The company's weapon of choice — high-speed bandwidth — has enabled it to oust mammoth Internet service provider PSINet as the Northern Virginia Technology Council's ISP of choice.

The secret to the success of PatriotNet, Patriot Computer's Internet division, is twofold, says company president and CEO Bob de Lorenzi. First, he says, with only 11 employees the company can provide personalized customer service. Second, Patriot's technical facilities are located near AboveNet, its tier-one service provider.

"We are extremely lucky to be in the same building with AboveNet," de Lorenzi says. "Their 18.2 gigabit Internet backbone is right next door, and that means our service can be incredibly fast."

Because of AboveNet's extensive backup system, PatriotNet can assure customers that its service won't go down during a power outage. PatriotNet also is able to offer high-speed digital subscriber line connections to small and medium-sized businesses and residential users.

"Out intention," explains de Lorenzi, "is to capture 15 percent of the DSL market in the Washington/Baltimore corridor," which, he projects, should produce revenues of about $16 million within three years.

Patriot Computer Group got its start five years ago when de Lorenzi, a former stockbroker, and fellow computer consultants Bruce Long and Hawley Hansen formed a company specializing in tech training for universities and corporations. The company has since gone through several incarnations before focusing on its Internet service division. "PatriotNet has earned more money for us than any of our other divisions combined," chuckles de Lorenzi, adding that revenues are currently running at $500,000 per year.

Patriot plans a direct public offering next spring and an initial public offering within the next two years. Beyond that, de Lorenzi says, "I'd like to have a successful company that I can run at 60, but the reality is that someone might buy us out. ... I hope not, because then what would I do for fun?"

— Ann Whitham