When investors try to waste Brett O’Brien’s time, venture capitalist Tim Spicer is there to chase them away.

But when O’Brien needs help finding the right investors, Spicer is there to help.

O’Brien is the CEO of X:drive Inc., a hot Santa Monica-based company that provides subscribers with virtual hard drive space via the Internet. Spicer is a managing partner at eCompanies Venture Group, the investment wing of the successful Internet incubator, also located in Santa Monica.

Together, they say they’ve formed a partnership that benefits both companies and will likely lead to an initial public offering.

“The process was painless,” O’Brien said about hooking up with eCompanies. “You hear a lot of war stories about venture capitalists. Our experience has been nothing but positive.”

It helps that O’Brien is in a position to be turning people away. Launched last July, X:drive already has received $27.5 million in venture capital money. O’Brien says his firm now has more than a million subscribers and is signing up 15,000 new members every day.

That gives the company a powerful base for advertisers. In the free Internet hard-drive market, X:drive dominates.

And it doesn’t hurt that Howard Stern does on-air commercials during his popular radio show.

So when O’Brien was preparing for his B-round funding, he went looking for a venture capital firm that could work with him to eventually take the company public.

“There was more money being offered to us than we were willing to take so we had to narrow it down,” said O’Brien. “One of the biggest concerns was getting people involved who could help grow the business.”

X:drive already had David Bohnett, founder of GeoCities on its board, to help build a customer base. But the company also needed someone who could help take it to the next level financially.

“They position themselves as venture catalysts rather than venture capitalists.” O’Brien said of eCompanies. “They bring their contacts, in-house resources and portfolio companies to the table.”

The players first met in O’Brien’s old office in Santa Monica, where he had started a public relations firm, Murphy O’Brien Inc. before launching X:drive there.

“I listened to Brett’s pitch and the thing I liked was his focus,” said Spicer. “He wasn’t trying to become all things to all people, and that resonated with me as a good value.”

Spicer then spent time talking with O’Brien and Bohnett about the company’s potential.

“Bohnett’s an experienced entrepreneur and I liked that he was on the board,” said Spicer, who previously ran Vixel Corp., a Seattle-based company specializing in computer hardware storage. Additionally, Spicer said O’Brien was very open to advice, an important quality if Spicer was going to lead the investment round and sit on X:drive’s board.

But what may have clinched the deal for Spicer was meeting with O’Brien’s employees. “I was very impressed by their dedication and youth,” Spicer said. “They’re devoted to (O’Brien). He’s a great leader in that respect.”

There often can be tension between venture capitalists and the companies they invest in, especially when the company is an Internet startup where employees wear shorts and offices are unfinished warehouses.

But Spicer said eCompanies and X:drive were completely compatible in that respect.

“Being an Internet-focused portfolio company, this feels like a startup,” Spicer said of his eCompanies office. “The look and feel of X:drive is not different from the look and feel of this place.”

Every week, Spicer meets with seven CEOs at firms where he sits on the board. At X:drive, he is the finance guy, and his connections and knowledge allow the company to move forward without experimenting.

“Since we’re on such a fast track, I wanted to surround myself with the best and brightest who will enable us to be more successful,” said O’Brien.

The company is currently looking for bridge financing before its planned IPO. Spicer has introduced O’Brien to people at Goldman Sachs which has also invested in X:drive while keeping away investors who won’t benefit the company.

If the company goes public, Spicer is likely to take a back seat. Two of the other companies he has invested in have gone public and his role at those firms has decreased.

“The venture capitalists are involved to the point that we take the company public,” said O’Brien. “At the end of the day, they’re looking to make a profit.”