Hi,
Over the weekend, I built a website.
Maybe that doesn't sound that impressive. But for someone who hasn't written a line of code since her 5th-grade Website Club (yes, that was a real thing, and yes, we did learn HTML by building our elementary school's first ever website), it was a big deal.
I used Lovable, and a project that in the past would have taken me several weeks (and several near concussions) took about four hours. Honestly, if I weren't so particular about everything, it probably could have taken me 20 minutes.
I'm sharing this not because I want applause. Or because I want you to go look at it (even though, yes, I do — megankrylemedia.com). But because that experience, along with other conversations I've been seeing and hearing lately, made something very, very clear.
Anyone can build anything now.
A founder with no technical background can ship an app. A one-person shop can produce a product — in a weekend. The barrier to entry for almost everything has dropped to nearly zero. And that's exciting. But it also creates a problem.
When everyone can build the same thing, what makes anyone choose you?
I saw a post this week from Brandon Watts that put it bluntly: we're entering a time where companies will use AI to build 10,000 versions of the same product, because new features are just a prompt away. That new feature you're so proud of? Copied by everyone else the morning you launch it. When software options all start to feel the same, what decides who wins?
Brand. Personality. You.
Want proof? Look at what's happened with the influencer economy. People don't just buy products anymore. They buy from people they trust, people they feel like they know, people whose worldview resonates with them. A recommendation from a creator with a genuine following will outsell any ad campaign. Because the relationship is real, even if it's parasocial.
The same thing is happening in B2B. We like to tell ourselves that business purchases are rational — that buyers evaluate features, compare pricing, and make logical decisions. And sure, they do.
But anyone who has ever won a deal knows: people buy from people they like. They choose the vendor who felt like a real human in the sales process. They renew contracts with the company whose founder they follow on LinkedIn and actually want to see succeed. The RFP might be the official reason. But the relationship is why you won.
When software is commoditized — and it is being commoditized, fast — the hard thing to replicate is you. Your perspective. Your reputation. Your expertise.
That's what thought leadership is actually for. Not content for content's sake. Not posting because someone told you to. But building a body of work that makes people feel like they know you, trust you, and want you to win — before you ever ask them for anything.
Technical advantage used to be what set you apart. Now it's barely a head start, measured in just days.
Your personality? Your authority? Your voice? Those take years to build. And they're almost impossible to copy.
Maybe that's the real irony of the AI era. The more powerful these tools get, the more what actually wins is what's human. The hot take that only you would have. The story only you lived. The way you explain something that makes a customer say, "Finally, someone who gets it."
AI can produce things. It cannot produce you. And in a world where everything is getting faster, cheaper, and easier to create, that's not a small thing.
That's everything.
See you next week,
Megan
P.S. I really do want you to go look at the website. megankrylemedia.com. I'm still a little proud.