Throw a Free Event, Make Money From Sponsors

This model is quietly spreading in the indie hacker space 👀

Founders are running free retreats – full accommodation, meals, even laundry – with sponsors picking up the entire tab.

Hacker Residency Group ran the first one in Da Nang, Vietnam. Ten founders lived and built together for a month at a villa, completely free. The sponsors – CodeRabbit, n8n, OpenRouter and others – covered everything in exchange for brand exposure to a concentrated audience of developers.

Similar retreats are now popping up in other countries.

The model is the same one that funds podcasts and newsletters 👇

A niche audience is worth money to the right brands. Organise an event, curate that audience, and sponsors will pay to be in the room.

This isn’t just a tech thing 💪

Dog breeders, Etsy sellers, fitness coaches, local business owners – any niche with relevant brands wanting access can run this.

Not ready for a villa in Vietnam? A free local meetup or online workshop is enough to test it.

Want to charge attendees instead of relying on sponsors? Hacker Paradise does $35K/month on paid co-living retreats at ~$2K per person 😎

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