【Interview】How Does Front-End Engineering Luminary Evan You Sustain His Life Through Open-Source Sponsorships?
This interview was originally featured in Global Views Monthly and has been translated into Chinese for this article. Considering the profile of our readers, the interview primarily focused on his upbringing and the pivotal moments that led him to develop Vue, as well as his experience in dedicating himself to open-source development. You can view the original article in Chinese.
You may not have heard of Evan You, but Vue.js, his brainchild, ranks among the top three frontend frameworks globally, receiving love from corporate giants like Adobe. Why did he leave a high-paying job to strike out on open-source projects? Can one truly survive on sponsorships alone? In this exclusive interview with Global Views Monthly（遠見雜誌）, Evan You（尤雨溪）, a titan in front-end engineering, shares insights into the life he carved out.
Figure 0.1: Evan You made a special visit to Taiwan to share his expertise at the Laravel x Vue Conf Taiwan 2023.
In every field, there are individuals who shine like celestial bodies, their fame illuminating the sky. Icons such as Steve Jobs, revered for his design ethos, and Elon Musk, for his audacious disruptions in the automotive industry, resonate well beyond their sectors. The same can be said for Andrew Ng and Yann LeCun in the field of artificial intelligence. However, there are also unsung heroes like Evan You, who, despite being legends within their sectors, remain relatively anonymous outside their professional circles.
When it comes to front-end frameworks, no engineer would omit Evan You’s name. Among the top three most widely-used frameworks in the world, Angular has the backing of Google, and React enjoys Facebook’s support. Vue, on the other hand, has managed to stand shoulder to shoulder with these tech behemoths without corporate full backing.
So how did Evan You single-handedly create Vue, earning the title of “god-tier developer” in the eyes of many engineers? Why did he give up a lucrative position to independently develop open-source software and rely on sponsorships for his livelihood?
1 From Aspiring Designer to Coding Virtuoso
Born in 1987 in Wuxi, Jiangsu（江蘇無錫）, Evan You was raised in a family that valued education. He was introduced to the world of technology at a young age when his father bought him a “486 computer” during his primary school years. Was his later success a byproduct of an early start? Evan laughs it off, saying he used the computer mainly for gaming and drawing, as he aspired to become a designer more than an engineer. His vision shifted in high school when his father encouraged him to study abroad, instilling in him the belief that “the world is vast and full of opportunities,” eventually leading Evan to study at Colgate University, thus fulfilling his father’s unaccomplished dream of studying abroad.
Figure 1.1: Evan You’s father initially opposed his pursuit of a career in design, only relenting when Evan proved himself during an internship.
Like many traditional Asian parents, his father wished for him to major in the lucrative field of finance. However, Evan’s heart was set on design. “My father was unfamiliar and unconfident with design, worried that I couldn’t feed myself,” Evan recalls. To put his family at ease, he took a gap year to intern in Beijing as a designer and returned only after earning a salary.
Upon resuming his studies, he discovered his new passion: generative art. When he encountered compelling works of art, he would not only admire them but also attempt to recreate them through code. “For the first time, I took programming seriously, meticulously going through programming books line by line,” he says. This approach laid a solid foundation for his future endeavors.
With a clear sense of direction, Evan pursued a Master’s degree at Parsons School of Design, delving into the intersection of design and technology. He recalls being amazed by Google Creative Lab’s experiments with front-end visualization, which inspired him to teach himself JavaScript earnestly. This marked the beginning of his journey into the realm of software engineering. His consistent sharing of his projects caught the eye of recruiters, and before he graduated, he had an offer from Google.
2 From Employee to Open-Source Pioneer
While at Google, Evan You embarked on an extraordinary journey to create Vue.js. At a time when Google was already promoting Angular, why did he feel the need to invent a new framework? Evan explains that Angular came with a heavy developer-centric mindset, which is very “opinionated” and laden with established design patterns. “I just wanted to build simple applications; why all the complications?” he wondered.
In a move that could only be described as the epitome of engineering romance, Evan decided that if existing tools didn’t serve him well, he would create his own. The overwhelming response to Vue on GitHub exceeded all his expectations. “I just completed something I was very satisfied with and shared it out of interest,” he says. His minimalist approach to Vue resonated with the developer community, earning him enough recognition to be scouted by a16z’s talent acquisition team. He subsequently transitioned to a role at Meteor, a firm invested in by a16z and focused on open-source development.
Figure 2.1: Vue.js ranks among the top three frontend framework globally and its high popularity is evident from Stack Overflow surveys.
About a year and a half after developing Vue, Evan began contemplating resignation. At that time, Meteor was considering a change of direction. Seeing the continued growth of Vue users and with a baby on the way, Evan felt it could be a transitional point of his life. “I was confident that I could find another job whenever I wanted, so I thought it was the right time to go full-time into open-source and see how it goes.”
Before leaving his job, Evan set up a Patreon account to raise recurring donations and also secured sponsorship from the CTO of web development startup Strikingly. Although the combined monthly amount of less than $5,000 was far below his income, Evan took the plunge. He embarked on a new lifestyle that he describes as “half parental leave, half open-source development.”
3 From Developer to Reluctant ‘God’
In social media circles like Twitter and Facebook groups, debates over the merits of different frameworks are commonplace. Evan You says that while Vue aims to expand its user base, diversity in the ecosystem is a good thing. “People from different backgrounds have varied development habits and perspectives,” he observes.
During his recent visit to Taiwan, Evan was respectfully referred to as a ‘God’（大神） by the audience. In his modest response, he clarifies that the accolade is more a reflection of the sheer size of the front-end development community rather than his own achievements. “I don’t think I’ve earned the title,” he says.
During his recent visit to Taiwan, Evan You was respectfully dubbed a ‘God’ (大神) by the audience. However, in a modest rejoinder, he insists that this lofty title, disproportionate to his actual achievements, is more a reflection of the extensive reach of the front-end development community than a testament to his individual accomplishments. “The acclaim feels disproportionate to what I’ve actually achieved. I don’t believe I’ve earned the title,” he states.
Figure 3.1: Evan You was treated with high regard by the organizers during his invited visit to Taiwan. Screenshot from LaravelConf Taiwan 2023.
Despite not being a child prodigy in coding or a math whiz, how did this unassuming young man from China make such a remarkable impact? “I don’t rate my technical skills very highly,” he admits. However, Evan believes that his design background allows him to focus more on user-specific requirements, translating them into product development and design. This user-centric approach, as opposed to just toiling away at tasks, might be the key to his success.
Starting from scratch, Evan created the Vue framework and now coordinates with a whole team for its development. Currently, the team has a monthly revenue in the tens of thousands of dollars, more than sufficient to sustain him.
