In 1985, his parents received visas to emigrate from India to the United States because they won a lottery for visas held by the government of India. The family settled in San Jose, California. According to the biography on Mr. Chahal’s website, he and his family arrived in the United States with only $25.

In spite of the premium placed on his schooling by his parents, Chahal left high school at 16 to start an Internet advertising company. Two years later, he sold the venture for 40 million dollars. His second entrepreneurial venture, BlueLithium, was also an Internet advertising business that improved ROI for clients using sophisticated behavioral targeting. Yahoo purchased that business from Gurbaksh Chahal for $300 million in cash, which a single fellow can live comfortably on.

In the Oprah appearance, Chahal shared his belief that there is always more than one path to success for those driven to attain it. Normally, I would be a little skeptical of a guy writing a business memoir at age 26, but Chahal tells an inspiring story.

His new non-fiction account of his Horatio Alger story is entitled The Dream. According to his website (http:www.cahal.com), the book was released on October 23rd, 2008. It is available on Amazon.

When Gurbaksh sold his first company, he made his priority taking care of his parents and family. He paid off the mortgage and made certain his family was financially secure. He gives credit to his family for keeping him on track and instilling in him the discipline to achieve remarkable things.

He also indulged a little by purchasing the dream car that he had desired since boyhood–a Lamborghini. (I’ll have to settle for renting an Audi R8 until I can sell my business for a few million.)

(Photo credit for Audi R8 image to Fort Worth photographer and web developer Josh Davis.)

The media is filled with attacks on business people. In films and on television, capitalists are mostly portrayed as being like Monty Burns, yellow, greedy and conniving. The world has its share of Montys and Bernard Madoffs, but it also has its share of Chahal Gurbakshs.

For the owners of small businesses who want to build businesses, reading The Dream is a great idea. Another way to grow a small business in a down economy is by joining an industry specific business mentoring group.

Entrepreneur and small business consultant Ron Sturgeon, a.k.a. Mr. Mission Possible, attributes much of his business success to membership in such a group.

“I was very successful in growing a business that was ultimately purchased by Ford because I belonged to a peer mentoring group for my industry.” The group met twice a year and shared best practices and innovations that allowed owner-members to lead the industry.

“Customers are going to be harder to come by. Joining an industry specific business peer mentoring group is one path to make your business prosper, even in tougher times,” said Mr. Sturgeon.

Over the next several months, the Fort Worth, TX-based business mentor and keynote speaker will be organizing groups to bring together owners of non-competitive small businesses in the same industry to share best practices and business building strategies.

To learn more about joining a mentoring groups for entrepreneurs in your industry, visit http://www.mrmissionpossible.com.

This post written by SEO web writer Eric Anderson. See Eric’s portfolio of web writing at http://www.pdqwebcopywriting.com.