I created Laravel to build web applications faster, not with the intention of making it a popular open-source framework.

Open source is now powering almost every business, and it's become the norm to release software on platforms like GitHub. I spend the first hour and a half of my day managing pull requests for the open-source Laravel framework, and I'm still the only person doing that at the company.

I started Laravel in Arkansas, which helped me maintain focus and clarity on what I wanted to build, unlike the distractions of a tech hub.

For the first three years, I made no money on Laravel; it was completely open source.

Our core mission remains to build awesome developer tools and nurture a great community through events like Laracon and Laravel meetups.

Laravel has grown tremendously, from a few downloads per day to a quarter million downloads daily, showcasing the strength of the community.

I launched Laravel Forge in 2014, and within a month, it was making more money than my regular job, leading me to work on Laravel full-time.

By creating a community forum called 'Insiders', we continuously gather feedback from developers, ensuring that our products are user-centered and responsive to their needs.

Listening to user feedback and delivering what they ask for has been crucial to our success, as seen in our launches on platforms like Hacker News.