About Rod D. Martin
Praise for Rod D. Martin
Book Rod to Speak
Politics & Economics
Technology & Markets
Faith & Culture
by Sonja Carberry
Investor’s Business Daily
March 24, 2015, 01:43 PM ET
Medical leaps benefit from a business push. How the disciplines work hand in hand to bring breakthroughs to light:
• Stay curious. “It is only by immersing yourself in a field in a very deep way that you can spot opportunities,” said Gil Amelio.
The former Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO also led National Semiconductor in the early 1990s and holds 17 patents.
In the 1970s, he co-invented the charge-coupled device technology that’s used in scanners, digital cameras and the Hubble Space Telescope.
He’s now delving into the pharmaceutical sector as a board member of Galectin Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GALT).
“I like to be involved with companies that make important contributions,” Amelio told IBD.
• Aim high. Galectin is taking on a type of cirrhosis called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a disease that affect as many as 15 million Americans, including kids.
James Czirr, Galectin executive chairman, calls NASH a silent killer: “The disease is asymptomatic until it manifests itself as fibrosis.”
That fibrosis causes damage that has been remedied only through liver transplants, which at a rate of 6,300 a year merely scratch the surface of patients in need of a treatment or cure. “We have the potential for a drug that deals with a phenomenally dangerous and deadly disease,” Amelio said.
• Stick with it. Galectin’s researchers used an innocuous source material — apple peels — to derive a carbohydrate drug that has shown promise in phase one trials. The firm, founded in 2000, and public as of 2012, is now entering the clinical trial phase with the medication.
“We’ve been walking in faith for a long time here,” said Czirr, who previously worked with a developer of anti-cancer drugs.
• Build bench strength. Galectin’s 11-member board is a balance of medical and corporate expertise. Peter Traber, the CEO, is a gastroenterologist and president emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine, where he was CEO until 2008.
PayPal alum Rod Martin joined Galectin’s board in 2009. He’d served as senior adviser to PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel through the payment giant’s startup, IPO and acquisition by eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY).
“We have an incredibly good team of people,” Amelio said.
• Spread the word. While scientific advances occupy center stage, people are who shine the light.
“Every time I’ve started a company and made it prosper, the road to success has been opened and guided by prior relationships,” said Eugene Anton, CEO of NuVascular Technologies. He was mentoring budding entrepreneurs when he was introduced to the scientists behind NuVascular Technologies.
“The people there were researchers, so they didn’t really have the experience to bring their technology to market,” he said.
Their nanotechnology-enabled devices, developed over 10 years with funding from the National Institutes of Health, fight arterial, heart and kidney diseases.
• Engage. Anton enjoys making connections. While flying home for business once, he offered the center armrest to the young man sitting next to him.
“It turned out that his father and uncle are higher-ups in the Indian government and in the medical field,” Anton said. “The man’s uncle runs some hospitals that could use our medical devices.”
Stay open to serendipity.
“Many people don’t realize that the key to their next success could be sitting next to them,” Anton said. “The point is that being open and curious about what other people are up to can create and enrich opportunities for success.”
— Editor’s Note: this story originally appeared in the print and online editions of Investor’s Business Daily.
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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