r00tshell.com

He sits with his employees in a cubicle instead of the corner office. He lets them play Foosball or pingpong at work whenever they'd like. He wears a hoodie and jeans to work.

Then again, he's only 23.

Brader is chief executive at HostRocket.com Inc., a Web-hosting business started with John Reyes, a fellow 1999 Shenendehowa High School graduate who serves as chief technology officer. Since its founding five years ago, HostRocket has serviced more than 50,000 Web sites internationally.

The soft-spoken Brader was studying business and computer science at the University at Albany when he co-founded the business. He left college to focus on HostRocket.

"The business required full-time attention," he said. "We were growing at a tremendous rate and the business was becoming very successful."

Brader and Reyes faced challenges at the start. The business demanded their attention 24 hours a day, especially with customer support, and it was difficult to be a two-man show.

Brader said the business was funded initially with his sister's credit card.

In August 2001, HostRocket moved into its current data center at 21 Corporate Drive, in Capital Region Business Park off Route 9, so all the servers could be under one roof. The second-floor suite is lined with shelves of servers and fans circulating air to keep the machines cool. A Foosball table is near the entrance, and a pingpong table is toward the back of the office for employees' entertainment.

Today, there are 24 employees, all but one under age 26. The young staff mostly works part time doing technological support or administrative work in three shifts. Brader spends most of his time making marketing and directional decisions for HostRocket.

"To be a successful employer, I think you have to recognize that this is not reality, entrust the people you hired to tend the business, and let them feel as a part of the family," said Brader, who can be seen tooling around in a dark-silver Hummer H2 with the "1MPG" vanity plate.

HostRocket's marketing effort has been driven primarily by banner online advertising. Brader also has received a fair amount of business by participating in online Web-hosting discussion forums.

He declined to release revenue, other than to say the company does "several million a year in sales."

Next month, will be wearing a new hat as owner of a Quiznos Sub store on North Pearl Street in Albany. The transition from Web space to sandwiches doesn't seem to shake Brader's confidence. "It's good not to have every single egg in one basket," he said. "Even if the basket's doing well."

He still will remain hands-on in the promotion of HostRocket, which strives to uphold its reputation as offering many Web-hosting features at an affordable price. Brader said his long-term goal is to keep improving customer service and server uptime.

Area businessmen in the Web industry are taking note of HostRocket and its young CEO.

"Web hosting is a very competitive business," said Kevin O'Connor, chief executive of Tech Valley Communications, an Albany-based telecommunications provider. "He's built a very nice business there."

O'Connor, who doesn't know Brader personally, commended him for taking the risk in the sandwich shop, which is quite different from Web hosting.

HostRocket serves as the corporate sponsor for the Shenendehowa High School Robotics Team, also known as The Rocketeers. Brader and Reyes have donated more than $20,000 to the team in the past couple years, and also serve as mentors for students. Both were active on the team during high school.

Paul Kane, the team's adviser, said he got a surprise visit one afternoon from Brader and Reyes, who handed him a check to support The Rocketeers. "I thought they were kidding," he said.

The Shenendehowa teacher said he found it gratifying to see his former students give back to the school. "It's a great feeling to have your kids do well and try to pay back some of that time and effort that you put into them," Kane said.