The most valuable thing a brand can sell isn't its product. It's access.
And access, done right, is one of the highest-margin products on earth.
Access is what turns a $100 bottle of wine into a $10,000 membership. It's what turns a hotel into Soho House, a gym into Equinox, and a handbag into Hermès. The product is just the prop. The real business is the gate.
WeWork tried this playbook and burned $47 billion finding out that access without discipline is just expensive real estate with kombucha. They confused community theatre with actual community. The velvet rope only works when there's something worth protecting behind it.
Smart companies understand that monetising access means three things:
First, architect the hierarchy. Not everyone gets the same version of you. Amex built a $185 billion market cap on this principle alone. Black Card isn't about the metal, it's about the concierge who answers on the first ring at 3am in Tokyo.
Second, make belonging the product. Soho House doesn't sell workspace. They sell a tribe where the creative director at Ogilvy networks with the founder of that DTC brand you keep seeing. The rooms are nice. The Rolodex is priceless.
Third, make exclusion visible. Supreme drops work because the line wraps around the block. Hermès Birkin bags work because there's a waiting list you can't buy your way onto. The rope has to be seen to be valued.
For PE, access-based models are gold. Higher multiples (15-20x vs 8-12x for traditional retail), better retention (90%+ for top-tier membership models), and natural pricing power. You're not selling stuff, you're selling status. And status is inflation-proof.
The playbook is spreading everywhere. AI companies using "early access" as a pricing strategy. PE funds turning LP meetings into invitation-only conclaves. Even B2B SaaS is catching on......enterprise tiers aren't about features anymore, they're about who picks up when you call.
Stop thinking products and price points.
Start thinking circles.
Because in the attention economy, the most valuable asset isn't what you sell.
It's who you let buy it.