Karan Bilimoria owes at least part of his fortune to polo sticks. A talented polo player (he was a Cambridge blue, as well as a keen scuba diver), his first idea for a business was to sell pukha polo sticks to Harrods. The money he made from that helped him start Cobra.
Not that Karan had seemed to be destined for life as a business-man. Urbane, fastidious and academically brilliant, he won a place at Hyderabad University at 15, then studied accountancy in Britain. Realising a life of figures wasn't likely to hold his attention, he opted for a law degree at Cambridge, funding it through auditing accounts. It was then that his big idea began to take shape.
Pining for the sort of homely Indian cooking he was used to, he ate out regularly and noticed that there was a lamentable lack of a beer that suited Indian cuisine. A combination of spicy food and conventional gassy beer meant diners felt bloated quickly, finishing neither their food nor drink. Karan felt sure there was a market for a less gassy beer. 'I even had the taste in my mouth,' he recalls.
He was sure his concept would be a winner. His family were not. They felt he should stick to a profession. So did Mysore Breweries, the biggest Indian brewery, when he contacted them with his eureka idea, no track record and no funding. 'When I arrived, the whole management team were there and most of them laughed in my face, he recalls. They told Karan how their competitors had also wanted t< export Indian beer to Britain and most had come a cropper. 'I did'nt stand a chance, according to them,' Karan recalls. 'I told them the all their competitors had lacked one thing - me. I told them I believe in myself, in the product and that I would make it happen. If you have faith in your idea and abilities, then you gain self-belief.'
