Why Members-Only Clubs Are Everywhere Right Now

What is consistent across all of these categories and vintages is that they offer place, programming, and a real sense of community and belonging to a generation of members who largely grew up on the internet. We are tribal, and these clubs allow us to be with our tribes.

I’m intrigued with the modern version of a country club. I think of concepts like Soho House or the Wing as “urban country clubs”. These membership businesses gather communities of like-minded people. They create repeat traffic and have demographic and psychographic desirability in their members. These communities are powerful because if they endor... See more

But perhaps Jones’ most difficult challenge will be maintaining that scrupulously selective admittance policy when institutional and retail investors — many of whom would presumably never qualify for a Soho House membership of their own — begin clamoring for price gains... It’s pretty easy for the director of membership to tell Nick, ‘There’s nobod... See more

Then there's the supper club model, which a group called DinnerDAO is currently testing out in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Portland. Members purchase an NFT, and the proceeds are pooled into a treasury that pays for an eight-person group dinner. Anyone can buy-in, and everyone receives an equal vote in deciding which local restaurant the... See more

What if by going to your favorite restaurant enough times, you got to own a table at that restaurant, automatically? What if your club membership was an NFT that you could sell to the next person when you decide to leave instead of giving up your expensive initiation fees?