Last Updated on September 22, 2026 by Lydia — Salles & Co. Digital
This is an independent partner page, not the official Side Hustle Summit website.
This event’s live sessions have ended (September 6–13, 2026). The official page now shows “This event is over,” with no active registration or replay access. This review remains published for reference only.
TL;DR
The Side Hustle Summit ran September 6–13, 2026, free, hosted by Iman Gadzhi and Russell Brunson, and drew a Guinness World Record 203,000 live viewers on Day 1. The teaching had real substance — particularly Brunson’s Day 4 session on funnels — but the event also functioned as a five-day pitch for Monetise 2.0, a $1,995 program sold during the launch window. Whether it was worth attending depends entirely on what you were looking for.
What Was This Event?
The Side Hustle Summit 2026 was a free, five-day live virtual event that ran September 6–13, 2026 (with a three-day gap between Day 4 and the Day 5 finale). It was hosted by Iman Gadzhi, founder of Consulting.com, and Russell Brunson, co-founder of ClickFunnels — their first joint event. The stated theme was building an AI-powered digital product business without an existing audience, on-camera presence, or upfront ad spend.
It was the fourth event in a recurring series Gadzhi has run since founding this format; the first three ran without Brunson as co-host.
Archetypal Scenario
Picture someone who’s spent the past year bouncing between “start a YouTube channel,” “learn to code,” and “try dropshipping” — never finishing any of it, always distracted by the next shiny framework. That person saw the Side Hustle Summit ads everywhere (the reach was genuinely hard to miss) and registered out of curiosity more than conviction. By the end of the week, they either had a specific, narrow direction to test — or a fifth idea to add to the pile, plus a $1,995 offer sitting in their inbox.
How It Actually Unfolded
Session details above are based on independently published attendee recaps, not an official transcript. Two structural details worth knowing: daily workbooks were password-protected, with passwords released live at the end of each session, and after-hours bonus content was reportedly cut from replay recordings the moment each live session ended — meaning replay-only attendees got the core training but not the extras.
Who This Was For
- Anyone evaluating whether to buy Monetise 2.0 and wanting to see the teaching quality first
- People genuinely curious about AI-based digital products who wanted a structured, free introduction to the space
- Existing Gadzhi or Brunson audience members deciding whether to trust a joint event enough to consider the paid follow-up
For more context on how this fits the wider AI business education landscape, see our AI Business Events and Programs hub.
Who This Was NOT For
- Anyone treating the event’s past “tracked sales” figures ($8.9M, $15M, $31M across three prior events) as independently audited numbers — they’re self-reported by the organizers, not third-party verified
- Anyone expecting a standalone education product with no sales pitch attached — the paid offer was introduced by Day 2 and present through the rest of the week
- Anyone who needed guaranteed access to every session; replay access depended on daily passwords released live, and bonus content wasn’t preserved in recordings
What Worked
Based on recaps and the event’s structure, a few things stand out as genuinely solid:
- Brunson’s Day 4 session is consistently described as the most substantive teaching hour of the week, with a narrow, practical goal (sell more to existing traffic) rather than vague motivation
- The distribution operation itself was remarkable regardless of what you think of the content — hundreds of millions of ad impressions, over 2 million registrations, and a certified Guinness World Record for live viewership is a real demonstration of funnel mechanics, not just a claim
- The event was genuinely free — no hidden registration fee, no credit card required to attend the live sessions
Real Limitations
- The paid pitch started early and stayed present. Monetise 2.0 ($1,995) was introduced by Day 2 and layered through Days 3–5 with added bonuses — standard for this event category, but worth knowing upfront rather than discovering mid-week
- Replay access had real constraints. Workbook passwords were only released live, and after-hours bonus content wasn’t preserved in the replay recordings — anyone who missed a live session lost access to parts of that day’s material permanently
- Past results figures aren’t independently audited. The $8.9M / $15M / $31M “tracked sales” claims from prior events are self-reported by the organizers based on attendee follow-up, not verified by a third party
- The five-day gap structure hurt continuity. A three-day break between Day 4 and Day 5 was flagged in multiple recaps as a point where replay-watchers lost momentum
Pricing and What Was Included
Registration and access to the five live sessions were free while the event was active (September 6–13, 2026). The event has since ended; the official page now shows no active registration.
During the event, it also served as a launch window for Monetise 2.0, Gadzhi’s $1,995 one-time program covering a 31-lesson course, AI tools, live coaching calls, and a members’ community delivered through Whop. That paid program is a separate product from the free event itself and would require its own independent review to evaluate on its own merits..
How It Compares
Against other free AI-business events in this category, the Side Hustle Summit’s distinguishing factor was scale and the credibility of pairing two established names in the same space rather than one host validating the other. Compared to Gadzhi’s own prior three events (run solo), the addition of Brunson added a funnels-specific teaching angle that the earlier events reportedly lacked, alongside the record-breaking reach.
Compared to smaller, single-host AI side hustle challenges common in this niche, the production scale and follow-up offer structure were both considerably larger.
Final Verdict
The Side Hustle Summit delivered on its free-event promise: five days of structured content, a genuinely strong funnels session from Brunson, and a distribution operation impressive enough to earn a certified world record. It also followed the category’s standard playbook — free education as a runway into a $1,995 paid offer, introduced early and reinforced daily.
Neither of those things cancels the other out. If either host runs something similar again, it’s worth watching for — just go in knowing the pitch is part of the format, not a surprise twist at the end.
FAQ
Is the Side Hustle Summit still open for registration?
No. The event ran September 6–13, 2026, and the official page now shows it has ended, with no active registration or confirmed replay access.
Was there a cost to attend the live sessions?
No, the five live sessions were free to attend during the event window. A separate paid program, Monetise 2.0 ($1,995), was introduced starting Day 2 and promoted through the rest of the event.
What was the most valuable session according to attendees?
Independently published recaps consistently point to Russell Brunson’s Day 4 session on funnel mechanics as the strongest single teaching hour of the week.
Is Monetise 2.0 the same thing as the Side Hustle Summit?
The Summit was the free event; Monetise 2.0 is the separate $1,995 paid program sold during the event’s launch window. Evaluating the paid program on its own merits requires a dedicated review.
About the Author
Lydia — Salles & Co. Digital
Lydia covers AI-driven business events, tools, and premium programs for digital entrepreneurs, with a focus on separating genuine opportunity from hype in a fast-moving space.
