Hi folks, hope you’re having a nice weekend so far 👋🏼

A couple of weeks ago I acquired a site that wasn’t turning over any revenue.

The site is Laradir.com, a directory of software engineers who predominantly use the Laravel PHP framework.

The acquisition was a completely private one - no third parties or platforms involved - and went through very smoothly. I’m very happy with the acquisition and how the process went.

I did the valuation myself on a costs-plus basis after having looked through the code and gotten a base understanding of all the assets. It was very much a “micro” acquisition

I relaunched the site after teasing/hyping on Twitter (~2.5k followers) for just over a week, and managed to get some decent exposure across the Laravel community.

Signups increased by 50% in just 3 days and I started to offer small ad spots for “sponsors” as well as reducing the fee for businesses to use the platform.

The site is now up to ~$200 MRR, which is all from the sponsorships, but no profit yet as I’m ploughing that and more into driving traffic to the site

I haven’t yet made any sales to businesses for the core service despite having made a handful of direct calls to potential customers (folks already in my contacts/network)

For most of these calls, the reason not to proceed falls into one of either: a) we’re not hiring right now, or b) we don’t use these platforms for hiring

I’m really happy with the acquisition and the initial progress, but obviously I’m keen to start proving traction from the business side as soon as possible.

What are my blind spots? What am I missing? What can I do to help convince businesses in/around the Laravel space that there is massive potential value here for them?

As the service is tapping into the “recruitment” sphere, one theory I have is that the winter slowdown and the somewhat uncertain jobs market are preventing teams from committing. Is this valid?

  • jttab20@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I’m new to Reddit. Want to get people to test out my prototype. Would appreciate any uparrows so I can post a bigger announcement

  • AnonJian@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    There is no Laravel market space. Just like there is no drill market space. There is a construction industry however. And nobody in it misses the point people do not want a quarter inch drill bit – they want a quarter inch hole.

    Nows the time to retort, “Well, golly … I don’t want to limit my market because Laravel could do all sorts of things.” You have already limited your market to zero.

    You are far too focused on the whiz-bang technology. Namely you figure you get a fair share of clients just for showing up in a browser. True enough for amateur hour, your fair share in capitalist system is zero.

    Features are not benefits. Technology isn’t even a feature. You put out a white paper stating – over 174 projects in 18 industry sectors – Laravel cut development time by 33% and maintenance by 12.7%. Or develop a clue.

    I would have thought that nobody gives two shits about the platform was obvious.

    • javier123454321@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      The drill is not the right analogy. This is more like hiring skilled labor, like carpenters. “People don’t want carpenters, they want a house” but to get a house the general contractor will look specifically for skilled carpenters.

  • coke_and_coffee@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    What are my blind spots? What am I missing? What can I do to help convince businesses in/around the Laravel space that there is massive potential value here for them?

    I’m having trouble figuring out what value there is for employers. Why wouldn’t they just go to LinkedIn or indeed and do a search for employees with Laravel in their resume?

    • simonhamp@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      My experience—and I believe the extended experience of many other orgs—is that it’s actually quite tricky to find a reasonable pool of developers with specific skill sets using LinkedIn without considerable time investment, let alone get that down to a warmed shortlist

  • iamyouregrammar@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    If these were included I’d be more likely to try the service

    1. The inclusion of more detailed templates for developer profiles. Additional categories such as languages spoken, years of experience, previous relevant projects, and personal links would make the selection process more efficient.
    2. Although pricing is mentioned, there are no details about the cost of tailored search and filtering service for finding developers.
    3. A personalized recommendations feature based on user profiles and search history would enhance the user experience and efficiency of the service.
    • simonhamp@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Thanks. This is great feedback. Some of these points are already covered in the system, but not exposed on the publicly-available search tool (which is intentional)

  • Belmeez@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    What problem is this site solving?

    Is it that folks can’t find laravel PHP devs through traditional recruiting channels (LinkedIn, indeed, etc) and they desperately need to fill these positions and it’s taking forever?

    I think you need to answer that first question very honestly.

    Why would they use your site when they can use more established recruiting platforms? What are the chances LinkedIn will have a much better candidate pool vs your site?

    You almost have a network effect situation in your hands. Personally, that’s a nightmare for me.

    • SrboBleya@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Why do people use Toptal if LinkedIn exists?

      This solution reminds me of Toptal but it’s focused on Lavarel developers.

  • jpyahyah@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Nice site! Looks really pro! Good luck with that! If you need a hand let me know!

  • Terasaurus15@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I work in the industry and Laravel is honestly not that common. Most companies are looking for the JavaScript frameworks or things like python, java, and Go.

    Sure laravel shops exist but they’re usually smaller agencies. Laravel definitely has a community but that doesn’t translate very well into job openings.

    At the company I work for we are not allowed to start any project using PHP -which for those that don’t know, Laravel is built on. We are allowed to use literally anything else if it’s the best tool for the job.

    • simonhamp@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Wow, it’s the first time I’m hearing about a company not being allowed to use PHP… especially when sometimes PHP is the best tool for the job (but of course, I would say that).

      I think part of the appeal for me is that the size isn’t that big… I don’t want to be inundated with clients and developers… plus as I’m already a part of the Laravel community myself, I feel like I know it well and this platform can stand out a little more.

      It’s a niche, but not too small

  • _DontPanic_@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Very cool site! Congrats on the acquisition and relaunch! I have a few thoughts for you:

    You should play up the pre-qualification of your devs more. Engineering managers looking to hire want to save time by only talking to quality devs. How are they qualified? How does that save time in interviews? Do they have projects to share via their GitHub account? Can you make that obvious with flair on their profile card? Is there a qualification that distinguishes between a junior dev vs a staff engineer?

    Industry knowledge could go a long way here. Maybe highlight what industries they’ve worked in? E.G e-commerce folks may have done common integrations like with a 3PL or ERP

    Lastly, in my experience, the New Year brings new budgets so maybe start thinking of where to advertise that New Year special now. Advertising may get a little cheaper in Dec after Black Friday ads are done.

    Best of luck!