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

by Mark Rampolla

Grabbing the low-hanging fruit is no longer acceptable. ZICO Coconut Water founder Mark Rampolla argues that when you choose to reach higher, you can build an incredible business, be profitable, and maybe even change the world .

In 2004, Mark Rampolla was successful by most standards. There was just one He wasn’t inspired in his job and believed he had something more to contribute to the world.

When he asked himself, "What do I have to offer that will improve the world?" Rampolla realized that his big idea was hanging right overhead. From his time living in Central America, he and his family came to love drinking coconut water, just like the locals. But no one was really selling coconut water in the United States.

So Rampolla chased a very ambitious introducing coconut water to the American beverage market dominated by a few big players. He wasn’t just starting a business; he was creating a whole new industry. ZICO Coconut Water brought a healthy beverage alternative to American consumers while also helping developing-world growers and suppliers profit from this resource.

It was a win-win-win—good for Rampolla, his customers, and the world. So good, in fact, that in 2013 the Coca-Cola Company purchased ZICO and is scaling the brand around the globe.

Rampolla wrote High-Hanging Fruit for others who want to succeed because of, not in spite of, their values. This book is for people who believe that it’s their duty to reach higher than just the bottom line to build businesses driven by passion, purpose, and integrity. Above all, it’s a call to arms for a new generation of entrepreneurs who want to disrupt the old model and do good by doing business. 

Genres: Business, Inspirational, Nonfiction, Biography, Entrepreneurship

230 pages, Hardcover

First published July 19, 2016

About the author

Mark Rampolla is a visionary entrepreneur, investor, writer, speaker, and coach, known for inspiring mission-driven leaders to build businesses that matter. As cofounder and comanaging partner of GroundForce Capital, he guides bold founders to scale companies with purpose and impact.

Previously, Mark founded ZICO Coconut Water, pioneering the multibillion-dollar coconut water category and selling the brand to The Coca-Cola Company—before famously buying it back.

Over his career, Mark has invested in more than one hundred companies, served on over twenty boards, raised more than $1 billion in capital, and created over $5 billion in enterprise value and tens of thousands of jobs. His influence has shaped industries, accelerated movements, and empowered a generation of conscious entrepreneurs.

A former Peace Corps volunteer, corporate executive, and author of High-Hanging Fruit, Mark is deeply passionate about helping entrepreneurs break free—from mental, emotional, financial, and societal constraints—to live and lead with true freedom.

Since losing his home in the 2025 Pacific Palisades fires, Mark has been wandering. But not every wanderer is lost.

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-told story on starting a business from scratch with great emphasis on building a product "bigger than yourself" rather than for the pot of gold at the end of the journey. Great insights on entrepreneurship, competition and the beverage industry.

[James Petzke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a good book, very well written and a great story. He approached entrepreneurship the opposite way I did (MBA/corporate world first, then raise tons of money, live off projections for a growing marketing, etc) but it was interesting for me to read a success story from those perspectives.

[Sergio Aguilar · Rating 3 out of 5]

High-Hanging Fruit is an interesting, inspiring and entertaining read about the journey to establish Zico coconut water brand. It is easy to read and very fluid as he talks about all the hurdles he encountered at that time. Mark could have gone more in-depth in certain aspects of the business that could have made the book more interesting. I would love to read more about coconut harvesting, financials behind the multiple deals he encountered or even talk about the social impact he lightly talks throughout the book. I felt it kind of light on the interesting parts of business books.

[Sam Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting insight into the challenges of starting and selling a start up business - particularly interesting is the importance of finding the right niche and audience for your product/service. Highlights the balance between fame/success/money vs. family/beliefs/motivation and holding correct intentions in your career. Totally recommend to all, particularly those working in start-up businesses, but also those in larger corporations as a valuable voyeur into the other end of the career spectrum. Enjoyed seeing the parallels between the start-up that I work for and this business.

[Aarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting and building a brand is no easy fret, but a CPG brand is is a behemoth of a task only few set out to do. This book was a great, fast paced read on the turmoils of running a business. Rampolla is a great story teller and there are tons of valuable lessons to be learned. I really liked how he talked about beyond business and more about the value of friends, family sustainability and health when staring any venture. Great read.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really quite good. Could have been longer and more in-depth. But it was succinct and well written. It followed like a smooth story... Even though an entrepreneur's journey, one is not. I could really relate to the author and felt his struggle in Journey overall. I'm happy for his success and what he's done for the coconut water industry which I love.

[Austin Archibald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great, it offers little applicable insight on how to grow a CPG brand, but it's still a somewhat interesting story of how a commodity with overhyped nutritional benefits scaled due to good timing. An addendum should be added now that the brand died in 2020.

[Judey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good walk through starting up and selling a company.
Tracks the company from first idea to it's eventual sale to Coke.

[John Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. I can't help but love me a successful entrepreneur story.

[Cici · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great message overall and enjoyed hearing about his journey as an entrepreneur. Wish there were so many spoilers early on, though.

[Jeannette Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started this book more than a year ago. I finally finished it during the current MY RMO Day 12. :D

[Lance McNeill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Authentic entrepreneurial tale

This authentic telling of the founding of Zico was a great read for me. I found it both inspiring and edifying for entrepreneurial minded people.

[Deborah Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Authentic story, but moved slow for me! The title is what caught me because in higher Ed we always say, “go for the low hanging fruit.”

[Janine Oberholzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

a nice story of someone who made his business successful. I like how much detail there is and to read all the problems and challenges, Mark was facing.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark recounts the story of Zico, one of the first health-conscious coconut water companies in the world. He quit his job just on the brink of a promotion to managing a billion-dollar division of his corporate company in Latin America. He found he was no longer fulfilled ‘climbing the corporate ladder’, and decided he wanted to make moves in areas of life that h felt passionately about. After much deliberation, he and his wife decided to create a coconut water product.

Mark tells of his story through Zico focusing a lot on the hardships that arose – keeping in mind that he was working with Latin American manufacturers for a US product, he was in one of the hardest industries for start-ups in the US, and the company was born just before the GFC. He details on his setbacks, harder moments and of course, the pivotal moments of the company until its eventual sale to Coca Cola Amatil.

All in all, I really enjoyed the book. It was another to add to the memoir/self-help style books that start-up CEO’s tend to write, however I do find myself falling prey to this category. I will say that it seems Mark glossed over a lot, and was either very lucky in some parts or omitting information (like for example, the first manufacturer he found for the company was a Brazilian eco-friendly company, that paid its staff fair wages, had the right contacts and was re-planting a forest due to their industrial damage. He found this company on a time-crunch and was the first one he visited.)
Nonetheless, it was a good story, well-written and an easy read. Not to mention, paved the way for future coconut water businesses to become such a prominent product within the beverage industry today.

[James Aschehoug · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is truly an inspiring book showing, in this day and age, how we can create a start-up with deeper meaning and higher values. Mark Rampolla, the founder of Zico, gives a fascinating insight into his personal journey to create a successful and disruptive beverage brand, taking us through the high and lows of his venture. This book is a real call to action to other entrepreneurs to create start-ups that matter. At URIJI JAMI this is something we have been trying to do for the last two years, so I was pleased to read that people could be successful with such an approach and to feel part of a movement to combine the power of entrepreneurship with personal convictions.