A Hiking Club Makes Five Figures a Month With Only About 20 Paying Members
Alena Beliauskaya turned free hikes for San Francisco founders into 12 Scrappy Founders, a network of more than 600 people bringing in over 10,000 dollars a month. Only about 20 members pay. Sponsors and paid experiences carry the rest.
She fixed networking instead of inventing a business
Alena Beliauskaya moved to San Francisco in March 2025 with about 15 years of startup experience and a product management career. She wanted to meet other founders and hated the usual networking events, where you trade job titles with strangers and leave with connections you never speak to again. So she invited founders hiking, backpacking, and dirt biking instead.
The Hustle Blower reports that her community, 12 Scrappy Founders, has grown to more than 600 founders and now generates over 10,000 dollars in monthly revenue, based on figures she shared with Business Insider. Five hours on a trail builds real friendships in a way five minutes at a mixer never will, and those friendships are why people keep coming back.
Only about 20 people pay, and the math still works
Here is the part worth studying. Only about 20 people are paying members. One tier costs 99 dollars a month for members only events, priority access, introductions, and an online community. A higher tier costs 3,000 dollars a year for more influence over the group direction, and she says that tier is already full.
Even at the top end, memberships alone cannot reach five figures a month. The rest comes from sponsored events and paid experiences. She has worked with brands including Red Bull and run everything from go karting and poker nights to camping and founder roundtables. She brings founders together, brands pay to reach those founders, and members pay for the best experiences. Three income streams grow from one community.
Free first, charge after people ask
She did not launch with a website, a logo, or ads. The hikes were free, people showed up, and when they had a good time they returned and brought others. As outings grew into overnight trips with real costs, she sometimes covered expenses and took reimbursement. Eventually the organizing ate her free time, and members themselves encouraged her to charge.
Paid memberships arrived in early summer 2026, after demand already existed. That order matters. Most new communities try to sell access to something nobody has felt yet. She sold the upgrade to people who had already stood on a mountain with the group and wanted more of it. Beliauskaya is honest about the other side too: profit runs about 2,000 to 3,000 dollars a month, the work takes nearly every Saturday plus hours each day, and she keeps her day job.
The Florida version of this playbook
The group works because it is specific: Bay Area founders at seed to Series B stage, many of them building AI companies. A focused room of 40 people a sponsor truly wants can be worth more than 40,000 random followers. Ask who else benefits from bringing your people together, not only how your people can pay you.
A Tampa version writes itself. Monthly walks or photo walks for local event organizers, venue managers, and creators would give Florida businesses a room worth sponsoring and give members real relationships instead of another panel. Start free, run it three times, and watch whether people return and bring a friend. That signal is worth more than any launch announcement.
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