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Who We Are

Ambition. IQ. Heart.

We’re Building the Best Network of Digital Talent.

Our name honors the spirit of exploration.

Those who set sail, uncertain of the final destination. Those who took the risk when they could have stayed ashore.

This innovative spirit is what’s required to navigate the ever-changing tide of digital marketing.

Change strengthens you because it presents new opportunities. Winning in digital businesses requires a bold vision… and bold moves.

Meet Our Team

3S Partners

We are entrepreneurs with deep experience building digitally driven businesses.

Three Ships is a collection of businesses, each of which is led by a CEO and management team who all have a significant ownership stake in the business they work on.

The Three Ships Partner team serves each business leader with the goal of accelerating their business’ success.

Zach Clayton

Founder & CEO

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Billy Gerhard

Chief Technology Officer

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John Clayton

Chief Growth Officer

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Walker Fuller

Chief Financial Officer

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Spotlight On 3S Partner Team

Mary Hahn

Principal

As a Strategy Principal at Three Ships, Mary provides strategic financial leadership across new ventures and the existing portfolio. With a deep background in corporate and business unit strategy, financial planning, and innovation, Mary plays a key role in shaping growth initiatives from concept to execution.

She joined Three Ships from Pairwise — a Durham-based AgTech startup that uses gene editing to accelerate innovation in agriculture — where she led Strategy & Finance. Before that, Mary spent several years in Deloitte Consulting’s strategy practice designing organic growth strategies primarily for clients in the travel, hospitality, and food industries.

Mary has a BA in English and Government from The University of Texas at Austin where she was captain of the swimming and diving team, and an MBA from Duke University. She lives in Raleigh, NC with her husband and two wild children.

Craig Amasya

VP of Strategy

Craig Amasya is Vice President of Strategy at Three Ships, where he partners with portfolio companies to drive growth. He works with teams scaling demand channels and building data and technology products that improve monetization. With experience owning customer acquisition P&Ls and leading deep analysis, Craig helps teams set strategy and execute with focus.

Before Three Ships, Craig grew consumer marketplaces in deregulated energy and broadband at Red Ventures. He managed call centers, optimized websites for conversion, and launched brand partnerships to control the full acquisition funnel in-house.

Craig graduated from UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, where he competed internationally in case competitions and helped plan the financing for Steven D. Bell Hall. He lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife, daughter, dog, and cat.

Molly O’Connor

President of 3S Community Impact

As President of 3S Community Impact, Molly is designing and operating a community impact arm of Three Ships that models the discipline, focus, and rigor of our high-growth businesses.

Molly was previously a Managing Director at Three Ships and led the Home Team from 2017-2020. During this time, she helped usher in our performance-based business model in the home services and auto verticals. Prior to Three Ships, Molly was a global corporate attorney at the Raleigh office of K&L Gates and the New York City office of Milbank. She holds both her undergraduate and law degrees from Georgetown University.

Molly is passionate about our local community. She was a former board member and served as Vice President and Secretary of Preservation Durham, Durham’s non-profit historic preservation society. She was the recipient of the Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Publico Award for supporting low-income micro-entrepreneurs and non-profit organizations.

Peter Kerr

VP of Corporate Development

Peter is a dynamic leader with a passion for driving growth and innovation at Three Ships. As VP of Corporate Development, Peter thrives on venturing outside the building to identify and capitalize on external growth opportunities that create value for our portfolio companies.

During his tenure at Three Ships, Peter has been instrumental in building and scaling our tuck-in M&A program, acquiring over 15 websites and other digital assets since joining the firm. He has also played a pivotal role in developing strategic partnerships with several major media companies that have helped fuel our growth trajectory across the portfolio.

After receiving his MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, Peter amassed a wealth of experience in business development and strategy across the technology, marketing and legal industries. Prior to Three Ships, he served as a Director on the business development team at Vericast, where he spearheaded numerous data and product partnerships for their industry-leading MarTech platform and supported other M&A efforts across the business.

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Our History

October 2009
Three Ships is founded as a digital marketing agency at the nadir of the Great Recession.
January 2013
We launch our first product, Navigator, a software platform to win organic search.
April 2014
We invest in our first joint venture with Lavalier to build the country’s leading jewelry insurer.
December 2015
We purchase a new 25,000 square foot “port” on Oberlin Road in Raleigh.
March 2016
We spin out Navigator product into independent software company, Demand Signals.
October 2016
TRANZACT acquires Demand Signals to spearhead its digital transformation.
January 2017
Lavalier is acquired by publicly traded insurance company WR Berkley.
August 2017
We launch Home Solutions to make home services experiences better for everyone.
September 2017
We launch Mattress Advisor, a review website for DTC mattresses.
May 2020
Our mattress and sleep properties combine to form Pillar4.
January 2021
We launch 3S Health focused on aging and longevity. After extraordinary growth, it merges into Pillar4.
July 2022
We launch Stacksphere to help CTOs and businesses navigate business, SaaS, and software solutions.
September 2023
We launch Guardian Service to help homeowners protect and maintain their homes.
July 2024
We acquire Home Energy Club to help Texans compare electricity plans, avoid bill surprises, and save on energy costs.
April 2025
Guardian Service launches its insurance agency for home, auto, and umbrella policies.

Our Foundations

What We Do

We drive revenue growth through digital customer acquisition.

Our Strategy

Why We Do It

We help leaders build high-growth, healthy businesses.

Our Purpose

How We Win

We create deeply researched strategies, build high-performing leadership teams, and launch new products and capabilities.

Our Value Drivers