{"product_id":"stay-thirsty-a-serial-entrepreneurs-tale-of-success-failure-9781938462832","title":"Stay Thirsty: A Serial Entrepreneur's Tale of Success \u0026 Failure","description":"The business section of any bookstore is full of biographies that celebrate celebrity billionaires and superstar CEOs. While such stories can be motivational, they tend to gloss over the gritty details and therefore are not all that relatable or useful to the everyday businessperson. Mark Haertzen's memoir is different. Think of Mark as the serial entrepreneur next door - an ordinary guy who, by most standards, achieved extraordinary success - which is what makes his story so interesting, relevant, and practical.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eStay Thirsty chronicles Mark's 60-year entrepreneurial journey, which began at the age of 6, with refreshing honesty and humility. His most significant venture, Rocket Man, serves as the primary case study for his thoughts and reflections. He covers the company's 31-year lifecycle in vivid, sometimes painful detail - from a startup launched with a prototype he built in his garage to a global manufacturer and exporter of beverage dispensing equipment with sales in 65 countries. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMark then recounts the company's bold, strategic pivot to become a leading provider of walking vendors for the stadium foodservice industry, hawking beer and other drinks at 75 venues from Delaware to California- including appearances at the NCAA Final Four, World Series and multiple Super Bowls, and Kentucky Derbies.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFew memoirs give such a raw, unfiltered account of the risks and struggles involved in building businesses and the impact they have on one's life and family. Mark describes not only his biggest wins, but also the gut-wrenching failures and insecurities he overcame to achieve them in a decades-long transformation from an impulsive and instinct-driven \"born\" entrepreneur into a logical, data-driven business leader. He also explores the important role mentors and partners played in his accomplishments, reinforcing his belief that entrepreneurship is a team sport. Full of instructive insights, Stay Thirsty is both a celebration of entrepreneurial ambition and a call to accept the risk, take the plunge, and write your own story. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHaertzen, Mark:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Mark Haertzen is a serial entrepreneur and adventurer. He invented online banking, Kindle and Bluetooth and was the first to map the human genome. Mark speaks 27 languages fluently. The Pope called him the second most interesting man in the world. None of this is true, but the stories in this book are. Mark is a native of Lexington, Kentucky and a graduate of the University of Kentucky. Stay Thirsty is his first book. When he isn't writing or working on his next business venture, he enjoys playing poker, boating, and sitting on the beach. Mark lives with his wife, Debbie, in LaGrange, Kentucky. They have two grown sons and a granddaughter.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBrown, Mike E.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Mike E. Brown (a.k.a. Browny) has had a wildly diverse career, but writing has always been at the center of it. He's hauled in more than 80 ADDYs, a few PRINT Regional Design Annual nods, and one deeply satisfying Best of Show for work that has spanned headlines, campaigns, and creative strategy. He climbed the agency ranks from copywriter to Executive Creative Director, leading teams and shaping brands across industries and state lines.Then, at the peak of his career, he quite literally axed it all. Mike co-founded Flying Axes, a chain of axe-throwing venues that for years hit one bullseye after another. Eventually-post-pandemic-their edge wore off, but Mike's never did. These days, he's back behind the keyboard, co-writing memoirs like Through the Whiskey Glass (with Rabbit Hole founder Kaveh Zamanian) and Stay Thirsty (with Rocket Man founder Mark Haertzen). Neither book has hit shelves yet, but both are set to make a buzz-just like the entrepreneurs they chronicle.","brand":"Old Stone Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52160329646354,"sku":"9781938462832","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8e38ce96-2bed-4ca9-9e1d-b4d82a722aa2.jpg?v=1775053380","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/stay-thirsty-a-serial-entrepreneurs-tale-of-success-failure-9781938462832","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}