Troubleshooting Common Issues

Our App Was Crawling at Snail Speed… Until I Made This One Mistake 🚀 A few months ago, I checked our Lighthouse scores—30s. That’s like running an F1 race on a bicycle. 🏎️➡️🚲 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭? We did everything right—modern stack, top framework, best practices. Yet, our app was sluggish. ❌ AI-powered search engines ignored us. ❌ Users kept waiting. ❌ Something was off. So, we did what every dev does—optimize. 🔧 Cut dependencies 🔧 Shrunk bundles 🔧 Tweaked configs We went from 30s to 70s. Better, but still not great. Then, I made a 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞. A glorious, game-changing mistake. One deploy, I accidentally removed JavaScript. And guess what? Lighthouse: 91. 😳 Sure, nothing worked. No buttons, no interactivity. But it proved our app could be fast. 💡 The lesson? Stop making JavaScript do everything. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭: ✅ JavaScript only where needed ✅ No unnecessary hydration ✅ No bloated client-side rendering 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭? 🚀 From 30s to consistent 90+ scores 🚀 Faster load times 🚀 Better search engine visibility Sometimes, the problem isn’t a lack of optimization—it’s an excess of complexity. Not every app needs a heavy framework. Not every UI should be hydrated. If you’re struggling with performance, ask yourself: ❓ Do I really need this much JavaScript? ❓ Can I pre-render more? ❓ What happens if I strip everything back to basics? You might be surprised by what you find. 👀

Showing a software demo? Tips to make it easier to follow: 🟣 Change your mouse color (I like purple) to make it extremely easy for them to follow your cursor. 🖥️ Frequently stop screensharing to encourage discussion. 🎯 Use the "presenter tools" in Zoom. Anyone who has met with me in the last 2 years knows I annotate/draw on the screen like crazy. 📝 Start your demo with a recap of the problems you heard they want to solve. Especially helpful when new stakeholders are joining. ⏳ Don't assume you've earned 30 minutes of attention - start with the most impactful thing first to earn more attention. 🐢 Go a tad slower than you think you need to. You've given your demo 1000+ times. This is the 1st time for them. 🤏 The less clicks & screens you show, the better. Pre-load screens and slides you plan to show. Get your tabs organized. What would you add? 

I was halfway into a demo with a couple of Directors. Their eyes shifted and posture slouched. I'd lost them. But kept going—walking them through one feature after another. Realized they weren't engaged because I hadn’t earned their attention. I was dumping features without connecting them to the problem they were trying to solve. That’s one example, but it's how my demos used to go 👆 Deals stalled. Win rates dropped. ................................................................. That's until I switched to a simple 5-step framework for presenting features on demos, which changed everything. The key difference, leading with the problem: 1. Frame the problem “Linda, you said it’s a pretty tedious process for your team to keep track of all your marketing campaigns for the month. The data is spread across a dozen spreadsheets, google docs, and emails.” • call out the problem • no product jargon • no buzzwords 2. Talk through the use case “So, when the business comes to you for a new product launch, you need to quickly start planning the campaigns. Which can be difficult given everything is scattered. You have to call sporadic team meetings to get updates, leading to product delays and potential lost revenue.” • you've uncover the use case via discovery • talk through how they’re getting the job done today 3. Show the feature “Let me show you how you can see all of this in one place and how you can cut your current process from 10 steps down to 3.” • walk through the feature • be crystal clear about what they’re seeing • it's your prospect’s 1st time seeing it, but your 100th 4. Articulate the outcome “This will help you launch your marketing campaigns 2.5x faster, meeting the business’ product launch dates.” • execs care about business outcomes • clearly state what it could look like with this capability 5. Ask a question “How do you see your team using this capability to solve for [X problem]?” • keep your prospect engaged throughout • lock in those micro-closes ……………………………………....... Have intention and purpose in your demos. Don’t be a feature dumper.

Why are there so many questions during my demo? That’s what one of my clients asked last week. He just wrapped a 45-minute demo. It was meant to impress.  Instead, it turned into chaos. Questions from all angles. Some valuable. Some distracting. And by the time he reached the main point, half the group had checked out. Here’s what I told him.👇 If your demo is getting flooded with questions, it’s not a sign of engagement. It’s a sign your story isn’t clear enough. Here’s how to fix that — in 6 practical steps: 1. Cut the clutter More slides ≠ more value. More features ≠ more relevance. The more you say, the more questions you trigger — most of them off-track. ✅ Anchor your demo on one core message ✅ Focus on their biggest challenge ✅ Leave the rest out A short, well-aimed story is more powerful than a long, wandering one. 2. Show the outcome, not the engine People don’t care how your software works. They care what it does for them. Start with the result they want. Not the process.  Not the settings.  Not your interface. Ask yourself: “What can I show them in the first 2 minutes that makes them say, ‘Oh, THAT’S what I need!’” Start there. Let them see the value — before you explain it. 3. Structure your time around problems, not products This is where most demos go off-track. They’re built around your solution — not their pain. Here’s a better approach: ✅ Start with their most pressing issue ✅ Show only what helps solve it ✅ Add context only if needed Every screen should answer one unspoken question: “How does this help me with the problem I told you about?” That’s when things click. 4. Answer questions in a way that keeps you moving You don’t want a formal Q&A. You want a conversation. But you do need a way to stay on track when questions pop up. Let’s say someone asks: ❓“Can it send automatic notifications?" Try this: “It does — you can set triggers based on your own rules. Want to see that now?” You’ve answered. You’ve respected their interest. And you’ve kept the focus where it belongs — on value. Here’s the rule: ✅ Great questions? Answer right away. 🟡 Good-but-distracting questions? Park. 🔴 Off-topic ones? Park them. 5. Use your visuals People don’t buy software  — they buy outcomes. People buy with their eyes. People buy for the insights they get. Don’t tell them how the process runs. Show them the result. You’ll notice something powerful: ✅ Fewer questions ✅ More engagement ✅ Real buy-in 6. Watch the room Sometimes you don’t need a clock  — just look around: - You’re running late - Someone stopped listening - You’re explaining features no one asked These are signs to pivot. Want fewer questions?  Be clearer. Demos don’t derail because the audience is difficult. They derail because the message is messy. So: ✅ Be concise ✅ Start with outcomes ✅ Tie every screen to a problem ✅ Handle questions with care That’s how you go from presenting to persuading. Where do most questions show up in your demos?

My take after running 600+ demos (8 mistakes that kill momentum immediately) I hate the “just run a great demo” advice so much on here. A great demo isn’t about slick slides. It’s about control, context, and curiosity. I used to get it wrong (and sometimes still do): - Clicking through slides too fast - Answering questions I should’ve asked - Talking 79% of the time and wondering why deals went dark Now? My demos feel more like a conversation than a presentation. And it works - 154% in Q3 Here’s what I stopped doing 1. Mistake: Starting with the product → Fix: Start with their world. Ask, “What made you take this call today?” 2. Mistake: Assuming you know their pain → Fix: Ask, “When you say this is a challenge - what does that actually look like?” 3. Mistake: Showing everything → Fix: Ask, “If I could only show you one thing, what would make this call worth it?” 4. Mistake: Ignoring silence → Fix: Pause after key moments. Let them process. The best feedback often comes after 3 seconds of quiet. 5. Mistake: Not looping others in → Fix: “Who else is involved in this process?” → Multi-thread early. Don’t wait for the ghosting stage. 6. Mistake: Saving ROI for the end → Fix: Bring it into the middle. “If we solved this, what would that mean for you in hours or cost?” 7. Mistake: Ending with ‘Any questions?’ → Fix: “What’s the one thing that would make this a no-brainer for your team?” 8. Mistake: Treating the demo like the finish line → Fix: End with clear next steps. Mutual Action Plan, follow-up date, recap email within 24h. The result? Stronger champions More engagement mid-demo Fewer “We’ll get back to you” moments My take: Bad demos happen when you focus on showing. Great demos happen when you focus on understanding. PS. Want my demo recap email template? Comment DEMO below.

Most bad demos start with appetizers. Here’s what I mean: → “Let me show you how to create a workspace…” → “This is the dashboard…” → “This feature lets you…” Prospects didn’t book the demo for a tour. They came for a solution. Serve the steak first. Show the feature that solves their top pain — immediately. Then work backwards. Example: I coached an AE selling a project management tool. Before, they’d start every demo by showing how to create a project from scratch. Instead, we flipped it: → Prospect said their team missed deadlines because no one had visibility. → So he started the demo by pulling up the calendar view with live team activity and deadline alerts. “Here’s what your VP of Ops would see every morning — total clarity in 10 seconds.” That one change? 31% improvement in close rate. The intro isn’t where you warm up. It’s where you win trust.

#post_14 Java Performance Interview Prep – Real Scenarios with Fixes In senior interviews, you’re often asked to debug performance bottlenecks in real-world systems. Here’s a set of 5 practical scenarios with examples + solutions 👇 🔹 Scenario 1 – Slow SQL Queries ❌ Problem: Dashboard takes 10s to load due to full table scans. -- Bad: full scan on large table SELECT * FROM transactions WHERE user_id = 123; ✅ Fix: Add an index + fetch only required columns with pagination. CREATE INDEX idx_user_id ON transactions(user_id); SELECT txn_id, amount, status FROM transactions WHERE user_id = 123 LIMIT 20 OFFSET 0; 📌 Impact: Query response time reduced from 10s → <100ms. 🔹 Scenario 2 – Memory Leak in Microservice ❌ Problem: Service crashes with OutOfMemoryError after 5 hours. Heap dump shows open file handles. // Bad: never closed BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("data.txt")); String line = br.readLine(); ✅ Fix: Use try-with-resources to auto-close streams. try (BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("data.txt"))) { String line = br.readLine(); } 📌 Impact: No memory leaks → stable uptime. 🔹 Scenario 3 – High Latency in API ❌ Problem: Checkout API takes 3s during peak load. Cause: sequential DB + service calls. // Bad: sequential User user = userService.getUser(id); Orders orders = orderService.getOrders(id); ✅ Fix: Use CompletableFuture to parallelize. CompletableFuture<User> user = supplyAsync(() -> userService.getUser(id)); CompletableFuture<Orders> orders = supplyAsync(() -> orderService.getOrders(id)); CompletableFuture.allOf(user, orders).join(); 📌 Impact: Latency reduced 3s → ~1.2s under load. 🔹 Scenario 4 – GC (Garbage Collection) Pauses ❌ Problem: High CPU + GC logs show frequent Full GCs. Cause: too many short-lived objects. ✅ Fix: Use object pooling for frequently used objects. Switch from Parallel GC → G1GC for lower pause times. -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=200 📌 Impact: Pause time reduced 800ms → <150ms. 🔹 Scenario 5 – N+1 Query Problem ❌ Problem: Fetching users with orders → 1 query for users + 1 query per user (total 1001 queries). // Bad: N+1 issue List<User> users = userRepo.findAll(); for (User u : users) { u.getOrders().size(); // triggers extra query per user } ✅ Fix: Use JOIN FETCH or batch fetching. @Query("SELECT u FROM User u JOIN FETCH u.orders") List<User> findAllWithOrders(); 📌 Impact: Reduced DB calls 1001 → 1. 💡 Interview Tip Always answer in 3 steps: 1️⃣ How you detected the issue (profilers, heap dump, slow query log, metrics). 2️⃣ Root cause (bad query, GC, memory leak). 3️⃣ Fix + measurable impact (before vs after). #Java #PerformanceTuning #SystemDesign #Microservices #SQL #LogicBrace

😨 Why would your P95 be spiking when your P50 is flat? If you're seeing this, only a minority of requests (the slowest ones) are getting significantly delayed. There can be a few different reasons for this, here are the top 3 in my experience: 1. Inconsistent Load Distribution: A subset of servers or containers may be experiencing high resource utilization (CPU, memory, disk I/O). If a load balancer is unevenly distributing traffic, some nodes may be slower than others. A single instance or node under strain could increase response times for a small portion of requests. 2. Network Latency Spikes: Some API calls or database queries might be routing through a slower path or encountering transient network congestion. Issues with DNS resolution, service mesh (e.g., Istio), or TLS handshakes can cause sporadic high-latency requests. 3. Background Processing or Batch Jobs: If a batch job or cron job is running at certain intervals, it may temporarily increase resource contention, impacting only some requests. If this is happening, it typically is on a consistent schedule which means day over day or week over week analysis becomes very important to understand that this is consistent and recurring. How to debug and attempt to root cause this? 👉 Break down latencies per server, pod, or region, this let's you see if one specific component is slow for a variety of different reasons. 👉 Analyze logs at p95 – Look at the slowest logs to identify patterns. Correlate with infrastructure metrics – Check CPU, memory, disk I/O, and network latency. New log patterns around the P95 spike are a very strong indicator of the source of an issue. 👉 Use distributed tracing – Tools are available like OpenTelemetry, Jaeger, or Edge Delta to show where time is being spent in a request. #observability #monitoring #devops #sre #metrics #logs #traces #otel

Our agency reviews hundreds of SaaS and technology websites every quarter as part of our benchmark studies (450 sites this quarter alone). And we often see the same problems negatively impacting demo requests, SQLs, and other conversions. If addressed, these would be QUICK WINS. I was on a site the other day, for example, and the CTA links on the pricing page were broken — sending people to the home page instead of the “Get Started” page. On another site, messaging about ROI was relegated to the bottom of the home page instead of the top. Yeah, we see a lot of low-hanging fruit for greater conversion rates. Many problems are relatively easy to spot even WITHOUT A/B testing by using what’s called “heuristic CRO”. We estimate that certain brands are losing out on millions of dollars annually as a result. So, what are some of the most common conversion killers? Let’s take a look: MESSAGING & COPY: ✅ Weak, unclear, or simply vague messaging ✅ Messaging that doesn’t speak to pain points ✅ Messaging that focuses on your solution instead of the user ✅ Lack of clarity as to whether the site visitor is the right audience ✅ Lack of deeper product/solution information ✅ Lack of audience segmentation ✅ Lack of real differentiation ✅ Lack of BOFU content ✅ Lack of FAQs CTAs: ✅ Vague CTAs ✅ Lack of CTAs ✅ CTAs placed only at the bottom of the page ✅ Text-based CTAs where there should be a button ✅ Lack of contextually-relevant microconversion events INTERACTIVE DEMO: ✅ Lack of an interactive demo (SaaS sites) SOCIAL PROOF: ✅ Lack of reviews ✅ Lack of client testimonials ✅ Lack of case studies. Or extremely weak presentation of them. DESIGN: ✅ Walls of text ✅ “Meh” design ✅ Cluttered design ✅ Lack of whitespace ✅ Requiring too many clicks ✅ Lack of images or illustrations of actual people ✅ Design that makes the company look outdated LANDING PAGES ✅ Lack of social proof ✅ Too many form fields ✅ No clear benefits listed ✅ Too many different CTAs instead of a singular focus on one main CTA If you’re a B2B SaaS or tech company and want Stratabeat to take a look at your site and provide you with a handful of quick CRO wins, just give me a shout. Happy to help. ------------------------------------------- Let’s Destroy Mediocre Marketing! 👋 Follow me (Tom Shapiro) for more B2B marketing content like this! #b2bmarketing #cro #conversionrateoptimization

Brain Boost Drop #15 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗗𝗼 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗦𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗹𝘆? – 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀 I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked, “Why is our site so slow?” Over the years, I’ve worked on debugging countless performance issues — and in most cases, it wasn’t just one thing slowing things down. It was a combination of small bottlenecks adding up. Here are 10 common reasons websites load slowly—plus simple fixes that make a huge difference. 1️⃣ Large or Unoptimized Media Files – Compress images, use WebP or next-gen formats. 2️⃣ Too Many HTTP Requests – Combine files, use CSS sprites, and reduce plugins. 3️⃣ Inefficient Code & Scripts – Minify, defer non-critical code, and eliminate unused scripts. 4️⃣ No Caching Strategy – Implement browser or server-side caching for frequently accessed assets. 5️⃣ No CDN in Place – Use a Content Delivery Network to reduce latency. 6️⃣ Slow Server Response Time – Optimize backend queries, upgrade hosting, and implement load balancing. 7️⃣ Unoptimized Third-Party Scripts – Load asynchronously or defer until after page load. 8️⃣ Not Mobile-Optimized – Use responsive design and test for mobile performance. 9️⃣ Render-Blocking Resources – Prioritize critical CSS/JS, defer the rest. 🔟 Too Many Redirects – Fix broken links and reduce unnecessary hops. These bottlenecks are easy to miss but powerful to fix. Even one or two changes can transform user experience and reduce bounce rates. 💬 What’s the most common performance issue you’ve encountered in your projects? #WebPerformance #FrontendDevelopment #WebsiteOptimization #DeveloperInsights