IRL social club
Run a paid IRL social club (dinners, tastings, hikes) for a niche community, monetized via membership and events.
The idea, in plain language
Run a paid IRL social club (dinners, tastings, hikes, work clubs, pickleball courts, family clubhouses, pet-owner housing) for a niche community, monetized via membership and events. Numbers across the videos range from a $10M ARR dinner-club membership, the MFM 1% dinner events, Tiger 21's paid peer groups at $20M+ ARR, the $20K/month backyard pickleball club built from $200 of Facebook ads, the abandoned-driving-range $20/month membership model, and the $300M anti-phone pouch reference as a counter-example of what people will pay for in offline life. Customers are local adults seeking a third place — parents, hobbyists, professionals, neighbours, niche enthusiasts — and startup cost varies from a Facebook post and a borrowed space to a lease and a buildout.
Where the sources agree
- IRL community is one of the six skills Greg says stays valuable as AI improves — the human-to-human gathering is the durable asset.
- A tiny, well-defined niche beats a broad audience — pickleball, sneakerheads (Sole Savy), local discovery, dinner clubs, neighbourhood work clubs.
- Membership plus events is the recurring-revenue layer; one-off dinners are not the model.
- Lead generation is mostly Facebook groups / Marketplace / word of mouth — pickleball club got 70+ leads from $200 of Facebook ads.
Where they differ
- MFM carries most of the brainstorm episodes (dinner clubs, $10M ARR membership, social club as AI-apocalypse hedge, family clubhouse, pet-owner housing, neighborhood work clubs) — a riff-mix rather than a how-to.
- The Koerner Office (pickleball club, bathtub refinishing, abandoned driving ranges) is operationally heavy — on-site labor, equipment, real estate.
- Greg Isenberg frames IRL community as one skill among six for an AI-resistant career; his other episodes lean toward agentic infrastructure rather than physical gatherings.
- Membership pricing ranges from $20/month (driving range) to $10M ARR dinner clubs; the videos do not converge on what 'normal' looks like.
What each source says
MFM5 Simple business Ideas Even Your Mother Can Start (and make $120/hr)
The MFM brainstorm frames 'bringing AI to small businesses' as one of several simple service ideas that a nontechnical founder could sell around $120/hour. A fixed-scope AI starter kit can productize that consulting work for small service businesses.
Watch on YouTubeMFMMFM #160: How to Build a Paid Community Making $20M a Year
The paid-community episode explains examples like Tiger 21, a peer group doing $20M+ in revenue, and Sole Savy, a sneaker community that began on Slack. The lesson is to test a small paid operator group with clear onboarding, reminders, resources, and member value.
Watch on YouTubeMFMA look inside how we actually run My First Million
Sam and Shaan's behind-the-scenes episode shows how My First Million runs through a clip-army repurposing workflow, paid 1% events and dinner clubs, and a barbell guest-booking strategy. The media-community play is to turn long-form conversations into clips, gatherings, and a paid inner circle.
Watch on YouTubeIsenberg$1M Startup Trends For 2024, With Michael Karnjanaprakorn
Michael Karnjanaprakorn's trend discussion includes Haggle.ai, an AI negotiation agent, alongside IRL community spaces, AI educational agents, and productivity-app holding companies. The relevant prototype is a phone-based negotiation agent for one clearly defined purchasing workflow.
Watch on YouTubeside-hustle-school#699 - Carpe Libri! Budding Book Club Baron Brings in $6,400/Month
A UK-based consultant starts a book club to build a reading habit and grows it to 350 members generating about $6,400 per month, with payment mechanics unspecified.
Listen on Side Hustle SchoolIsenberg"Learn AI” Is Bad Advice. Learn This Instead
Video covers "Learn AI” Is Bad Advice. Learn This Instead.
Watch on YouTubeMFMThe 2-Week Social App Doing $1M/Month
Video covers The 2-Week Social App Doing $1M/Month.
Watch on YouTubeMFMThis guy sold 3 YouTube Channels to Blackstone for $3B
Video covers This guy sold 3 YouTube Channels to Blackstone for $3B.
Watch on YouTubeMFMStart This Business If Want To Survive The Ai Apocalypse
Video covers Start This Business If Want To Survive The Ai Apocalypse.
Watch on YouTubeMFM3 low competition businesses with massive demand in America
Video covers 3 low competition businesses with massive demand in America.
Watch on YouTubeKoernerI Started a $20K/Month Pickleball Club for $200
Video covers I Started a $20K/Month Pickleball Club for $200.
Watch on YouTubeside-hustle-school#249 - Introvert Builds Networking Experience to Help Women
An introvert new to her city builds a women's networking community of meetups, a podcast, and a magazine, reaching about $30,000 in side income. The episode frames it as a community/events business around content and in-person gatherings.
Listen on Side Hustle Schoolside-hustle-school#523 - Danish Pastry Partnership Bakes Up Series of Events
Two midwestern food-market vendors grow from pastries into trade shows and a paid membership community, though no revenue figures are given.
Listen on Side Hustle Schoolside-hustle-school#1134 - Journalist Gets Paid to Host Outdoor Activities
After newsroom layoffs, a Maine journalist launches a paid membership community of readers who join her for outdoor activities, built from scratch.
Listen on Side Hustle SchoolKoernerHe Turns Abandoned Driving Ranges Into Cash Machines
Video covers He Turns Abandoned Driving Ranges Into Cash Machines.
Watch on YouTubeMFM6 Hilarious Business Ideas That Could Make You $1,000,000 in 2022 (#351)
Video covers 6 Hilarious Business Ideas That Could Make You $1,000,000 in 2022 (#351).
Watch on YouTubeIsenbergSteal These 6 Startup Ideas For 2024 | Theo Tabah & Jordan Mix
Video covers Steal These 6 Startup Ideas For 2024 | Theo Tabah & Jordan Mix.
Watch on YouTubeKoernerThe 5 Most Genius Business Ideas I Saw on Instagram
Video covers The 5 Most Genius Business Ideas I Saw on Instagram.
Watch on YouTubeIsenbergStrategies for growth hacking your product [CLIP]
No take is available for this episode.
Watch on YouTubeMFMThe Business of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts | My First Million Podcast
No take is available for this episode.
Watch on YouTubeMFMNicotine Gum, Dating Apps for the Elderly & Vested Shares Tax | My First Million Podcast 03-03-2020
No take is available for this episode.
Watch on YouTubeside-hustle-school#742 - Louisiana Vegan Community Becomes a Big Dill
Two Louisiana friends turn a roving multi-course vegan dinner series into a community-driven supper club, monetized as a recurring paid experience around a niche shared identity.
Listen on Side Hustle SchoolKoernerHe Spends 1 Hour a Week on This Business
No take is available for this episode.
Watch on YouTubeMFMFyre Festival Founder Shares His Next Business Venture With Us | Billy McFarland Interview (#399)
No take is available for this episode.
Watch on YouTubeMFMElon Musk Offers To Buy Twitter For $43 Billion | The Breakdown By My First Million
No take is available for this episode.
Watch on YouTubeMFMJessica Herrin | Hustle Con 2018
No take is available for this episode.
Watch on YouTubeTools people use for this
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