About Rod D. Martin
Praise for Rod D. Martin
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Politics & Economics
Technology & Markets
Faith & CultureRod D. Martin, founder and CEO of The Martin Organization, is a technology entrepreneur, futurist, hedge fund manager, thought leader and activist from Destin, Florida.
Fox Business News calls him a “tech guru,” Britain’s Guardian describes him as a “philosopher-capitalist,” while Gawker once labeled him “another of [PayPal founder] Peter Thiel’s brilliant nonconformists.” He has addressed audiences on four continents, has written extensively for publications such as Forbes, Human Events, Inc. Magazine, Fortune, Affluent Investor and FoxNews.com, and is a member of Stratfor‘s Board of Contributors.
An investor, director or officer in numerous ventures, focusing in the Internet, biotech, aerospace and energy sectors, Mr. Martin is especially noted for his role as a member of the pre-IPO startup team at Silicon Valley legend PayPal — the so-called “PayPal Mafia” — where he served as a senior advisor to founder and CEO Peter Thiel. Launched during the worst of the dot-com bust by a team whose average age was just 23, PayPal amassed more than 25 million customers in just over two years, drove giant competitors such as Western Union, AOL and Citibank out of its market, and conducted the first successful post-bust tech IPO.
Mr. Martin helped lead the takeover and turnaround of Galectin Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GALT), where in addition to serving as managing member of the company’s largest institutional shareholder he has also served in a variety of capacities including Chairman of the Compensation Committee and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. GALT’s lead candidate drug, which has successfully reversed liver and kidney fibrosis in preclinical studies, is now in human clinical trials and has received Fast Track designation from the FDA. The company also has a psoriasis treatment in Phase II trials, and is developing a drug which promises to greatly enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy agents while nearly eliminating their side-effects.
Among other ventures, Mr. Martin is Founder and CEO of Martin Imaging, which seeks to bring state of the art diagnostics to millions of patients who currently lack them; a Founder and Executive Chairman of Advanced Search Laboratories, which is developing an entire new generation of internet search tools; and a Founder of 10X Capital Management and of Agincourt Ventures.
Mr. Martin has been recognized as one of America’s leading experts on the conjunction of technology and politics. He formerly served as Policy Director to Governor Mike Huckabee and as an aide to senior Congressional leader John Paul Hammerschmidt. He is a member of the Board of Governors and Gold Circle of the elite Council for National Policy, and a three-time past president of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies, where he currently serves as National Advisory Board Chairman. In 2014 he was named Distinguished Visiting Professor of History, Government and Entrepreneurship at Hannibal-LaGrange University, a highly ranked private liberal arts college.
Mr. Martin was a Sturgis Fellow at the University of Arkansas, studied political and economic thought at Cambridge University in Great Britain, and is an award-winning civil rights scholar. He was elected student body president at Baylor Law School, where he was also named “Outstanding Oral Advocate.” He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution (General Joseph Martin Chapter, named for his fifth great grandfather), is deeply involved in charitable work aimed at alleviating global poverty, and has raised significant sums for scholarships for disadvantaged children.
Mr. Martin serves on the boards of several charitable and educational institutions, including The Martin Foundation, the Institute for Advanced Biotechnology, the Board of Trustees of Criswell College, previously the Board of Regents at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Board of Governors at Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY), and most recently the Florida Baptist Convention State Board of Missions and (as Chairman) the Committee on Order of Business of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination.
He is married to Sherri, proud father of Dolly, Archer and Haley, and grandfather of Annabelle and Beatrice.
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Rod D. Martin is a technology entrepreneur, venture capitalist, hedge fund manager, author and conservative activist from Destin, Florida.
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Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.
Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.
Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.
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