About Rod D. Martin
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Entrepreneurs are people who don’t accept the world as it is but imagine the world as it could be.
by David L Veksler
May 30, 2018
“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” – Peter Drucker
Why do we find stories of entrepreneurs inspiring?
Entrepreneurs are people who don’t accept the world as it is but imagine the world as it could be and make life more pleasant, one improvement at a time. Some of the products they create profoundly change our lives—such as the flush toilet or the airplane—while others improve them little by little in small ways, such as a stool cushion from the founder of Airbnb for sitting through art critiques. Each entrepreneur solves the problems familiar to him or her using their unique perspective and the resources available to them. The sum of their work has profoundly transformed our lives for the better.
Starting a business is courageous. In the film The Founder, McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc is shown standing in front of the dirt lot which will become his first McDonald’s restaurant. Ray kneels down and scoops up a handful of dirt. “Please work this time,” he whispers. He has a string of failures behind him and has mortgaged his house to finance his dream of a new kind of fast food restaurant because no bank would take a chance on him.
This moment really symbolizes the courageous nature of entrepreneurship. No one, including the founder himself, knows whether a business idea will work until that idea is tried in reality. Until all the resources that make a business work are assembled on that dirt lot and put into motion, no formula, no genius, nothing in the universe can know whether the idea will turn a profit.
A business is an emergent phenomenon, and a million different variables must come together to determine whether it succeeds or fails. The only way to test the idea is to try it in practice.
Each business success story is different. Not everyone ends up as successful as Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, or Oprah Winfrey. What founders have in common is their persistence in the face of skepticism and apathy, their drive to succeed, their vision of a unique value proposition that only they can contribute.
Whether your definition of success is creating a billion-dollar company or a running a thriving small business from your home, we hope the stories in our Essential Guide to Entrepreneurship will inspire you to take the next step.
— Why Stories of Entrepreneurship Are So Inspiring originally appeared at FEE.org.
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.
