Episode 5 - Mark Rampolla

In 2004 Mark Rampolla lived a cush life in Latin America with his beautiful family, 

where he had a very high-paying corporate position… he was successful by most any standard, But he had this increasing desire to start his own company and make a difference. So he left corporate security and the big paycheck to create Zico coconut water which he later partnered with Jesse Itzler to sell to Coca-Cola.  And everyone lived happily ever after.

But, there’s a massive journey between having what you think is a really good idea, and then selling it to someone else for boatloads of money.

In our interview, Mark talks super candidly about his book.

High-Hanging Fruit: Build Something Great by Going Where No One Else Will,

The book describes his journey to reach higher than just the bottom line to build a business-driven by, passion, purpose, and integrity.

For 20 years Mark had wanted to write a book, so initially, there were only 3 goals on his radar when he started to write:

First, he wanted to write the book himself. He didn’t want to use a ghostwriter.

He pulls the curtain way back on this and reveals much of his process.

Second, he wanted to write it as a legacy book for his future grandkids, that would capture the wild 9-year journey.

And lastly,  he wanted to write an honest, unvarnished book for all The entrepreneurs of every sort who frequently ask him what it’s like, to start, grow, and sell a company. 
Mark shares quite vulnerably how the reflection process embedded in writing the book revealed some very significant things to him—like how his fear of failure robbed him of many things he could have appreciated along the way.

He talks about how The book gave him more credibility in his industry as a founding partner of Powerplant Ventures, a plant-centric venture fund.

And he tells us what his non-negotiable were… when it came to navigating work and family balance in the midst of a crazy start-up.

So sit back and relax You’re going to love Mark!