A few years ago I tried different PHP frameworks. CakePHP seemed too strict with database schema, Zend seemed too complicated. I built large applications with CodeIgniter, it's ok but lacks features. Kohana docs and support did not promise much. Laravel did not exists back then. So I tried Yii (it was version 1.0.something) and it was great. Quick prototyping, powerful, but simple enough and good support on the forum. I built a lot of apps with Yii and this experience influenced the choice because I knew I wouldn't spend time learning the framework, but building the product instead.
Especially, since I built my last 3 projects using Node.js, it seemed that learning another PHP framework like Laravel would not benefit me too much. Now, you might ask why did I not go down the node.js route. It's because I wanted to build LAMP based code which I could eventually open source if the project fails. I plan for it to become a standard PHP package for social-network type of sites. You know, just like you have Wordpress for blogging, you could use my engine for small social networks, or just MVPs.
Especially, since I built my last 3 projects using Node.js, it seemed that learning another PHP framework like Laravel would not benefit me too much. Now, you might ask why did I not go down the node.js route. It's because I wanted to build LAMP based code which I could eventually open source if the project fails. I plan for it to become a standard PHP package for social-network type of sites. You know, just like you have Wordpress for blogging, you could use my engine for small social networks, or just MVPs.
I call "my engine" since I haven't named it yet.