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Mark Haertzen is a native of Lexington, Kentucky and a graduate of the University of Kentucky. During his 60-year entrepreneurial journey, Haertzen conceived more than fifty businesses, inventions, concepts, and charitable endeavors, some of which ended well and others that didn’t.
They include a drive-thru coffee shop, marketing service, real estate brokerage firm, residential subdivision, technology company, appliance manufacturer, line of cocktail mixes, board game, and a chain of self-storage facilities. Rocket Man, Inc. was his most significant venture and Stay Thirsty is his most recent endeavor.
When Haertzen 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.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
Stay Thirsty by Mark Haertzen, with Mike E. Brown, is a self-help business memoir that explores Haertzen's series of ventures, using each one to determine what can produce a dependable income and what isn't going to work. From his early attempts at selling small goods to greater efforts in banking, real estate, and product development, he changes direction whenever the results fail. A drive-through coffee business attracts customers yet collapses under financial pressure, while a later venture, Rocket Man, involves selling beverages at large events through mobile vendors and becomes the first model to generate consistent returns after multiple redesigns. As responsibilities increase and financial exposure grows, he continues to base his decisions on performance in real conditions, creating a method where his success depends on sustained results over time.
Mark Haertzen’s Stay Thirsty links its title to his beverage company while also pointing to a way of thinking that keeps an entrepreneur moving forward with purpose. This book matters right now because it addresses directly what business owners are facing, from rising insurance costs to contract terms that change liability, along with disruptions like COVID that shut revenue down overnight. Haertzen lays out what it takes to respond, showing how to adjust operations and rethink where and how a business runs. The writing is practical, giving readers ways to reduce costs when the pressure builds and use data to decide when a division no longer makes sense. His experience comes through in how he handles ownership changes, capital decisions, and long-term management. This is a useful guide for entrepreneurs running service or multi-location businesses who need direction related to sound financial choices.
