u/GainUnlikely3482

So I'm running an agency where I primarily build websites. I've been doing this stuff for more than 10 years, and have seen how the market has shifted.

Now I have my own agency, Big Mango Studio, and help SaaS and eCommerce founders in setting up their websites that actually convert.

I’ve been helping a few founders recently with their SaaS / ecom websites, and honestly, most of the issues I’m seeing aren’t really “design problems”.

It’s usually stuff like:

• the message isn’t clear in the first few seconds
• users don’t know what to do next
• too many sections, but no real flow
• or small bits of friction that make people drop off

For SaaS especially, I’ll land on a site and still not fully understand:

• what the product actually does
• who it’s for
• why it’s better than alternatives

And if that’s not clear quickly, people just leave.

Ecom is similar in a different way.

A lot of stores look nice, but:

• product pages feel cluttered
• too many choices upfront
• checkout has tiny friction points

Nothing huge individually, but it adds up.

I’ve made the same mistakes myself when building my own stuff, so I get why it happens. When you’re deep into your product, everything feels obvious, but for a new user it isn’t.

What I’ve found works better is:

• focusing on one clear message
• guiding users step-by-step instead of dumping everything
• and making sure each page has one main goal

Anyway, if you’re building something and feel like your site isn’t performing the way it should, feel free to drop a link here.

So I'm running an agency where I primarily build websites. I've been doing this stuff for more than 10 years, and have seen how the market has shifted.

Now I have my own agency, Big Mango Studio, and help SaaS and eCommerce founders in setting up their websites that actually convert.

I’ve been helping a few founders recently with their SaaS / ecom websites, and honestly, most of the issues I’m seeing aren’t really “design problems”.

It’s usually stuff like:

• the message isn’t clear in the first few seconds
• users don’t know what to do next
• too many sections, but no real flow
• or small bits of friction that make people drop off

For SaaS especially, I’ll land on a site and still not fully understand:

• what the product actually does
• who it’s for
• why it’s better than alternatives

And if that’s not clear quickly, people just leave.

Ecom is similar in a different way.

A lot of stores look nice, but:

• product pages feel cluttered
• too many choices upfront
• checkout has tiny friction points

Nothing huge individually, but it adds up.

I’ve made the same mistakes myself when building my own stuff, so I get why it happens. When you’re deep into your product, everything feels obvious, but for a new user it isn’t.

What I’ve found works better is:

• focusing on one clear message
• guiding users step-by-step instead of dumping everything
• and making sure each page has one main goal

Anyway, if you’re building something and feel like your site isn’t performing the way it should, feel free to drop a link here.

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share my prep experience because I think the first 3–4 weeks of GMAT prep are where most people go wrong (including me). I prepared for around ~3 months while working full-time (2 - 3 hours on weekdays, more on weekends), and ended up with a 695. But honestly, if I had to restart, I would change how I approached the beginning, not the end.

Where I messed up initially

First few weeks were messy:

• Too many resources
• No clear plan
• Solving questions without really knowing what I’m improving
• Thinking “just do more and it’ll work out”

It felt like progress, but it wasn’t structured.

What I realized later (this is the important part)

Most people don’t fail because they can’t solve GMAT.
They fail because: They don’t have a clear roadmap of what to do at each stage.

I didn’t either in the beginning.

What I’d do if I was starting again

Instead of jumping into everything, I’d follow a simple structure:

1. First 1–2 weeks: don’t chase score
Just:

• Understand question types
• Get familiar with format
• Light practice

No pressure, no obsession with performance.

2. Start tracking mistakes early
This is something I started late but should’ve done from Day 1.
Just 4 buckets:

• Concept
• Logic
• Careless
• Timing

This alone gives clarity on where you’re actually losing marks.

3. Keep resources limited
I wasted time switching.
What actually worked:

• Official material
• GMAT Club explanations
• Official mocks

That’s it.

4. Don’t skip phases
This is something I understood much later.
Prep is not random.
It’s more like:

• Foundation -> understand
• Build -> timed practice + weaknesses
• Optimize -> mocks + decision-making

If you try to jump ahead (like I did initially), it just creates confusion.

5. Have a simple system
The biggest improvement for me came when I started doing this consistently:

• Attempt
• Understand why wrong
• Write 1-line takeaway
• Apply it in the next set

Sounds basic, but this is what actually moves your score.

Final thought
If I had to summarize: GMAT is not about doing more It’s about doing the right things in the right order

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share my prep experience because I think the first 3–4 weeks of GMAT prep are where most people go wrong (including me). I prepared for around ~3 months while working full-time (2 - 3 hours on weekdays, more on weekends), and ended up with a 695. But honestly, if I had to restart, I would change how I approached the beginning, not the end.

Where I messed up initially

First few weeks were messy:

• Too many resources
• No clear plan
• Solving questions without really knowing what I’m improving
• Thinking “just do more and it’ll work out”

It felt like progress, but it wasn’t structured.

What I realized later (this is the important part)

Most people don’t fail because they can’t solve GMAT.
They fail because: They don’t have a clear roadmap of what to do at each stage.

I didn’t either in the beginning.

What I’d do if I was starting again

Instead of jumping into everything, I’d follow a simple structure:

1. First 1–2 weeks: don’t chase score
Just:

• Understand question types
• Get familiar with format
• Light practice

No pressure, no obsession with performance.

2. Start tracking mistakes early
This is something I started late but should’ve done from Day 1.
Just 4 buckets:

• Concept
• Logic
• Careless
• Timing

This alone gives clarity on where you’re actually losing marks.

3. Keep resources limited
I wasted time switching.
What actually worked:

• Official material
• GMAT Club explanations
• Official mocks

That’s it.

4. Don’t skip phases
This is something I understood much later.
Prep is not random.
It’s more like:

• Foundation -> understand
• Build -> timed practice + weaknesses
• Optimize -> mocks + decision-making

If you try to jump ahead (like I did initially), it just creates confusion.

5. Have a simple system
The biggest improvement for me came when I started doing this consistently:

• Attempt
• Understand why wrong
• Write 1-line takeaway
• Apply it in the next set

Sounds basic, but this is what actually moves your score.

Final thought
If I had to summarize: GMAT is not about doing more It’s about doing the right things in the right order

I was stuck around 645 for a while. Not terrible, but no matter what I did, my score just wouldn’t move.

I was doing everything people recommend:
more questions, more resources, more time after work… but nothing really changed.

What finally worked for me wasn’t studying more, it was changing how I reviewed mistakes.

In the last couple of weeks, I started doing 3 things differently:

• Actually classifying mistakes (concept / logic / careless / timing) instead of just checking answers
• Writing 1-line rules for patterns I kept repeating
• Practicing under time instead of doing everything in a comfortable, untimed way

I also stopped jumping between resources and just stuck to official material + GMAT Club.

The biggest realization was that I wasn’t lacking effort, I was just repeating the same mistakes without fixing them.

Ended up going from 645 → 695 in about 2 weeks while working full-time.

If you’re stuck in that 600–650 range, there’s a good chance the issue isn’t more practice, it’s how you’re analyzing what you’re already doing.

Happy to share more if anyone’s in a similar situation.

https://preview.redd.it/7r3s5zaejjxg1.png?width=2026&format=png&auto=webp&s=1cf542b709218f3ee59a3853a6148fee8a4b02ff

https://preview.redd.it/go3v6yaejjxg1.png?width=2026&format=png&auto=webp&s=16b941a10abcd15e836ba71973c9fc603e801680

I was stuck around 645 for a while. Not terrible, but no matter what I did, my score just wouldn’t move.

I was doing everything people recommend:
more questions, more resources, more time after work… but nothing really changed.

What finally worked for me wasn’t studying more, it was changing how I reviewed mistakes.

In the last couple of weeks, I started doing 3 things differently:

• Actually classifying mistakes (concept / logic / careless / timing) instead of just checking answers
• Writing 1-line rules for patterns I kept repeating
• Practicing under time instead of doing everything in a comfortable, untimed way

I also stopped jumping between resources and just stuck to official material + GMAT Club.

The biggest realization was that I wasn’t lacking effort, I was just repeating the same mistakes without fixing them.

Ended up going from 645 → 695 in about 2 weeks while working full-time.

If you’re stuck in that 600–650 range, there’s a good chance the issue isn’t more practice, it’s how you’re analyzing what you’re already doing.

Happy to share more if anyone’s in a similar situation.

https://preview.redd.it/lhxeof7xijxg1.png?width=2026&format=png&auto=webp&s=0a59eca89eb6d59361b2fc0b9facbcfe4d9923e5

https://preview.redd.it/pjl5ry8vijxg1.png?width=2026&format=png&auto=webp&s=8b071c08bc034c98cc20391a66bcceeb4155692a