Solidcore's $350M Exit

A story about how Anne Mahlum discovered and built Solidcore, a pilates studio chain.

"I discovered this workout in LA, then found another pilates studio in New York with the same machines. After going for 30 days, I had never seen my body look like this. I started bringing everybody I knew and then did the math.

The studio had 10 machines, charging $30 per class. You couldn't buy a membership, you had to buy every time you went. The classes were full every time - impossible to get into. They had 10 classes a day, so that's $3,000 a day.

I knew I needed something authentically representative of who I was. I'm the workout queen - I've done many marathons, fitness has always been a key priority. When I discovered this, I thought nobody knows you can work out like this. We're all out there jumping, pounding, getting injured because it's a rite of passage to be fit. This was different and nobody knew about it.

I took my life savings of $175,000 and put all of it into the first location. The buildout was about $150,000, I had to pay a licensing fee of $25,000 just to open the studio. I had to finance the machines because I couldn't afford to buy them outright - they were $6,000-7,000 apiece.

Larry from Back on My Feet offered me $75,000 for 30% of the business. I remember thinking I should take this money, but then I realized if I take his money, it's showing massive doubt in myself. When things get hard, I'll lean into that $75,000 and convince myself I don't need to push through. I needed to feel like I was being chased by a bear.

We did over $100,000 in the first month. By year four, we had 27 locations each doing about $700,000 annually. I sold a minority stake at a $60 million valuation, and eventually sold the company for over $300 million after 9.5 years."