It Makes Sense
Our clients are founders and experts with something to say. We help them work out what exactly, and where to say it.
itmakessense.co ↗Media and strategic communications since 2010
I help founders and experts explain what they do, and I’m teaching AI to help them with it.
- 01Co-founderIt Makes Sense↗
- 02Co-founderKF Agency↗
(01) About
I find meaning and structure in complicated material and turn it into stories, media products and strategies that people actually understand.
0+
years in media, content and communications
0
newsrooms, teams and companies
0
companies co-founded
0
media project sold: Epic Hero, 2011
I have led newsrooms and communications teams, launched media products from scratch and relaunched existing ones.
These days I spend most of my time on AI in content work: how it helps experts keep their knowledge in order and speak in public in their own voice.
Business Administration and Management · Saratov State Technical University · 2002–2007
(02) Now
Two companies and a product
Sense Engine
A personal AI advisor for experts: it remembers what you’ve already said and suggests what’s worth saying next.
- Context
- Structure
- Ideas
KF Agency
A boutique agency I co-founded with Ilya Klishin. Most of our work is brand media, from strategy to a working editorial team.
- 01Strategy
- 02Content marketing
- 03Communication management
- 04Education
- 05Audit
AltaLab Online Sprint
Completed the startup sprint by AltaIR Capital: customer discovery, go-to-market and fundraising.
Credential ↗- Positioning
- Communication strategy
- Public presence for founders and experts
- Launching media products
- AI in content workflows
(03) Selected achievements
Fifteen years in six episodes
012011
Sold my first media project
Epic Hero, which I co-founded with Ilya Klishin, was acquired by OPENSPACE.RU. Its brand and team moved into the new youth media W-O-S, where I became managing editor.
Source · OPENSPACE.RU, 2011 ↗022013
Exposed traffic buying in Russian media
In late 2013, after Hopes&Fears, where I was deputy editor-in-chief, I used Similarweb data to show how outlets inflate their audiences with bought grey traffic. I called it the cancer of Russian media, and TJournal picked up the analysis.
Source · TJournal, 16.12.2013 ↗032014 — 2016
Multimedia longreads and special projects
I ran special projects at Slon and was chief editor of Digital Bureau, the agency behind special projects for Slon, TV Rain and Bolshoi Gorod. A Saint Petersburg State University study of longreads quotes me as an expert on multimedia storytelling.
Source · SPbU, 2017 ↗042016 — 2018
Two flagship newsrooms
I headed the Digital News Desk Russia in the relaunched RTVI team and then served as deputy editor-in-chief of Republic.
Source · The Insider, 2016 ↗052019
Launched Tsekh from scratch
As editor-in-chief I launched Tsekh, a media about education and self-development for adults from the founder of Mel. A team of eleven tested the concept on social platforms and beat the targets of its development model within months.
Source · Roem.ru, 22.10.2019 ↗062018 — now
Brand media for multimillion audiences
With KF Agency we relaunched Cian Journal, built the launch strategy for M.Video’s M.Click, consulted Food.ru on launching its brand media and ran JUNG’s communications in Central Asia.
Source · kf.agency ↗(04) Path
From newsroom to startup
2002
Education
Saratov State Technical University
Business Administration and Management, 2002–2007
2010
Editor, Financial and Economic Information
RBC
Moscow
2010
Co-founder
Epic Hero
A personal media project bought by OPENSPACE.RU in 2011
2011
Managing Editor
W-O-S
Youth media of OPENSPACE.RU
2013
Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Hopes&Fears
Look At Media
2014
Content Project Manager
Progression
Content strategy
2014
Special Projects Managing Editor
Slon
Multimedia longreads and brand special projects
2016
Chief of Digital News Desk Russia
RTVI
Moscow
2017
Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Republic
Moscow
2018
2019
Editor-in-Chief
Tsekh
Education and self-development for adults
2020
Head of Communications
Yandex Practicum
Management Program
2026
2002
2026
(05) Clients
On working with KF Agency
01 / 03
The team at KF Agency has not only successfully managed our communications in Central Asia but also continually proposes and implements innovative tools and solutions. I would like to specifically commend their bold approach to brand media, which is pioneering for the region.
Ilya and Roman have been instrumental in assisting with our content strategy and distribution of M.Click brand media. If you need a team that understands the workings of media and how to create professional editorials, they are an excellent choice.
I appreciate collaborating with KF Agency not only for their professionalism and superior quality of work but also for their remarkable flexibility and adaptability to unforeseen situations. As a startup, their ability to creatively deviate from the conventional approaches is critically important to us.
(06) Writing
Numbers that mislead
Mostly about AI and media, and often about metrics everyone trusts too much: bought traffic, fake open rates, benchmarks.
- 01Claude gives you 5x more usage than ChatGPT (well, almost)LinkedIn · 6 min↗
- 02They’ll Replace Us, and We Couldn’t Be Happier. Why Dumb Normies Just Won’t Love AILinkedIn · 4 min↗
- 03Agent Civilizations Boldly Go Where No Model Has Gone BeforeLinkedIn · 7 min↗
- 04Slop Should Be VisibleLinkedIn · 4 min↗
- 05What Benchmarks Stopped Telling UsLinkedIn · 3 min↗
- 06Figures of Silence: Fake Open Rate Levels in Email MarketingLinkedIn · 3 min↗
- 07Рак русских медиа. Закупка трафикаMedium · 4 min↗
(07) Contact
Let’s make sense.Write if you have a project and aren’t sure yet how to talk about it.