I Stopped Designing Websites. I Started Designing Decisions. Here Is What Changed.

53 projects. 12 countries. YC-backed startups to solo creators.

The single biggest thing I learned after seven years of building landing pages and GTM websites: design does not convert. Decisions do.

Every founder who hires me asks the same question: "Make it look good." And every time, I ask them the same thing back: "What do you want your visitor to do in the first three seconds?"

Nobody has a good answer. And that silence is the reason most landing pages fail.

The First Thing I Do Is Not Design

When a new client comes in, I do not open Figma. I do not look at their brand colors. I do not browse Dribbble for inspiration.

I read their landing page out loud. The headline. The subheadline. The CTA. Every line of body copy. Out loud.

If I stumble while reading, the visitor will stumble too. If I do not understand the offer in the first sentence, the visitor will not scroll to find it. If I reach the CTA and have no idea what happens when I click it, the page is broken.

Most pages fail at the first sentence. Not the design. The sentence.

That is why I write copy before I draw a single pixel. Headlines first. CTAs second. Supporting copy third. Figma fourth. Framer fifth.

Design serves copy. Not the other way around.

What Happens When You Reverse the Order

A YC-backed startup came to me with a problem. They had a developer-focused AI product. Smart team. Solid tech. But their website was not converting trials.

The page looked good. Clean layout. Smooth animations. Professional brand.

The headline said: "The Future of Autonomous Development."

I asked their team: what does your product do, right now, for the developer who lands on this page? The answer was clear and specific. But the headline was not.

I rewrote it. I led with a code-first hero that showed the product in action. I wrote model-specific copy for retrieval, merge, and generation. Then I designed around those words.

The page went from looking good to being clear. And clarity converts.

Why I Ship in Two Weeks, Not Two Months

I work alone. One person does the copy, the design, and the build.

No agency hand-offs. No "the designer is waiting on the copywriter." No three rounds of stakeholder reviews before the homepage gets approved.

Here is what that looks like:

Week one: I audit the current page, write the copy, design in Figma, and present the concept. You give feedback once.

Week two: I build in Framer, set up GA4 and heatmaps, optimize for mobile, and launch.

You see progress every week. You talk to one person. And your site is live while your competitor is still debating font choices with their agency.

53 sites. Average delivery: two weeks. Not because I rush. Because there is no one to wait for.

The Three Mistakes I See on Every Landing Page

After 53 projects across SaaS, fintech, e-commerce, creator brands, and Web3, the same three mistakes show up on almost every page I audit.

The headline describes the company, not the visitor's problem.

"AI-powered workflow optimization platform" tells me what you built. It does not tell me why I should care. The fix is always the same: name the problem the visitor has, then name the result you deliver.

The CTA says "Learn More" or "Get Started."

Both mean nothing. Learn more about what? Get started with what? A CTA should tell the visitor exactly what they will receive when they click. "Start my free trial." "Get my page audit." "Book my strategy call." Specific language converts. Vague language leaks visitors.

Trust signals are at the bottom of the page.

By the time a visitor scrolls to your testimonial section, most have already left. A client logo near the headline builds authority in the first second. A testimonial near the CTA reduces hesitation at the moment of commitment. Placement matters more than quantity.

The Numbers Behind 53 Projects

Across 53 projects, the average conversion lift is 2.4x. Clients rate the work 4.9 out of 5 on Upwork. Projects span 12 countries.

I have designed and built sites for YC-backed startups like Relace, Equals, and Hevn. I have worked with creators like Melissa Ambrosini and Nick Broadhurst. I have shipped for fintech companies, developer tools, e-commerce brands, and education platforms.

Every project follows the same process: copy first, design second, ship in two weeks, measure from day one.

That process is not flashy. But it works. And it works because it puts the visitor's decision ahead of the designer's taste.

What My Clients Say (In Their Own Words)

Josh Schachter, Founder and CEO at UpdateAI: "Rashid redesigned our entire marketing site. The new design is clean, loads fast, and converts way better than what we had before. Onboarding signups went up by half."

The Crezco Team: "We needed a site that made open banking feel simple and trustworthy. Rashid nailed the design and the copy. Our sales team finally has a site they are proud to send prospects to."

Nick Broadhurst: "The design feels premium and the communication was excellent throughout. Rashid delivered a polished site in under two weeks, scored 90+ on Lighthouse."

What It Costs

I am transparent about pricing because founders deserve to know what they are working with before a call.

A high-converting landing page designed in Figma with UX copy, built pixel-perfect in Framer: from $1,600. Ships in 2 to 3 weeks.

A multi-page website with 5 to 8+ pages, CMS, blog, and dynamic content: from $3,500. Ships in 3 to 5 weeks.

A standalone Chrome extension built from scratch: from $2,500. Ships in 3 to 4 weeks.

No retainer required. No surprise invoices. The first design round comes with a money-back guarantee.

What I Am Looking For Right Now

I am accepting 2 new projects this month. I work best with:

Founders who have a product and need a website that sells it. Not a brochure. A conversion tool.

Startup teams (seed to Series A) who need to ship fast without sacrificing quality.

Creators and personal brands who want a site that reflects their work and brings in clients.

If your page is not converting and you do not know why, I offer a free 15-minute page audit. I will tell you where your page is leaking visitors and what copy and layout changes I would make. No pitch. No commitment.

Book a Call or Send a Message

If any of this resonated, here is how to reach me:

Book a strategy call: https://cal.com/rashid.iqbal

See my work: https://framer.com/@rashidiqbal

View my portfolio: https://aestho.xyz

Upwork profile: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/thatgroot

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/callmerashidiqbal/

Email: rashid@founderfist.com

Or send me a DM right here on LinkedIn. I respond within 24 hours.

Your website should work as hard as your product. If it does not, let us fix that.

I Stopped Designing Websites — I Design Decisions Now