Hour five of the Write for Money and Power launch went deep — intellectually, philosophically, and practically.
I was joined by Michael Simmons, and this conversation felt like a line in the sand moment for creators navigating the next era of the internet. If you don’t know him, Michael is a writer and entrepreneur who runs the Substack Blockbuster Blueprint. He helps creators and thought leaders build their business and become a recognized expert, and his writing has been read by tens of millions of people.
This hour was about what happens when the old playbook stops working — and how creators can respond without panicking or shrinking.
Here are a few ideas from the conversation that are still rattling around in my head:
Thought Leadership Is Being Disrupted
The version of thought leadership built on surface-level takes, SEO-first content, and incremental advice is quietly expiring.
What replaces it?
Original synthesis
Lived perspective
Deep thinking across disciplines
Ideas that change how people see the world, not just what they do tomorrow
This is where creators still win.
AI Can De-Skill You — or Make You More Creative Than Ever
One of the most nuanced parts of the hour was Michael’s take on AI.
Used lazily, it flattens your voice.
Used well, it expands your thinking.
The difference isn’t the tool — it’s how you engage with it.
Curiosity beats fear.
Dialogue beats prompts.
Depth beats speed.
Curation Isn’t Copying — It’s Synthesis
Michael reframed curation in a way I loved.
Good curation isn’t collecting links.
It’s connecting dots across time periods, fields, and perspectives — and then adding your lived experience on top.
That’s how you say something no one else can say, even in a crowded internet.
Virality Isn’t About Posting More
One of the most counterintuitive insights from Michael’s career:
Posting every day doesn’t automatically lead to growth.
What does?
Creating something so good it rewires how someone thinks — and makes them want to share it.
A race to the bottom creates noise.
A race to the top creates leverage.
Breakthrough Knowledge Is the Highest Leverage
Michael talked about “breakthrough knowledge” — the kind of idea that collapses years of incremental learning into a single perspective shift.
That’s the work worth doing.
That’s the work people remember.
That’s the work AI can’t replace.
If you want to go deeper into Michael’s thinking, systems, and models for creating work that actually cuts through:
If this conversation stirred something in you — about originality, ownership, or how to stay relevant as the internet shifts — the bigger framework behind these ideas lives inside my brand new book, out now:
Thank you Mary Beth Kaplan🪶, Oray, Amy Benavides, W. R. Collins, Kelda, and many others for tuning into my live video with Michael Simmons!
-Amy
