The Groundbreaker

"We don't do that in this country," my professor said. I told him that I didn't cheat ... I found the test easy. The next time he gave a test, he stood directly behind me the entire time. When I scored even better on this one, the professor summoned me to his office again and said, 'If you're cheating, you're very good at it.' Rather than get upset by his insult, I enjoyed knowing I had done well on the test. It was not my problem if the professor did not believe his own eyes." On a freezing cold night in 1967, Kanwal Rekhi arrived at the Michigan Tech campus as a student. He was part of the first wave of Indian emigres, known as the $8 Men, a moniker stemming from India's effort to stem the loss of brainpower from the country by allowing those who were leaving to take only $8 of currency. In the decades that followed, Rekhi went on to create history in the global technology and entrepreneurship space. Dubbed the "Godfather of the Silicon Valley's Indian Mafia" by Fortune magazine, Rekhi rubbed shoulders with luminaries such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Larry Ellison on his meteoric ascent in the tech industry. He went on to advise Presidents and Prime Ministers on culture-shifting policies, and is perhaps best known for his work inspiring and launching the careers of thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs, many of whom have become millionaires and even billionaires. In The Groundbreaker, Rekhi shares a firsthand account of what it meant to be an American at the dawn of the digital age, what it means to be an American now amid massive change and uncertainty, and why democracy is crucial to the role entrepreneurs play in moving the world toward a better tomorrow. More than a memoir, this book is a call to action-for dreamers, doers, and those brave enough to bet on themselves. With lessons on resilience, leadership, innovation, and purpose, it's at once a deeply personal story of overcoming adversity and an urgent rallying cry for the next generation of changemakers.