Laracon US 2025 recap: Why “You Should Reinvent The Wheel” matters for your website

I attended Laracon US 2025 and watched Thiery Laverdure’s talk, “You Should Reinvent The Wheel.” His message was refreshing for people who run websites and digital products. We’re commonly told to avoid reinventing something that’s already available to use. But sometimes rebuilding a familiar thing is the responsible choice. Not for novelty, but to simplify and improve outcomes.

The core idea, in plain terms

“Reinventing the wheel” has a bad reputation. Thiery’s point is that careful reinvention can remove hidden complexity and produce tools that fit today’s needs. Think of it like refining a well-known recipe until it is consistently great. That mindset applies to software when used with discipline.

A quick example

Thiery showed a project he is working on called Lightbase. It takes the small, reliable SQLite database and explores how to make it work cleanly in modern, distributed setups. The precise design is still evolving, but the takeaway is simple. Reinvention can turn a simple, proven idea into something that scales and feels good to use.

Why clients should care

Faster, simpler outcomes

Teams that revisit fundamentals often ship features faster and debug issues more directly. Reinvention trims layers that slow everyone down.

Lower operational risk

Rebuilding with clear boundaries and today’s constraints in mind leads to code that is easier to reason about and maintain. That pays off in uptime and support.

Community momentum

Talks like this push the Laravel ecosystem forward. When builders share experiments and lessons, every project benefits through better patterns and tools.

How we apply this on your projects

• Selective by design
  We only reinvent when there is a clear business case. We target small, well-chosen areas where a rethink measurably improves performance, reliability, or developer speed.

• Risk managed
  Exploration happens in sandboxes, branches, and staging. Production stays stable. Changes ship behind reviews, tests, and gradual rollout.

• Laravel-first experience
  Any new approach must fit cleanly with Laravel migrations, testing, and deployment so day-to-day work stays familiar and safe.

A human note

Thiery studied jazz. You copy the masters, internalise the craft, then make it your own. Software is similar. Know what works, then improve it with care. As he quoted  “there are only 12 notes until we are given 13”. The value comes from how thoughtfully you arrange them.

The headline for your business

Thoughtful reinvention is how we ship faster sites, with better user experience, and cleaner code. We use it selectively where it delivers clear value, focusing on small, well-chosen improvements that unlock real speed and reliability.