By MARIAN ACCARDI
Times Business Writer
Brad Spearing can laugh now about
the early days of his business when canned tuna fish was a delicacy.
But at a time, living off the family's
savings while launching Ternion Corp. was a scary venture. His
wife, Gena was pregnant with the couple's fourth child, and the
wife of another founder, Mike Cash, was pregnant with twins.
"We went for around seven months
without a penny of revenue," Spearing recalls. "Some
of the people said we were less than prudent in our decision to
start the business."
"It was definitely difficult."
Spearing, Cash and a third founder,
whom Spearing and Cash bought out about five years ago, had worked
together for more than two years on numerous military computer-simulation
projects.
"We believed we could develop
something that could dramatically improve the quality of military
simulation," Spearing said.
Most government computer simulation
is developed from scratch under contract, Spearing said. "We
felt the simulation market needed to rely more heavily on commercial
products from companies who specialize in that instead of building
them from scratch."
The motivation for starting the business
went beyond "building a better mousetrap," Spearing
said.
"We saw this as an natural extension
of our Christian faith," Spearing said. "Two things
drew us to do this - the desire to work in an environment where
(customers and employees) were treated the way we want to be treated.
We also wanted an environment where we felt we were unfettered
and could be the best we could be," both professionally and
personally.
The three founders didn't want the
pressure of working 70 or 80 hours a week - or of asking employees
to do the same - so no one would have to sacrifice their family
and home lives.
"We're husbands and fathers
first," Spearing said. "We work to take care of our
families." |
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When
the three men left their jobs, they were not 100 percent sure
they really wanted to start the business, Spearing said.
"We met every day and, within
a few days, we had worked out the details of the business."
Spearing said. "By the end of the month, we had incorporated."
Though no clients had been lined
up, some of their business connections eventually led to contracts,
Spearing said.
"As soon as we got our first
computer we started developing our product," called FLAMES
(FLexible Analysis and Mission Effectiveness System), actually
a family of individual simulation products. "Our first proposal
was written on a computer in (Cash's) living room."
After starting in the spring of 1989,
the founders didn't have their first sale until the fall of 1991.
In the meantime, they helped with software verification and validation
work and other projects to pay the bills and feed their growing
families.
Now, the company, which marks its 10th
anniversary this week, is focused on its software products, and
any contract work is related to its own products. Customers include
government and commercial clients worldwide.
The company is privately owned, and
all stockholders are full-time Ternion employees.
That's just the way Spearing
wants to keep it.
"Usually outside investors are
involved for a different reason than why we're in business,"
he said.
Of the company's four goals, being
profitable is last on the list. "My view of success is not
making a lot of money," he said as he points out his wife's
framed cross-stitching on the wall that reads: "A good name
is more desired than great riches."
"Going public or relying on
venture capital is something we've never been interested in,"
Spearing said. "We've had outside offers, but we've refused
them."
Still, Spearing looks for his company
to grow.
"Our theory is that our government
and governments around the world would, for purely economic reasons,
be forced to rely more heavily on commercial software for simulations
than they do now. It's tremendously expensive to maintain and
develop computer simulations used by the military."
"Our thought is that, as they
turn to the increased use of commercially available software,
they'll be looking for a product like ours." |
