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 Problem

A while back, I tweeted about how Rails and Laravel have a "pipeline problem:"

• Young devs aren't learning Laravel/Rails in bootcamps or college
• They're learning JavaScript, React, and Next.js instead
• This creates a cycle: we want experienced devs but aren't cultivating new talent

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 Ferdinand

I 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 project

At 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.

Stephen Robles @stephenrobles One step closer to having an entire wardrobe comprised of podcast shirts Thanks @TransistorFM 😉 10:29 AM • Sep 6, 2023 0 Retweets 20 Likes Read 3 replies

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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:

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Here's how it works:

1. You connect your Printful store
2. You create a swag giveaway link
3. You choose which products you want to offer
4. You share the link with fans/customers
5. They pick their items, sizes, shipping info
6. Printful handles printing and shipping automatically

I'm excited about this for a few reasons:

1. It solves a real problem we've had at Transistor
2. It gave Ferdinand awesome real-world dev experience
3. It demonstrates Laravel's strengths for building SaaS apps quickly

What's Next

We 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,
Justin Jackson
​@mijustin​

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/​