Who we are
Serious work. Good company.
Founded in 2006 and based in Duluth, Minnesota, with the same promise we've made since day one: real people, creative solutions, and measurable results.
We're a team, and that word matters to us. When you hire Set Sail Media you get the whole crew, not a salesperson who hands you off once the contract's signed.
Our people have spent decades building for Fortune 500 companies, global associations, non-profits feeding entire regions, political campaigns, scrappy startups, and the local pizza place or antique store. Big-league discipline, small-shop attention.
The founder
Patrick Moore
Founder & Lead Developer
Patrick got his first computer at ten, an Apple IIe from a church rummage sale, and taught himself to program the year after, winning first prize at the 1996 Minnesota Inventor's Fair for a kids' software program he wrote. He made the jump from software to the web in 2000 and hasn't looked back. Today he hand-codes interactive, database-driven sites that serve hundreds of thousands of visitors a month, fusing deep technical chops with a designer's eye. He founded Set Sail Media and runs it from Duluth, working with clients everywhere.
- 1996First prize, MN Inventor's Fair
- 2000From software to the web
- 2006Founded Set Sail Media
- 2009Built FirstMate CRM
The engineer
Eric Stauber
Software Engineer
Eric started on Windows 3.1 and 5-inch floppies, dialing into Gopher on his dad's work laptop. He founded his first company, WebFire, out of a school study hall with Patrick Moore, then rebuilt it as 3rd Degree in 2001 with Patrick and another friend, writing CGI/Perl systems and shipping software long before it was easy. Today Eric is building his own machines, modding hardware, and testing the bounds of home automation. He architected and oversees a decade-long GIS and data platform that reshaped how an entire organization operates. He primarily works in PHP, Laravel, Python, JavaScript, and MySQL.
He studied at Lake Superior College, completing the professional pilot program and earning his private pilot's license and a spot on the dean's list. Everything else has been self-directed: he learned the machine from the inside out, taught himself 3D modeling in Bryce and 3D Studio Max as a teenager, and spent three pandemic years working through the Adobe Creative Suite, machine learning, drone flight, and color grading. He lives in Duluth.
Fast response time, great ideas, and the ability to explain technical topics to colleagues and clients in a very effective, easy to understand manner. Fun, creative, great to collaborate with, and works well with all levels of management.
Jennifer Brand · Brand Solutions Group
Milestones
Founded
Set Sail Media opens for business and ships its first client sites.
First product
We build FirstMate, our own CRM, and run the whole company on it.
Coast to coast
From 3M to food banks, campaigns to cafes.
Full sail ahead
Same values, the newest tools, sailing from Duluth.
Next step
Ready to hire our crew?
If we sound like the kind of team you want steering your project, tell us what you're building and let's talk.