Mörtel may be gone, but his tactical brilliance (and love for controversy) lives on in every match we play.

Let’s face it: people don’t like middlemen. When was the last time you heard someone say, “Let’s bring in a middleman?” Yet almost every day you hear someone trying to cut out the middleman. The word also comes up in illicit contexts (hush money, arms deals, etc.)

But I’m here to tell you that this middlemen-are-bad attitude is a big mistake; if you don’t realize this mistake, you are missing out on all the ways middlemen can make your life and your business better. The right middleman can save you time and money—or help you make money—and do it all in a totally ethical way. Good middlemen (the third parties in the Power of Three) create a lot of value.