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Jeffrey Way vs Sahil Lavingia

Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.

Founder of Laracasts, the bootstrapped video school for Laravel and PHP

@jeffrey_way United States

Founder of Gumroad and author of The Minimalist Entrepreneur

@shl United States

Jeffrey Way vs Sahil Lavingia at a glance

Jeffrey Way and Sahil Lavingia are both indie makers listed on IndieMakerList. They overlap in Educators & Course Creators, Creators & Writers and Open Source Makers. Jeffrey is based in Winter Park, United States, Sahil in Brooklyn, United States. Jeffrey started in 2013 and Sahil in 2011. Jeffrey Way has 3 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Sahil Lavingia's 3. Sahil self-reports $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025); Jeffrey hasn't shared a revenue figure publicly. On X, Jeffrey has about 87K followers and Sahil about 394K.

Side-by-side comparison

Based in: Jeffrey Way: Winter Park, United States; Sahil Lavingia: Brooklyn, United States
Started: Jeffrey Way: 2013 (13 yrs indie); Sahil Lavingia: 2011 (15 yrs indie)
Revenue (self-reported): Jeffrey Way: Not public; Sahil Lavingia: $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025)self-reported, as of 2025 · source for Sahil Lavingia's revenue
Products listed: Jeffrey Way: 3; Sahil Lavingia: 3
Product status: Jeffrey Way: 3 active; Sahil Lavingia: 3 active
X followers: Jeffrey Way: 87K; Sahil Lavingia: 394K
Categories: Jeffrey Way: Educators & Course Creators Creators & Writers Open Source Makers; Sahil Lavingia: E-commerce Creators & Writers Educators & Course Creators Open Source Makers
Style: Jeffrey Way: bootstrapped; Sahil Lavingia: builds in public
Courses & resources: Jeffrey Way: 4; Sahil Lavingia: 1

Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.

Top products

Laracasts

laracasts.com

Subscription video platform teaching Laravel, PHP, JavaScript, tooling and AI-assisted development, with web and iOS apps.

Rosette

getrosette.com

Sheet music, practice and performance library for classical guitarists, with iPhone and iPad apps.

Laravel Mix

github.com

Open-source wrapper that simplifies webpack configuration, long the default asset build tool in Laravel.

Gumroad

gumroad.com

Platform for creators to sell digital products, memberships and courses directly to their audience.

$17.8M in 2025TrustMRR ↗

Flexile

flexile.com

Open-source tool for paying contractors and managing equity, spun out of how Gumroad runs its team.

Helper

helper.ai

Open-source AI-powered customer support tool from the Antiwork family.

Tech stack

No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.

PHPLaravelVueTailwind CSS

No stack shared publicly.

How they build

Teach complicated topics in small, digestible episodes.
Serve one specific type of developer deeply rather than everyone shallowly.
Practice-based learning beats passive watching.
Adapt to AI-assisted coding, but still review every line it writes.

Start with a community you are already part of, then build for it.
Do things manually before you build software, and build as little as possible.
Profitability gives you the freedom to make your own decisions.
Run the company in public: open metrics, open board meetings, open source.
Creators should own their audience and get paid directly.

Learn from Jeffrey and Sahil

[course] Laracasts · Subscription (monthly, yearly or lifetime)
[course] Leveraging AI for Laravel Development · Free
[community] Laracasts Forum · Free
[book] Laravel Testing Decoded · Paid

[book] The Minimalist Entrepreneur

Jeffrey Way vs Sahil Lavingia FAQ

Who makes more money, Jeffrey Way or Sahil Lavingia?

Sahil Lavingia self-reports $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025). Jeffrey Way's revenue is not public, so a direct comparison isn't possible.

Who has built more products, Jeffrey Way or Sahil Lavingia?

Jeffrey Way has 3 products listed (Laracasts, Rosette and Laravel Mix); Sahil Lavingia has 3 products listed (Gumroad, Flexile and Helper).

What tech stack do Jeffrey Way and Sahil Lavingia use?

Jeffrey Way uses PHP, Laravel, Vue and Tailwind CSS. Sahil Lavingia hasn't shared a stack. They don't list any tools in common.

Where are Jeffrey Way and Sahil Lavingia based?

Jeffrey Way: Winter Park, United States. Sahil Lavingia: Brooklyn, United States.

Who has been an indie maker longer, Jeffrey Way or Sahil Lavingia?

Jeffrey Way started in 2013 (13 years indie); Sahil Lavingia started in 2011 (15 years indie).

Are Jeffrey Way and Sahil Lavingia bootstrapped?

Jeffrey Way is listed as bootstrapped; Sahil Lavingia isn't tagged as bootstrapped on IndieMakerList.

Full profiles

Read the full story, timeline and links on Jeffrey Way's profile and Sahil Lavingia's profile.

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