Commentary

Inside View

 
Andy Kessler

Andy Kessler’s Inside View columns for The Wall Street Journal combine wit, verve and a wide range of knowledge. He compared Elon Musk’s business strategy to the three-point-shooting marksmanship of Stephen Curry, the All-Star guard with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, because “they both dislike crowded spaces.” His solution to Facebook’s problems with privacy and security was to pass a bill he dubbed the “Make the Internet Great Again Act,” one that would consist of exactly five words: “Users own their private data.” When General Electric was booted from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Kessler’s only question was “What took so long?” before explaining that GE has been a “failing industrial giant” since 2000. Kessler also offered useful advice to the newly minted crop of college graduates about how best to make an impact on this world. “There’s a word that was probably never mentioned by your professors: scale,” he wrote. “It’s the concept of taking a small idea and finding ways to implement it for thousands, or millions, or ever billions.” Finally, for those who must go out and pitch projects for a living, his advice was simple: Take five; that is, everything from making a business deal to getting a promotion to dating takes at least five meetings.

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