The Groundbreaker: Entrepreneurship, the American Dream, and The Rise of Modern India; with Foreword by Congressman Ro Khanna, Available Now
NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, February 24, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Kanwal Rekhi is one of Silicon Valley’s most influential – and least conventional – pioneers: the first Indian-American founder to take a company public on a US stock exchange, a co-architect of India’s technological rise on the global stage, and an ambitious visionary who paved the way for the Indian tech CEO’s that now run Google, Microsoft and many more.
In his new book Groundbreaker: Entrepreneurship, the American Dream, and the Rise of Modern India (Diversion Books; 2/24/26), Rekhi recounts his humble rise from a house in India with no running water to becoming the “undisputed Godfather of the Silicon Valley’s Indian Mafia,” as dubbed by Fortune Magazine. Arriving as an engineering student in the tumultuous 1960s, Rekhi worked his way through defense and technology companies in the 70s before founding his startup, Excelan, in the 80s. It was there that he commercialized ethernet – which became the foundation of the Internet – before interacting with luminaries named Jobs, Gates, and Ellison on his rise through tech. After being acquired by Novell, Rekhi became the number two executive and the number two software company in the world. He went on to advise presidents and prime ministers on culture-shifting policies and is perhaps best known for his work mentoring and launching the careers of over 10,000 aspiring entrepreneurs, many of whom have become millionaires and even billionaires.
In the book Rekhi also explores how competition and alliances might evolve in the future between America and India; and why the cooperation of the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy is crucial to the continued balance of global power.
Rekhi’s legacy extends far beyond his own success. As the president of TiE (The IndUS Entrepreneur), he helped co-found and build the world’s largest mentoring network for Indian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and jump-started India’s startup ecosystem years before it became a global force. He has mentored politicians (U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna and Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee, to name a few) and his philanthropy has reshaped business education and entrepreneurship programs across India and the U.S. Kanwal has been a part of 200 early-stage teams, including Exodus Communications (IPO), which trafficked half of America’s internet usage at it’s peak; Poshmark (IPO), redBus (acq. Ibibo Group), Sierra Atlantic (Hitachi), and NetMagic (NTT).
Today, Kanwal is regarded as a foundational figure in global tech, a champion of immigrant ingenuity, and a truth-telling advocate for entrepreneurship as society’s most powerful engine of progress. A partner at InventUS venture capital fund and Silicon Valley Quad (SVQ), Rekhi is also a prolific writer with a substantial LinkedIn following. Kanwal is also featured in the book Indian Genius released by Harper Collins in 2024, and in the forthcoming documentary Breaking the Code, based on his life, which will launch in mid-2026. He is based in Los Gatos, California.
A spring tour featuring Rekhi speaking to audiences in cities across the U.S. is currently underway, with events in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta among others. More information on his appearances can be found on his LinkedIn.
The Groundbreaker: Entrepreneurship, the American Dream, and the Rise of Modern India, tells the story of a man whose life mirrors the rise of modern India, and helps to explain the sudden rise of Indian Americans was actually not so sudden, but a long, hard-earned journey filled with sacrifices, hardships, hope and belief. Available now anywhere books are sold.
Lauren Cobello
Leverage with Media PR
+ +1 315-591-2176
lauren@leveragewithmedia.com
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