From...

June 7, 1999
Web posted at: 10:28 a.m. EDT (1428 GMT)

by Jason K. Krause

(IDG) -- Silicon Valley CEOs may act tough, flying jet fighters and sailing in regattas, but they'll never have anything on Clarence Briggs, a former combat infantry commander who has led men into battle. Briggs now heads up Web-hosting business Advanced Internet Technologies in Fayetteville, N.C. To hear him talk, it's all the same.

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"War, business, business, war – what's the difference? In both you've got competing belligerents, a state of conflict and competition over resources," muses Briggs. "Only the stakes are higher in war. Death is not the same as bankruptcy. You can recover from Chapter 11."

Briggs' hard-edged toughness might be just the right ingredient for the Web-hosting business, which requires tight security and quick thinking in the face of the Internet's rapid change. Today, AIT claims to host 50,000 domain names and adds as many as 3,000 monthly, which makes it one of the fastest-growing hosting operations in the world. It recently became one of a handful of companies to take on the challenge of domain-name registration, heretofore a monopoly held by Network Solutions (NSOL).

Briggs gives much credit to the military for AIT's success. Started in 1996 by a group of former Army buddies in Fayetteville, home of Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, AIT was able to exploit the high-bandwidth connections of the Fayetteville bases. A number of the company's first big contracts were with Army-related sites, like the Military Relocation Information Network. But the coup came from the local military talent pool. The military has provided 80 percent of AIT's staff.

"If we need a programmer, I just go down to engineering or the signals division," says Briggs. "For marketing people, I go to the psychological operations division. There's a finance battalion where all the accountants work. And then, for just about any other job you might have, go to the infantry barracks – those guys are trained to handle anything."

For years, the military has promoted itself as a way to get schooled in high tech and go on to make a career of it. If it needs poster children, the staff of AIT may be just the thing. All the top management are former military people who served in Operation Desert Storm. At 38, Briggs is the old man of the group, which is mostly comprised of twentysomethings. The dress code is decidedly unmilitary – jeans and T-shirts are standard issue at the office.

But the guys at AIT have hardly gone soft since retiring from active duty. While the company is far removed from its well-funded Silicon Valley competitors, Briggs just finished reconnaissance in Silicon Valley, and was "not very impressed" with the security his Web-hosting competitors offered. As for its location, AIT's office is homely when compared to the well-manicured campuses and office parks that house its California competitors. But it is secure.

For its operations center, AIT commandeered a bunkerlike building made out of 8-inch reinforced concrete, now protected by multiple alarm systems and armed guards. And, since top management and a number of employees have security clearance from the U.S. government, they've already passed stringent background checks.

While AIT is privately held and doesn't release financial results, it claims to have a 25 percent profit margin after taxes. The company plans to go public sometime after 2000, though Briggs is reticent to give up control. "We're in talks with investment bankers and VCs, though I'd like to stay away from the VCs," he says. "I think for some, that's an exit strategy. We're in this for the long haul. I've seen too many competitors looking to get bought out and rolled up. That only leads to apathy."

Briggs seems to have a good angle on recruiting hot talent – and he's surprised that so far he's had the field to himself. "I don't know why no one else is really tapping the talent pool here," he says. "Show me a job in the civilian world where a college graduate is responsible for the lives of 40 people, millions of dollars of equipment, planning and implementing operations, and has to execute in life or death situations. It's not a big stretch to turn that military experience into success in a civilian career."