Entrepreneurs in the War Zone
It’s a typical morning at Camp Anaconda, the giant US military base 50 miles north of Baghdad – light breeze, temperatures heading to 100 degrees, scattered mortar fire. Ryan Lackey is getting ready for today’s assignment: installing a pair of satellite Internet connections at Camp Warhorse about 30 miles away.
Lackey, 26, is founder and CTO of Blue Iraq, a war zone startup that has operated out of Anaconda since December. It’s a bootstrap operation – three employees, tent accommodations, Army chow – that has been profitable from its first day. “The military’s a great market,” he says. “They have lots of money, and they know what they want.” His customers are mostly base commanders and DOD contractors, plus the occasional group of soldiers who chip in to get Internet access.