2024 - NOW
Northstar Commerce
Founder of a B2B commerce platform helping independent brands make wholesale operations dramatically simpler.
Building with intent
Alex Mercer / 2026
Founder / Operator / Builder
Ideas become ventures.
Ventures become momentum.
I build early-stage companies where sharp customer insight, disciplined experimentation and ambitious teams meet. My work lives between the first hypothesis and the first undeniable signal.
AMfield notes
founder portfolio
founder portfolio
01 / Founder thesis
Build what deserves to exist.
I am Alex Mercer, a startup founder focused on turning overlooked problems into focused products. I lead from the customer backwards: validate the pain, simplify the product, build the smallest useful system, then earn the right to scale.
0ventures launched
0experiments shipped
0markets entered
0customer interviews
02 / Operating principles
“The advantage is rarely the idea. It is the speed and clarity with which a team learns.”
01 - Customer first
Stay close enough to the problem that assumptions become conversations, not spreadsheets.
02 - Small bets
Turn uncertainty into cheap experiments and let evidence decide where to invest attention.
03 - Durable teams
Hire for ownership, communicate context, and build an environment where candor compounds.
Core capabilities
Product strategy
From problem framing to roadmap, positioning and launch loops.
Fundraising
Story, narrative, investor conversations and milestone-driven capital planning.
Go-to-market
Find the wedge, test channels and create repeatable customer acquisition.
Team building
Design roles, operating rhythms and decision systems for ambitious teams.
03 / Venture ledger
Selected company chapters.
Founder / CEO
2022 - 24
Signal Pantry
Built a consumer insights product that transformed fragmented purchase data into practical growth decisions.
2020 - 22
Common Thread
Early product studio exploring tools for small teams, with three experiments reaching paying customers.
04 / Milestones
Signals that changed the map.
First 100 customers
Reached product-market signal through founder-led discovery and a tightly scoped launch.
Seed round closed
Built an investor narrative around evidence, customer pull and a disciplined use-of-capital plan.
New market unlocked
Adapted positioning and onboarding to enter a second market without losing product focus.
Team from 3 to 18
Created the hiring principles and operating cadence that let the team scale without adding noise.
05 / Contact
Have a problem worth building?
I am open to conversations with founders, operators, investors and thoughtful collaborators working on ambitious problems.
✉ alex@venturevellum.example
☎ +1 646 555 0129
◐ New York, NY