Biz consultant Ed Martin — a fighter for the free market, sound science and the real “corporate soul”

At the OpenMarket, most of our writing is about law and policy. But ultimately, it’s people that make the “open market” work. When market rules are put in place that allow maximum freedom and protect individual liberties such as property rights, it’s the individual innovators who can better society with their writings, inventions, and methods of selling. And people ultimately complete the circle when they push for and create the policies that make possible a dynamic, innovative culture of commerce.

So this post, and many more I will write, is going to focus on an individual making a positive difference. I’d like to introduce OpenMarket readers to business consultant Ed Martin, and to congratulate Ed on the opening of his new firm, Triple Win International. Martin is one of those unique individuals on the forefront of both market innovation and rational public policy change.

The firm’s motto on the Triple Win homepage says it all: “Where Wall Street Meets Mother Theresa and Both End Up Richer For the Experience.” Martin has worked for both the business world in marketing management positions at Coca-Cola, Citigroup and Ford, and in the public health field setting up anti-malaria programs in countries such as Uganda. Triple Win will combine both of these pursuits.

But Martin is different from many corporate guys and gals turned do-gooders. He will have no part in the apologetic posturing in much of corporate philanthropy and the mealy-mouthed buzzwords of business consulting such as “sustainability.” As he explains on his web site, his “model is NOT traditional Corporate Social Responsibility where a company gives to a charity in the hopes that it will elevate their brand image and ultimately purchase and advocacy.” Rather, he looks to the business world to provide the model of doing good. “The TWI model is built to deliver hard ROI metrics where the value is clear and obvious for all parties involved,” he explains.

Martin also is not bound by the “politically correct” solutions to public health problems. The anti-malaria efforts he organzed rely on the most effective insecticide, DDT. He doesn’t flinch from touting DDT’s virtues. Same goes for the virtues and social good of mobility produced by the automobiles made by the companies he has marketed for.

Martin has developed a vast network of important players in business and public health. And he is spreading the word about the free market and sound science to many different audiences. I met him at the Forbes Conference on Marketing in Las Vegas last March. He gave a presentation at CEI when he was in town a few months later. And I and the other Open Marketeers congratulate him on his new venture and wish the very best for Triple Win International.