I've Acquired Laradir! 🎉

• Why Laradir? Why now?
• What about Veliance?
• The Acquisition
• Towards an Even Brighter Future for Laravel Developers
• Special Introductory Offer for Teams!

Hello, amazing community of Laravel developers and teams! I'm Simon, the new owner of Laradir.

I'm thrilled to announce that I recently acquired Laradir and I want to share some of my plans around this acquisition with you all.

For those of you already familiar with Laradir, you’ll know that it has seen some really exciting growth since David and his team at Creagia launched the site back in August 2022.

For you newcomers, welcome and thanks for stopping by!

Laradir has become a diverse directory of talented Laravel developers and a unique reverse job board within the Laravel community.

¶Why Laradir? Why now?

My primary motivation behind this acquisition is YOU. I want to help every Laravel developer and team to find their next great match... and the next one, and the next one...

As a long-time Laravel developer myself, and having been the Head of Software in a fast-moving startup using Laravel, I know first-hand how hard, expensive and time-consuming it can be to find the right engineers to work with.

Since leaving that role, job-hunting for months, and ultimately going freelance this year, I also know how hard it is to find a good employer and clients—especially in the current climate.

I've felt the pain of both sides, acutely. And I know that there's a better way to do this.

The platforms that have served me best have been those that encouraged employers to reach out to me. But my main issue with all of them is that they're not focused on the technologies I love to use, they don't cater only to Laravel developers and teams.

I believe this has been missing from the Laravel community for some time. This community deserves a platform that prioritises their needs, aspirations, growth, and—importantly—their livelihoods.

¶What about Veliance?

As some of you may know, earlier this year I started a similar (but very MVP by comparison) directory, called Veliance, aimed predominantly at helping teams to find available Laravel freelancers.

Veliance and Laradir share many similar goals and ultimately overlap. In fact, some of you have created a profile on both sites (thank you 🙏).

Veliance will still be around for a while, but my plan is to merge the two together in the near future, to consolidate my efforts and create a single place for everyone to focus on. So I'll be stopping applications to Veliance soon and redirecting folks to sign up for Laradir instead.

¶The Acquisition

It seemed like an obvious next step for me to build Veliance into a richer product. I suspect that would have ended up looking quite a lot like Laradir, so that’s when I decided to reach out to David and the Creagia team.

And the rest—as they say—is history.

I want to say a huge thanks to David and his team. They put some real thought and effort into Laradir and I’m honoured that they’ve agreed to allow me to pick up the baton and carry on what they started. They’ve been exceedingly helpful throughout the sale process, a pleasure to work with.

If you’re looking for a lean and productive development team that love working with Laravel, please give them a call.

And be sure to check out their other products:

Uselocale.com - Effortless translation management for Laravel projects

Marklog.com - Never lose a bookmark again

¶Towards an Even Brighter Future for Laravel Developers

I see Laradir as more than a directory or a job board—it's a commitment to every Laravel developer seeking to earn a decent living doing what they love. Here's a glimpse of what's on the horizon.

The technical foundation of Laradir is really solid (it's already on Laravel 10 😉). And my brain is buzzing with feature ideas to make this an even more exciting proposition for Laravel devs and teams, such as:

• Enhanced Opportunities: I want to bring in more diverse and well-paid opportunities tailored specifically for Laravel developers. That means partnering with more teams that use Laravel well.
• Upskilling: I want to introduce resources, workshops, partnerships and offers to help every Laravel developer continually upgrade themselves and stay ahead of the curve.
• Community Growth: By fostering a more interactive platform with more content, I want to create an ecosystem where finding and working with other Laravel engineers becomes so easy that it’s almost second nature.
• Elevated User Experience: Improve some of the UI/UX, ensuring the platform is seamless for developers to showcase their skills and connect with potential employers, and for companies to find the perfect engineers.
• Public Team Profiles: Developers can follow their favourite agencies and teams to show their interest in working with them. Teams can showcase their work and culture to attract the best talent.

But these are just vague intentions right now. Ultimately, I want the site to be a tool that benefits you. So please feel free to tell me what you’ve been missing or what you’d really like to see, I’m all ears!

Most importantly, I’m committed to keeping it fair for Laravel engineers across the entire community, whatever level you’re at and whatever country you live in, and that means keeping it free for developers to create and manage their profiles.

¶Special Introductory Offer for Teams!

To celebrate this new chapter, I'm introducing a new offer for teams:

• I’ve removed the recruitment fee, so there's no percentage of salary taken for hiring engineers you find through Laradir, whatever size your business is.
• I'm also introducing a LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Sign up before the end of 2023 for just $599 for the year (renews annually). The original price (149€/month) would see this come in at over $1,700/year. So that's a HUGE saving.
• If you sign up at this price now, there'll be no price increase next year: Keep your subscription going and it will renew at $599 next year too!
• Enjoy unlimited messages and direct connections with the full, extensive and growing directory of over 750 Laravel engineers worldwide.

This is more than just an offer; it's a testament to my belief in creating a thriving ecosystem where Laravel teams can find the right talent effortlessly, and developers find great opportunities that align with their goals and aspirations.

If you’re representing a company or team that lives on Laravel, I hope you’ll take advantage of this incredible opportunity and help support this vision.

The success of this platform depends on its users—you lovely people. So I'd love to hear your thoughts, feedback, and any ideas you might have. Together, we can shape the future of a powerful tool for this wonderful community.

Thank you for your continuous support and trust and the brilliance you infuse into the Laravel ecosystem every day.

Here's to new beginnings! 🥂

Simon

@simonhamp