We view the (real) Laplace transform through the lens of linear algebra as a continuous analogue of the power series by a negative exponential transformation that switches the basis of power functions to the basis of exponential functions. This approach immediately points to how the complex Laplace transform is a generalisation of the Fourier transform where the pole of the transform realises the linear algebraic intuition. The exponential transformation also motivates the Taylor inversion of the real Laplace transform.