Mostly Technical
Hosted by Ian Landsman and Aaron Francis, Mostly Technical is a lively discussion on Laravel, business, and an eclectic mix of related topics.
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.
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Li...
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Links:Brett AdcockManaged Queues on...
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
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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
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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% higherSoloAmpSuperpowersMythos & cybersecurity131: 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
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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
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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 Ki...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 UpLinks:Nicholas Carlini - Black Hat LLMsCodex SecurityToken TownLaravel Roadshow: New York CityWarpConductorSolo's DiscordDeath of a Salesman on B...
128: LaraProm
Ian and Aaron discuss Solo finally being ready & why its MCP capabilities are so intriguing, LaraProm (?!) at Laracon US (!), Ian's conundrum corner, 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) - Vacation Is Awesome (11:40) - Thunk Boys Follow Up (14:12) - Ian's Conundrum Corner (22:43) - Prom?! (36:14) - Solo Is Ready (52:58) - Solo's MCP Server (01:16:02) - Token Town Debuts This WeekLinks:Southwest Airlines Assigned SeatingEpisode 127LaraProm at Laracon USSoloOutroCloudflare MeshToken TownIan's hiring!
127: Charge It To The Game w/ John Drexler & Daniel Coulbourne
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 spam is the absolute worst, and so much 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) - Bottomless Pits (03:05) - Tidyup.agency (15:30) - Zero Risk Agency (23:23) - The Schtick Is The Moat (37:52) - You Might Need To Pay Some Professionals (44:53) - Everyone's Playing Their Hands (52:39) - Business Dad Thoughts (01:22:03...126: Scope Explosion
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 starting a new podcast. Welcome to Token Town.
Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments, Bento, & Laravel Private Cloud.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
(00:00) - Ian Didn't Ship (06:33) - Aaron Didn't Ship (11:48) - Solo & MCP (21:16) - Surfacing Features (32:45) - Is AI Hype Dying Down? (37:42) - Viral Tweets (50:29) - Filter Out vs. Filter In (01:01:07) - Claude vs. OpenClaw (01:15:29) - Durable Objects & Da...125: No Turning Back
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, and so much more.
Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments, Bento, Laravel Private Cloud, IttyBit, and Ray by Spatie.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
Links:M...
124: Old Man Yells At Cloud
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 internal apps, youth sports, Project Hail Mary, and so much more.
Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments, Bento, Laravel Private Cloud, IttyBit, and Ray by Spatie.
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123: Isolate The Claude
Ian and Aaron talk about more poker adventures, transcoding videos at scale, escaping the permanent underclass, worktrees vs. copy on write, and so much more.
Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments, Bento, Laravel Private Cloud, Laravel Live DK, IttyBit, and Ray by Spatie.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
Links:Daniel CoulbourneChris MorrellModalMuxHTTP Live StreamingSuperpowersJason BeggsFast User S...
122: I Just YOLO'd It
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 much more.
Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments, Bento, Laravel Private Cloud, IttyBit, and Ray by Spatie.
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121: Let Ian Cook
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 so much more.
Register today for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party at Laracon EU.
Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments, Bento, Laravel Private Cloud, IttyBit, Ray by Spatie, and Redberry.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
120: The Counselors
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 for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party at Laracon EU.
Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments, Bento, Laravel Private Cloud, IttyBit, Ray by Spatie, and Redberry.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
119: Anti Slop Vibe
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 for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party at Laracon EU.
Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments, Bento, Laravel Private Cloud, IttyBit, Ray by Spatie, and Redberry.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
118: We’re Going To Europe
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 today for the Mostly Technical Pre-Party at Laracon EU.
Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments, Bento, Laravel Private Cloud, IttyBit, Ray by Spatie, and Redberry.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
117: The AI Is Out There
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 experience, and more.
Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments, Bento, and Laravel Private Cloud.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
Links:Yarbo SnowblowerOutroLaracon IndiaLaracon EULaravel AI S...
116: Inside The Token Factory
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!
Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments, Bento, and Laravel Private Cloud.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
Links:The Accountant 2Ben Affleck & Matt Damon on the l...
Sweet Hang #4: Laravel AI SDK w/ Taylor Otwell
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 to Private Cloud to vibe coding MUD's and so much more.
Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments, Bento, Mastering Laravel, and Laravel Private Cloud.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
115: Do You Wanna Win?
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 Appointments & Bento.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
Links:Laravel's AI DocsTaylor's tweet thread about Laravel's opinions being good for AIA Software Library With No CodeRalph Wiggum, explainedDHH - Promoting AI agentsTanstackNativePHPProducer Dave's blog post about Billboard
114: Fight Fire With Fire
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 demo, and making even more predictions for 2026.
Sponsored by SavvyCal Appointments & Bento.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
Links:
Texas de BrazilDelucca PizzaDemolition ManRicotta Cheese'Notes from the sick ward'SF Meetup: First Look at Laravel AI SDKjetBlue Mint113: 2026 Predictions
Ian and Aaron are answering your questions about what's coming in 2026, covering everything from AI shrinking dev teams to Elon becoming a trillionaire and so much more.
Sponsored by Bento, Flare, Ittybit, tldraw, OG Kit, Tighten, and Nusii
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
(00:00) - No Rest For The Weary (03:39) - Manager of Agents (14:44) - Predictions! (30:57) - Ian's Personal Productivity System (40:17) - More Predictions! (58:02) - Vibe Code vs. Buying (01:03:17) - Even More Predictions! (01:17:15) - Christmas PresentsLinks:Aaron Levie's TweetParkinson's LawGroq's deal with N...
112: Token Machine
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 Outro out the door, what people are building with the Telegram API, and more.
Sponsored by Bento, Flare, Ittybit, tldraw, OG Kit, Tighten, and Nusii
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
(00:00) - Magically Better (08:59) - Pre-Holiday Adventures (17:17) - Burning The Midnight Tokens (25:35) - Outlasted By AI Agents (38:06) - Thinking Businessy (44:34) - Advent of SQL Update (50:39) - T...111: Hearts & Minds
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 a great place. Plus an all-time Ian resume rant and so much more.
Sponsored by Bento, Flare, Ittybit, tldraw, OG Kit, Tighten, and Nusii
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
(00:00) - Classic Little Kid Disease (04:14) - Weekend Update (18:29) - Ian's Resume Rant (33:57) - Advent of SQL (46:50) - Using AI to Help AILinks:Google ClassroomNorthPark Ce...
110: The Big Boy Plan
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 and so much more. Plus Aaron's secret soccer past and why the game (of getting a job) isn't fair.
Sponsored by Bento, Flare, Ittybit, tldraw, OG Kit, Tighten, and Nusii
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(00:00) - OD on AI (09:40) - Product vs Distribution (15:29) - Alcove (21:21) - What's Ian Building With AI? (27:18) - Using Cl...109: AI Bro
Ian and Aaron discuss Claude vs. Gemini, *another* Laravel New idea, drama on Thanksgiving, and so much more.
Sponsored by Bento, Flare, Ittybit, tldraw, OG Kit, Tighten, and Nusii
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
(00:00) - Happy Cyber Monday! (01:39) - Follow Up (07:24) - AI Update: Claude vs. Gemini (24:43) - Laravel New, Again, Again? (36:30) - Ian's 🐕 Drama (43:25) - Kids & Parks (48:47) - A Childlike Server (52:50) - Even More Follow UpLinks:Indie Hacker who had his wedding sponsoredMillion Dollar HomepageIntroducing Claude Opus 4.5JMac's 'child-like' $20/month DO b
108: Database School Launch 🚀
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 so much more. Plus the world championship of….bagels?
Sponsored by Bento, Flare, No Compromises, and Ittybit.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
(00:00) - Every Second Mattered (08:40) - The Morning Of (15:30) - The Last Launch? (18:07) - Walking With Adam (20:01) - Pricing (28:28) - Doing It Live (36:21) - We're Talking Logos (44:14) - Closing Thoughts On The Launch (49:21) - Built With...Sweet Hang #3: Matching Tattoos w/ John O'Nolan
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 RSS reader, mastering Claude Code, and so much more.
Sponsored by Bento, Flare, No Compromises, and Ittybit.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
(00:00) - Double Laravel New'd (08:52) - Claude Code Power User (21:26) - Queues! (32:58) - Your Side Project Has A Side Project (48:37) - All About Ghost (58:12) - Advice for Laravel New BelieversLinks:GhostMarco ArmentOvercastChartMogulJoel Spolsky on why y...
107: A Ruthless Capitalist
Ian and Aaron discuss screen time for kids, the impending launch of Database School, why Ian acquired Bootstrapped.fm, and more.
Sponsored by Bento, Flare, No Compromises, and Ittybit.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
(00:00) - The Screen Time Conundrum (12:56) - Public Service Announcement (23:18) - Database School Is Launching Next Week! (32:26) - Thanksgiving Plans (38:29) - Acquiring Bootstrapped.fmLinks:Wall StreetThe Secret Life of PetsClaude CodeBrowser testing in Pest 4Database SchoolJason Beggs"Rich enough not to waste time"Andrey ButovBootstrapped Episode 43: The UserScape D...
106: We've Got ARR!
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 revenue! It's happening!
Sponsored by Bento, Flare, and Ittybit.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
(00:00) - A Weekend Story (15:25) - Sick Kids (20:12) - Laravel New Update (22:40) - 20 Years of HelpSpot (37:27) - Ian's Hiring (43:03) - Aaron's Big Week on Twitter (53:20) - Database School UpdateLinks:Paperless PostFuji X100VIRicoh GR IVLaravel NewIan's hiring!Aaron's tweet"Put Food On My Family"
105: Laravel New, Again
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 decided to `laravel new`. Again.
Sponsored by Bento, Flare, and Ittybit.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
(00:00) - Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder (01:52) - Wire:live (10:54) - Livewire 4 (27:49) - Poker Day (34:45) - Aaron MC (36:40) - We Musn't Ship (48:54) - Best Book I've Ever Read (57:07) - Update On New Videos (01:10:44) - Advent of SQL (01:14:18) - 🐴 UpdateLinks:W...
104: Cash Cow Mode
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.
Sponsored by Bento, Flare, and Laravel Forge.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
(00:00) - Low Energy Aaron (02:01) - Downtime & Expensive Horses (19:15) - Aaron's Giant Chalkboard (31:56) - Chalk Guy (49:36) - It's Time To Eat Glass (01:06:39) - The PlanLinks:"Low-energy Jeb"Behind the scenes of Aaron's new setuphttp://nyblackboard.comBlackmagic DeckLinktldrawThe DynamoDB Book@fideloper
Sweet Hang #2: Humans Still Required w/ Jeffrey Way
Ian and Aaron are joined this week by Jeffrey Way, creator of Laracasts, to talk about everything from their opinions about JavaScript to the evolution of Laracasts to modeling behavior for your kids and so much more.
Sponsored by Bento, Flare, and Laravel Forge.
Interested in sponsoring Mostly Technical? Head to https://mostlytechnical.com/sponsor to learn more.
(00:00) - Optimizing Everything (07:41) - Social Media, Kids, & Modeling Behavior (21:42) - Vision Quest Deep Dive (34:46) - Switch to Subscription? (39:48) - The Evolution of Laracasts (50:03) - Opinions About JavaScript (57:00) - Deciding What To Teach (01:02:59) - Chess (01:07:47...