Ambiguity is not an option. For any company that seriously intends to harness the power of the marketplace to crack society’s biggest challenges, authenticity—the capacity to do what you say you’ll do—is a core, non-negotiable attribute. And that presents a problem.

Over the past year, the brand called capitalism has sunk to unfathomable lows. There’s near universal disgust over the bank and insurance industry bailouts; gnawing fear over the accelerating global recession; outrage over all those Ponzi-scheming fraudsters; and a sickening sense that too many bankers and financiers are still driven by unquenchable greed. Earlier this [...]