By Perla Ni
When K.B. Chandrasekhar found himself in Silicon Valley less than a decade ago, he had no job, no car and not even a driver’s license—significant obstacles for job interviews. And he spoke with a strong Indian accent.

What Chandrasekhar did have, though, was determination and moxie. Now, the Indian-born entrepreneur heads up Exodus Communications, which manages Internet Web sites and infrastructure for ebay, hotmail and Yahoo, among others. Last year, it grossed nearly $53 million.

Speaking before some 200 people at the IndUS Entrepreneurs Association’s annual banquet last month, the 38 year old Chandrasekhar described the challenges he faced in founding his company, a pioneer among Internet data centers.

“Every hit [could] mean dollars for our customers,” said Chandrasekhar, whose strategy has been powerfully simple: Promise customers that they’ll “never miss a hit.”

In November, Exodus hosted MSNBC’s “Decision ‘98” Web site, which chad the ability to support five million hits. But making his own company a hit wasn’t easy, especially for someone like Chandrasekhar. Born and raised in Chennai (Madras), India, he holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the other MIT—Madras Institute of Technology. After immigrating to the United States in 1990, he joined dozens of others with big dreams with big companies, but as an unfamiliar face to high-tech insiders, raising funds proved daunting.

“You did not go to school in the U.S., you have no background in the U.S. ... you have to work doubly hard to get where you are,” he said.

Beyond that, Exodus’ pure service business model was foreign to Silicon Valley, much of which operated on a tech-based business model. And, said Chandrasekhar, “We wanted to build a business ... not to sell it before the business saw the light of day.”

Exodus did not secure its first-round financing of $3 million until two years after being founded, and the firm flirted with bankruptcy four times in its first six months. It survived, said Chandrasekhar, largely due to dedicated employees who stuck it out despite some bounced paychecks. Thus his No. 1 piece of advice to would-be entrepreneurs: “Make sure you are surrounded by good people.”

Problems getting money, he said, should be seen as an opportunity more than a liability. “Never be afraid of lack of finances- that is what drives others to you,” he said, noting that the rewards can be great. One early investor in Exodus, he said, has found that “one investment of $20,000 set him up for three generations.”

Chandrasekhar conceded, too, that “luck matters, and you need lots of it.” In fact, his timing was perfect: His firm’s emergence dovetailed with that of Netscape, whose browser spawned the Internet revolution. Soon afterward, businesses began coming to Exodus asking for their help to host and maintain their Web sites. Said Chandrasekhar: “When people come to you, and you aren’t selling, you’re onto something.”

With earnings three times that of 1997, Exodus went public last year, raising $70 million in its initial public offering. Since then, its stock has risen from $15 per share to more than $84 per share.

With plenty of Web-hosting competitors online, Exodus has stayed ahead of the pack by building in multiple paths to guarantee that a user can successfully click into a site, including multiple fiber-optic tracks and backup power and security measures.

Chandrasekhar, a Bay Area resident, lives with his wife and three children. Outside of Exodus, he enjoys spending his time with his family, traveling and playing tennis— and he is also mentoring four entrepreneurs in the hope that they, too, will find similar success. For Chandrasekhar, “it’s not about charity. It’s about betting on the right horse.”