syntax Solo Faster Aaron's page for Tuple Derek Sivers's "Now" page
- Chapters
#137
May 15 · 39 min
Token Town 001: What is Anthropic Doing?!
In the first-ever episode of Token Town Aaron & Ian break down pricing changes for Claude -p and the Agent SDK, a temporary 50% increase to Claude's limits, leaps in hacking ability, and more. Sponsored by Bento. Links: Claude pricing changes 'Anthropic beats OpenAI on business adoption' Claude Code weekly limits are 50% higher Solo Amp Superpowers Mythos & cybersecurity
- Chapters
#136
May 12 · 1 hr 6 min
131: Crush My Competitors
Ian and Aaron talk about what's cooking with Solo, why Aaron's hiring his first full-time employee, Ian's frustrations with moving the team to Codex, and a feel good AI story. Sponsored by InterNACHI, Honeybadger, Bento, Vask, and NativePHP Ultra Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. Going to Laracon? Sign up for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party! (00:00) - Follow Up (04:20) - Solo Update (11:52) - Business Dad Pushback (19:15) - Raising Money (24:39) - Aaron's First Full-Time Employee (31:30) - Ian's Hiring Troubles (39:26) - A Laravel New 👀 (43:27) - Moving to Codex (48:57) - Where's Outro? (59:34) - A Feel Good AI Story Links: Solo TinySeed HelpSpot Codex Outro Token Town Mia's Horse Name Generator
- Chapters
#135
May 5 · 1 hr 1 min
130: Two Grandmas Roll Up
Ian and Aaron discuss the most harrowing experience of Aaron's life (complete with the funniest ad transition in Mostly Technical history), talk about Ian's trip to the Laravel Roadshow in NYC, and dive into what's cooking with Solo. Sponsored by InterNACHI, Honeybadger, Bento, Vask, and NativePHP Ultra Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. Going to Laracon? Sign up for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party! (00:00) - The Birthday Party Incident (10:45) - He Starts Doing The Slip & Slide (21:01) - The Stuff of Legends (26:57) - More Kids = More Productive? (32:58) - Solo Is A Meta Harness (48:13) - It's Video Week! (55:06) - Laravel Roadshow Links: Native PHP: The Vibes Solo Soak Testing Faster Vehikl Laravel Roadshow: Dallas
- Chapters
#134
April 28 · 56 min
129: The Bounds of My Pettiness
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 May, and more. Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments, Bento, & Laravel Private Cloud. Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more. (00:00) - The AI Apocalypse (11:18) - Delayed (Again) (15:04) - Let's Talk About Solo (29:24) - Number Go Up (42:13) - Sell More Solo (48:17) - Wrap It Up Links: Nicholas Carlini - Black Hat LLMs Codex Security Token Town Laravel Roadshow: New York City Warp Conductor Solo's Discord Death of a Salesman on Broadway
- Chapters

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