Matt Stauffer

Matt Stauffer

CEO

Article
Introducing Voxacon, the 2026 Tighten Laracon Puzzle
· Matt Stauffer
Every year, Tighten builds a puzzle for Laracon. We’ve run typing challenges, coding challenges, and, last year, an entire game-building challenge. It's a fun chance for us to build something for the community, give some prizes away,...
Article
How Will LLMs Transform Us? AI as a Tool in the Future of Development
· Jordan Keller,  Matt Stauffer
AI is a tool. Revolutionary. Generational. But a tool nonetheless. And a tool is only as effective as a human is at using it. We’ve been learning to use AI as a tool for a while now, and we’re even more confident that...
Article
How to Expertly Use LLMs in Development Workflows
· Jordan Keller,  Matt Stauffer
Imagine: You’re about to board a commercial flight. Directly ahead of you in line, you learn, is the person who engineered this very model of plane. It’s equipped with state-of-the-art technology!, this person tells you. It’s able to...
Article
Why Developers Should – and Shouldn’t – Use LLMs in Our Development
· Jordan Keller,  Matt Stauffer
“Why should I use AI?” Ask our AI pundits this question, and you’ll get the same answer (with drastically different inflections):...
Article
What Even Is “AI”? Defining Key Terms in Plain Language
· Jordan Keller,  Matt Stauffer
You might be wondering, “How are we three years into the hype and still asking something as basic as ‘What even is AI?’” Well, as we established in the...
Article
A Pragmatic Look at AI and LLMs in Software Development Workflows
· Jordan Keller,  Matt Stauffer
By now, every dev (and business leader) feels some type of way about AI. How could we not? Every time you open the news, listen to a podcast, or visit your favorite social media site, you're hearing something about AI. If...
podcast
How AI Is Changing Writing and Creative Work
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of Pragmatic AI, Matt Stauffer and Jordan Keller discuss how AI is reshaping writing, content creation, and the people who make their living with words. They unpack Jordan’s wide-ranging career, the pressure writers are...
podcast
The Education Business in an AI World
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of Pragmatic AI, Matt Stauffer interviews Jeffrey Way, the creator of Laracasts, to talk about what AI is really doing to developer education. They explore how AI is changing the landscape of developer education, the challenges it...
podcast
AI's Impact on Open Source Funding
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode, Matt Stauffer sits down with Adam Wathan, creator of Tailwind CSS, to talk about the very real impact AI is having on product companies, open source communities, and the broader tech landscape. Adam shares how AI has affected...
podcast
Dreaming Bigger With AI - Aaron Francis
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of Pragmatic AI, host Matt Stauffer interviews Aaron Francis, a Laravel developer and co-founder of Try Hard Studios. They discuss Aaron's journey from being a software developer to an educator, the impact of AI on the development...
podcast
Building Ghostable & Finding Ideas by Listening Well | Joe Rucci, Founder of Ghostable & Co-founder of Curricula
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, Matt Stauffer chats with Joe Rucci, founder of Ghostable and co-founder of Curricula, about his path through entrepreneurship and the role Laravel played along the way. Joe talks candidly about...
podcast
How CarePortal Uses Laravel to Restore Real-World Connection | Adrien Lewis & Bret Pudenz, Founder and Director of Engineering at CarePortal
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, Matt Stauffer talks with Adrien Lewis, Founder of CarePortal, and Bret Pudenz, Director of Engineering, about how their Laravel-powered “care sharing” platform connects caseworkers, churches,...
podcast
Turning Podcasts into Insights | Arvid Kahl, Creator of Podscan
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, host Matt Stauffer sits down with Arvid Kahl, founder of Podscan, a platform that transcribes and analyzes podcasts. Arvid shares his journey from developer to entrepreneur, the challenges of...
podcast
Building Outro, a New Paradigm for Podcasters | Ian Landsman, Creator of Outro
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, Matt Stauffer welcomes back Ian Landsman to discuss his latest venture, Outro , a tool he’s currently building to help podcasters organize and monetize their content. They explore the evolution of...
podcast
Building a CMS on Laravel | Jack McDade, Creator of Statamic
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, Matt Stauffer chats with Jack McDade, creator of Statamic, a CMS built on Laravel. Jack shares the story behind Statamic, from its early days to its deep Laravel integration, and the technical...
podcast
Building Software for Comic Folk | Kenny Meyers, CEO of Sweet
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, Matt Stauffer interviews Kenny Meyers), CEO of Sweet, a company working to improve the comic industry through technology. They discuss the unique challenges of building a digital comic store, the...
podcast
Growing Maintainly: From Niche Solution to Genericized SaaS | Patrick O’Meara & Steven Quayle
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, Matt Stauffer sits down with Patrick O’Meara and Steven Quayle, co-founders of Maintainly, a CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) company built on Laravel. They dive into the evolution...
podcast
Turning a Problem Into a Product | Alison Gianotto, Founder of Snipe-IT
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of The Business of Laravel, Matt Stauffer chats with Alison Gianotto), Founder of Snipe-IT. They explore Alison’s path in PHP development, how Snipe-IT grew from a side project into a thriving open-source IT asset management...
podcast
Bootstrapping, Buyouts, and Building Again | Branick Weix, CEO of Diagonal
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, Matt Stauffer chats with Branick Weix, CEO of Diagonal. They discuss Branick's journey from building a successful startup, Aryeo, to launching Diagonal, a company focused on personalized software for...
podcast
From Zero Code to SaaS Success | David Watson, Founder of RiskAdvisor
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of The Business of Laravel podcast, Matt Stauffer interviews David Watson, founder of RiskAdvisor, a SaaS platform for independent insurance agents. David shares his journey from being a non-technical founder to running a successful...
podcast
Bootstrap Mindset, Big Results | Gilbert Pellegrom, Co-founder of Lemon Squeezy
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of The Business of Laravel podcast, Matt Stauffer interviews Gilbert Pellegrom, Engineering Manager at Stripe and former Co-founder/CTO of Lemon Squeezy. Gilbert shares his journey from self-taught developer to entrepreneur, building Lemon Squeezy to simplify selling digital goods online.
podcast
Faithful in Small Things, Ready for Big Opportunities | Alex Millar, CTO & Founder of GovAI
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, Matt Stauffer talks with Alex Millar, CTO and founder of GovAI, about his journey from selling his previous venture, Bonfire, to adopting Laravel for his latest project. Alex shares how Laravel...
podcast
The Power of Intentional Leadership | Jason Johnson, CIO at Sweetwater
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, Matt Stauffer sits down with Jason Johnson, Chief Information Officer at Sweetwater, a leading provider of musical instruments, pro audio equipment, and comprehensive support services for musicians...
podcast
Scaling and Handling Finances as a Solo Founder | Jason McCreary, Founder of Shift
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, Matt Stauffer interviews Jason McCreary, the founder of Shift. They discuss Jason's role and journey in the Laravel community, the functionality of Laravel Shift as an automation tool for upgrading...
podcast
Boring Tech, Bold Results | Jon Behr, VP of Engineering at FM
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel Podcast, Matt Stauffer sits down with Jon Behr, VP of Engineering at FM, to discuss his journey into the company and FM's use of Laravel. FM operates three major brands—Musicbed, Film Supply, and...
podcast
Strategic Leadership: The Importance of Saying No | Chris Morrell, CEO of InterNACHI
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel Podcast, Matt Stauffer sits down with Chris Morrell, the CEO and CTO of InterNACHI, the largest trade organization for residential and commercial property inspectors globally. Chris shares his insights on...
podcast
The Power Behind the UK’s No. 1 Platform for Parents | Matthew Davis, CTO at Mumsnet
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel Podcast, Matt Stauffer sits down with Matthew Davis, the CTO of Mumsnet, a leading social platform for parents in the UK. They discuss Mumsnet's full-scale transition to Laravel, unpacking the challenges and...
podcast
Continuous Deployment and Continuous People Growth | Greg Skerman, DoT at iseekplant
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, Matt Stauffer interviews Greg Skerman, Director of Technology at iseekplant, Australia’s leading online construction marketplace. They discuss Greg’s role, the benefits and challenges of a...
podcast
From Passion Project to Profitable Business as a Married Couple | Michele and Mathias Hansen, Geocodio
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, host Matt Stauffer interviews Michele and Mathias Hansen, the founders of Geocodio, a SaaS that provides hassle-free geocoding, built with Laravel. They discuss their motivation for creating the...
podcast
Growing Into a Leadership Role, and Pairing With Strangers | Ben Holmen, CTO at The Boutique Hub
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, host Matt Stauffer sits down with Ben Holmen, CTO of The Boutique Hub, a community of boutique owners and brands dedicated to strengthening small businesses. Ben shares insights into his role, where...
podcast
How Aaron Francis Turned a Layoff Into a Thriving Educational Empire | Aaron Francis, Co-founder of Try Hard Studios
· Matt Stauffer
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, host Matt Stauffer interviews Aaron Francis, co-founder of Try Hard Studios, beloved Internet personality, Laravel developer, and all-around Internet nice guy. Aaron shares his journey from his days...
podcast
From Terrible Employee to Open Source Entrepreneur: Caleb Porzio's Playbook | Caleb Porzio, Creator of Livewire & Alpine.js
· Matt Stauffer,  Caleb Porzio
In this week's episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, host Matt Stauffer talks with Caleb Porzio, a prominent figure in the Laravel community and the creator of Livewire and Alpine.js. Caleb shares his unconventional journey from being a...
podcast
Hiring Taylor Otwell to build HelpSpot and Laravel at the same time | Ian Landsman, Founder of HelpSpot
· Matt Stauffer
In our very first episode, Matt had the pleasure of speaking with Ian Landsman, affectionately known as the 'Godfather of Laravel,' where they discussed his long history with Laravel and his business journey. Ian shared insights into his primary...
Article
Why Agility–not Agile–is the Best Tool for Project Management
· Matt Stauffer
You don’t need Agile to be agile on your next software development project. Learn how to focus on true progress rather than adhere to a rigid set of rules.
Article
What Makes A Code Audit Effective?
· Dan Sheetz,  Matt Stauffer
Learn which factors to consider for an effective code audit that meets your needs, and why a third-party audit is a smart investment for your team.
Article
Five Ways Automated Testing Catches Issues Humans Can’t
· Matt Stauffer
Using automated testing for your app may seem more costly up-front, but it’s a valuable investment in the long run. Learn 5 ways it saves you time & money.
Article
How We Help Our Developers Get More Done in 4 Days Than Most Do in 5
· Matt Stauffer
Our take on the 4 day work week is called 20% Time. Learn how it increases the quality of our work and benefits your team’s software development project.
Article
Announcing Duster, a Code Linter and Fixer for Laravel
· Matt Stauffer,  Anthony Clark
At Tighten, we’ve long believed that individual programmers shouldn’t waste their time worrying about code formatting. Early in our history, Tighten alum Adam Wathan saw Matt wasting time reviewing code style issues and built an entire CI tool,...
podcast
The Tighten Manifesto
· Dan Sheetz,  Matt Stauffer,  Dave Hicking
Dan Sheetz & Matt Stauffer (Tighten's Managing Director & Technical Director, respectively) join us this week for the last episode of season 3 to talk all about the Tighten Manifesto - how it was created, what it aims to achieve, how to live...
podcast
All About Hiring
· Matt Stauffer,  Dave Hicking
Tighten is relaunching Twenty Percent Time and we're starting Season 2 by talking with our CTO Matt Stauffer about all things hiring: when & why Tighten decides to hire, what we look for, what we wish people knew when applying, and...
Article
Announcing Tighten's Laracon 2018 Grant
· Matt Stauffer,  Dan Sheetz,  Marje Holmstrom-Sabo
Tighten has sent a contingent to Laracon US for the last four years, and we've loved the opportunities and relationships that have come from our time there. We've tried to give back with talks, sponsorships, fun events, and more. But this year, we...
Article
A Brief Introduction to Progressive Web Apps, or PWAs
· Matt Stauffer
If you're like me, you like to keep at the relative forefront of frontend web development, but trying to stay on the bleeding edge is exhausting. I know Vue and React and ES6; I haven't touched broccoli, next.js, or whatever else is the newest...
Article
The Inaugural Tighten Dev Battle: A Retrospective
· Matt Stauffer
Last week was Tighten's annual company on-site, where we bring the entire company together in one place for a few days to get to know each other, make plans for the future, and accomplish a few high-level tasks that are easier in person--for example,...
Article
Q&A With The Speakers from Laracon Online 2017
· Caleb Porzio,  Matt Stauffer
Wednesday was the inaugural Laracon Online, an online conference devoted to bringing great Laravel teaching to folks who may not be able to attend an in-person conference. Tighten co-founder Matt Stauffer spoke on...
Article
Let the Developers Carry Your Message
· Matt Stauffer
Tighten loves the Cubs. Dan's a lifetime Cubs fan and he finally got me on the bandwagon this summer, and even folks in the company who weren't previously fans became fans temporarily when Dan promised the whole company a day off in the case of a Cubs...
Article
MailThief by Tighten - a Package for Testing Mail in Laravel
· Matt Stauffer
Last week we launched a package called MailThief that's designed to make it simple to test your Laravel mail. Laravel's current integration testing features make it easy to test that certain...
Article
Introducing Laravel Echo
· Matt Stauffer
Tighten partner Matt Stauffer has written an in-depth introduction to Laravel's new Event Broadcasting tool, Echo. So, what is Laravel Echo? It's a tool that makes it easy for you to bring the power of WebSockets to your Laravel...
Article
The Great Tighten Experiment

Creating the company we'd want to work for

· Matt Stauffer
Dan and I are asked often about the backstory of Tighten. How did Tighten begin? That's an interesting-ish story, I guess, but what's more interesting to me is, "why?" There are other consultancies out there; why put ourselves through the stress of...
Article
Introducing Jigsaw, a Static Site Generator for Laravel Developers
· Matt Stauffer
That's right, Tighten has created a Laravel-based static site generator named Jigsaw, and we think it's pretty great. Before I write another line of this post, I want to address the looming question:...
Article
Setting Up Your First Vue.js Site Using Laravel Elixir and Vueify
· Matt Stauffer
It's true what they say—there seems to be a new JavaScript framework every day. We haven't tried them all at Tighten, but we've tried quite a few, and while we've found some lacking, we've found one that truly excels: Vue.js. It's not actually new,...
Article
Creating a Password-less, Medium-style, Email-only Authentication System in Laravel
· Matt Stauffer
Recently I was working on a project where one of our major pain points was users' passwords. Users were added to the application by administrators, so they didn't have passwords when they were first added, and forcing them to set and remember...
Article
Statamic v2 Beta: First Impressions of a New Laravel-based Flat-file CMS

How a flat-file CMS may just be able to bridge the gap between traditional CMS and static site generator

· Matt Stauffer
I've been a CMS guy for a long time. The first web site I was paid to create—back in 2000, I think—was hand-written PHP, but I quickly made my way through MovableType, then WordPress, and finally ExpressionEngine before I moved out of the CMS...