Bad
Hangover
India's favourite craft beer was a wild startup party. And then its excesses caught up.
Hardback
· ISBN 978-1-0668987-0-1
The first 500 copies will be signed by the author.
About the Book
Eleven years ago, Ankur Jain’s Bira burst onto the scene out of nowhere. Right out of the gate, it kicked off India’s craft beer revolution. It was the drink for a new generation of Indians, those looking to march to the beat of their own drums. Bira became a darling amongst drinkers and investors alike. Its goofy monkey captured the zeitgeist like nothing else had. It raised hundreds of millions of dollars, expanded to international markets, and for a while it looked like the party would never end. Except, it did when Jain’s passion turned into hubris. Bira crashed as quickly as it had risen.
Bad Hangover is a behind-the-scenes story of how India’s most-loved craft beer company came about and lost it all. It chronicles a decade of unchecked ambition, extravagance, relationships going south, and hustle culture taken too far. An avoidable, bitter collapse that offers lessons in startup culture and entrepreneurship. An Indian startup story told in a way you’ve never read before.
Chapters
- I. All in favour of Biru, say aye
- II. Let’s go to America. Already?
- III. "We are at the same place where Nike was in 1977"
- IV. Let me warn you, Icarus
- V. Bad founder
- VI. Boxed in, locked out
- VII. Send in the cavalry for The Beer Cafe
- VIII. All against Ankur Jain, say aye
About the Author
Harveen Ahluwalia is a chronicler of consumer businesses. She is the co-founder of The Morning Context and has spent a decade writing detailed, narrative stories about India’s consumer boom and the companies that have participated in it. She has covered Bira and its founder Ankur Jain’s rise and fall extensively, stories which have been published in The Morning Context and The Ken. She lives between India and Dubai, and is the Editor of The Morning Context’s Middle East edition.
Slowform Publishing House was born to solve a singular problem. Bring integrity and rigour to business books. The publishing house traces its roots to The Morning Context, the digital, news media company founded in 2019, which has become the daily reading ritual for thousands of paying subscribers across the world, from India, to the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The Morning Context has brought independent thinking, research and beautiful writing to business stories. Its books division will serve as a true record of Indian business history and in turn serve the best interests of the reader.
Business books are ripe for disruption. Several publishers have become very comfortable with printing hagiographies. This needs changing.
Every Slowform Publishing House book will be put together with patience and rigorously fact-checked. This is a deliberate choice. If you have a business book pitch that meets our ethos, pitch to us at ashish@mailtmc.com.
