Building startups

You are not short on effort.

You are short on signal.

The usual cycle is dashboards, debates, and interviews that start at zero.

Roadmaps wobble. Messaging stalls. Confidence dips.

There is a calmer way. Start with what your market already says in public.

Turn open-web signals into patterns you can brief the team with.

Pair that with a simple monthly view of how competitors and language shift so decisions stop feeling like a guess.

That’s where I come in.

I run TrendLoom’s Market Radar, a high-touch insight system that gives Seed–Series A teams a continuous, structured read on customers, category, and competitors.

It uses only ethical, public data and an academically grounded framework that combines statistics, ML, and LLMs.

Interviews are not replaced. They are sharpened so you walk in with better hypotheses and leave with decisions you can defend.

I have advised 100+ founders on GTM, messaging, and discovery, and built Zaqlick from my Kellogg-WHU EMBA research into AI-assisted personas. I treat AI as an engine inside a method, not a magic trick.

I help with

• Open-web signals turned into clear patterns
• Competitive intelligence that tracks what changed vs last month
• Product discovery that starts deeper, not from zero
• Messaging that uses real customer language
• Decision protection for roadmap and GTM

Results

• Teams align faster because debates shift from opinions to signals
• Interviews get sharper, messaging tightens, and weak bets are dropped
• Leaders report a steadier sense of “what’s happening now” month to month

There are a few ways to work together:

Start with a 15-minute Signal Check. Bring one question. I will tell you if strong signals exist, what they suggest, and the next best move. If you want deeper support, we roll into Market Radar.

DM me the word “SIGNAL” to see if you are a fit and which path makes sense.

Elena Tsemirava

Ex-VC of early stage startups. Then founded FounderProject, a venture fund run by students investing in student startups. 

The problem? The fund didn’t materialize as I’d hoped, and that hit hard. 

Yet, amidst the disappointment there was real impact. Hundreds of startups took flight, thousands of startup jobs were created, and the VC world took notice.

It became clear to me: while the right funding matters, the right talent can make or break a startup. That insight led me to create StackedSP, a talent firm for venture backed startups.

Fast forward a decade, StackedSP has helped founders and their startups hire thousands - from founding employees, to leaders. Today, those startups are industry leaders and have raised billions from top investors.

But it's not just about the hires. I actively invest in tech startups, and am a limited partner in venture funds. And, building community is crucial. 

Enter Unstacked Startups – a hub for startup founders and talent. There's a podcast, live events, and a newsletter called FounderMail.

My mission? Empower founders, and startups to build a better future.

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Elena Tsemirava

Ilan Saks

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