Book by Rohan Kumar

A Real Life Unicorn

DED ICA TION

For my family

ACKNOWLE I would like to acknowledge my family for helping me create this book as well as all the people at Freestyle that helped me to grow and work through my struggles in order to create this book.

Thank you for your effort and time in helping me.

DGEMENTS

table of contents

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Preface Introduction Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Conclusion Works Cited About the Author

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Preface While making this book, I learned a lot about the exhaustive creative process that goes into a profile. It was a great opportunity for me to learn more about what it’s like to really profile someone as well as what it means to capture someone and their creations within a book.

I really enjoyed the experience, and value the preparation it’s given me for future projects in which I might have to use Indesign, profile someone, or create a book. My main goal when creating this book was to highlight the absurdity of Silicon Valley tech startups, and how a company can go from zero a billion dollars in just a few years, something completely unique to the area that is unheard of anywhere else. I also tried to showcase the success of an immigrant, showcasing the the high diversity within Silicon Valley.

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introduction 10

Silicon Valley The Silicon Valley is one of the most unforgiving places in the world. Any small mistake can set off a chain of bad events, and the competitive culture runs all the way through to the local elementary schools. However, it is also the place to go if you have an idea and want to make something of it, specifically in the tech sector.

Facebook, Apple, Google, all emerged and took off from the area, and anyone hoping for the same fate knows where they have to go.

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CHAPTER ONE 12

Rajiv Khemani sits at the poker table, surrounded

by friends, laughing and joking. There is a hint of aggressiveness in the conversations, as each player tries to pick up on any sort of cue that could indicate a bluff or a strong hand. However, Khemani plays with an assertive confidence, a fluidity that can only come from a willingness to risk it all and bet big. Slowly, players begin to fold until it’s just Khemani and another left. He goes all-in. The other player throws in his hand, folding as well. Khemani happily takes the pot, adding to his already massive stack of chips. His hand? A high seven. In other words, complete garbage. Clearly, this is no ordinary poker player.

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Rajiv Khemani is an immigrant, hailing from the populous nation that is India.

Every year, millions of Indians try to move to America, fighting for opportunities to create a better life for themselves. It is intrinsically a risky endeavor, as it entails leaving one’s entire life behind in search for more. As a result, the bold are the ones who survive and thrive in the new land, fully embracing the ideals of the American dream.

The Silicon Valley, known as the heart of the tech world, is located in a mostly unassuming part of California’s central coast. However, it is home to the world’s largest companies, with Google, Facebook, and Apple all having staked their claim in the area. While these companies continue to grow and develop across the entire world, new companies hoping to be the next big thing pop up frequently. Success is far and few between, but when a company takes off, the valley propels its growth and allows it to reach unparalleled heights.

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This is the case of Innovium, an elementary-school aged company that’s already been sold for over a billion dollars, reaching the mythical “unicorn” status, the ultimate goal of any startup. The path was arduous and long, but Rajiv Khemani, one of Innovium’s founders, is not one to shy away from adversity.

Graduating from the Indian Institute of Technology, a famous engineering school, Khemani decided he wanted more. America is seen as the best country in the world for post-secondary education. After setting his eyes on the Bay Area, Stanford University in particular, he was able to come to America for an education, and made the most of it. Picking up an MBA from Stanford, and an MS in Computer Science from NYU, he felt he was finally ready to conquer the world.

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CHAPTER TWO 18

After breaking into the tech sector, Khemani began to work at Cavium, a small-scale software company. After helping the company achieve IPO status, a goal of many companies across the country, he realized he was quite good at what he did. After that, he joined Intel, one of the largest tech companies in the world, creating microprocessors and supplying some of the largest companies in the world with CPUs. Khemani describes this time as “essential” -, shaping his entire leadership strategy and those ideals, showing just how much he valued his time at these companies.

Looking at Khemani’s body of work, it is quickly obvious that he has a unique motor and drive that motivates him to go where others have never gone before. His work ethic is unparalleled, but it all stems from an immigrant mentality that always keeps him going. “Coming from India, nothing was guaranteed. We had no close family to fall back on,” Khemani says. This sentiment rings true for many immigrants, including another IIT graduate who came to America for postgraduate education, Sanjay Kumar. “It’s really unique, the way that we all had this ideal in our minds that America is the place to be and the place to go to succeed. Once we finally made it here, that mentality doesn’t go away,” Kumar explains. After making it to the “promised land,” the journey doesn’t end. The large immigrant population in the Bay Area reflects this, as so many large tech companies have large immigrant populations within their workforce.

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“

Nothing was guaranteed,

-Khemani

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CHAPTER THREE 24

After working at a plethora of tech companies, Khemani was still not sated. He felt that there was more he could do, so he took it to its logical conclusion: founding a company. And thus, Innovium was born. Khemani and two other founders set out to to fill a hole in the market that was previously left wide open; they created a variety of network-switching solutions for large-scale ethernet devices, and customers began knocking at their door. The customers in question were some of the biggest companies in the Bay Area, all seeking streamlined ways to improve their workflow and ability to deliver to their own respective clients. Khemani reflects, “we knew we had something [big] on our hands when we started going through our first rounds of funding,” as they quickly began to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from some of the largest investors in the world, Bay Area venture capital firms.

Patents were another essential part of their success. They were able to create over a hundred of them, gaining more and more market share with each patent. It was quickly realized they may have created a unicorn company. A unicorn company, referred to as simply a unicorn, is any sort of startup that reaches a valuation over a billion dollars without being listed on any sort of stock market or undergoing an IPO. The term was coined by Aileen Lee in 2013, and is named after the mythical creature for its extreme rarity, occurring as frequently as unicorn sightings. A company becoming a unicorn is the absolute dream of any sort of startup, and can be considered the ultimate goal. If Innovium were to reach that milestone, it would be the first ever network silicon unicorn company.

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“

“We knew we had something big on our hands,

-Khemani

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Becoming a Unicorn Finally, Innovium reached their goal. They hit a valuation of over a billion dollars. achieving their lofty goal and claiming one of the rarest feats in the world. This was huge for them, as it truly solidified their company as one of the strongest in its industry and one with the most potential for growth. However, with customers piling up and supply chains being limited, they made the decision to sell the company. They sold Innovium to Marvell, a semiconductor company that is a big player within the industry. They felt this decision should ensure growth for the company for years to come.

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CONCLUSION

conclusion 30

For Khemani, this is only the beginning. After Innovium’s sale, the company continues to grow and occupy more and more of the market share, gaining more customers as it goes along. The new sale has enabled the company to serve more customers with a healthy amount of money behind it combined with access to far more resources and more effective manufacturing processes.

Khemani hopes to continue to help the company emerge, wanting to take it as far as he can, forever chasing the next big milestone with Innovium. Innovium truly reflects the absurd culture of Silicon Valley, hitting 1 billion dollars before some children learn how to read. The company highlights the insanity of how competitive the area really is, but also the unlimited potential of a good idea if executed properly. However, Khemani also represents the struggle and ultimate success of an immigrant who truly subscribed to the American dream and was able to reach unimaginable heights in this country.

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works cited “Marvell to Acquire Innovium - Accelerates Cloud Growth with Expanded Ethernet Switching Portfolio.” Marvell - Newsroom, 20 Dec. 2021, https:// www.marvell.com/company/newsroom/marvell-to-acquire-innovium-accelerates-cloud-growth-with-expanded-ethernet-switching-portfolio.html.

Miller, Ron, and Alex Wilhelm. “Marvell Nabs Innovium for $1.1B as It Delves Deeper into Cloud Ethernet Switches.” TechCrunch, TechCrunch, 3 Aug. 2021, https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/03/marvell-nabs-innovium-for-1-1b-asit-delves-deeper-into-cloud-ethernet-switches/.

Morgan, Timothy Prickett, and John Holobinko says: “Marvell Adds Hyperscale Ethernet with Innovium Acquisition.” The Next Platform, 12 Aug. 2021, https://www.nextplatform.com/2021/08/04/marvell-adds-hyperscale-ethernet-with-innovium-acquisition/.

Khemani, Rajiv. Personal Interview. 14 April 2022.

Kumar, Sanjay. Personal Interview. 16 April 2022.

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CONCLUSION

about the author 34

Rohan Kumar is a 17 year old junior who attends Mountain View High School and studies Design at Freestyle Academy.

He enjoys competing on the school’s wrestling team, and also enjoys singing in the Mountain View High School Choir and participating in other activites like Model UN and speech and debate. He has a great interest in music, listening to a variety of genres as well.

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