"Sure, he built AOL. But let's be honest: an idiot could have built AOL. Right time. Right place. Right product. Stupid competition (CompuServe? The Source?)." I don't know enough about Case to have an opinion on way or another, except that Jeff's being a little harsh. No matter how good an opportunity, executing on it, and doing so at the level Case did, is always difficult. And always more difficult than it looks from the outside.