Griffin Gordon and Kevin Condon were customers before they were investors. They watched their kids tumble through gymnastics classes at The Little Gym and left asking when they could come back. By 2023, that firsthand customer experience had turned into a formal investment thesis: buy into the best children’s enrichment brand in the country and scale it methodically. Three years later, their company Somersault operates more than 30 locations generating nearly $20 million in annual revenue, with another 10-plus locations in development.
This is not a viral startup story. There is no product hunt launch, no AI angle, no VC term sheet. It is a deliberately boring playbook executed at a high level, and that is exactly why it is worth studying.
The Real Story Here
Gordon and Condon met at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Condon went on to co-found Hidden River Strategic Capital, a Philadelphia-based private equity firm focused on small business investing. Gordon built a career split between private equity and operating small and mid-size companies, eventually founding his own firm focused exclusively on franchisee investing.
Their entry into The Little Gym came through Richard Moore, a longtime operator whose family had spent nearly three decades building the brand in North Carolina. Moore wanted to keep growing; his parents were ready to retire. An advisor connected them. Gordon and Condon’s firms invested in seven North Carolina locations in 2023, partnering with Moore as the operational anchor. The deal structure matters: they did not replace the operator. They backed him with capital and resources to expand.
That combination of experienced operator plus institutional capital plus an established brand playbook is the whole game. From seven locations to 30-plus in three years is not luck. It is what happens when you find something that works and fund its repetition.
By the Numbers
The Little Gym was founded in 1976 and celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. The franchise system spans hundreds of locations globally. Unleashed Brands, the parent franchisor, operates a portfolio of youth enrichment concepts. Franchise ownership in the enrichment category has held steady as parents continue prioritizing structured developmental programs for children, an area where Unleashed Brands reports consistent demand growth in its portfolio communications.
For context on franchising as a category: the FTC-regulated Franchise Disclosure Document system creates the transparency that makes multi-unit investments like Somersault possible. Gordon and Condon specifically cited The Little Gym’s “attractive unit economics when the business is operated well” as a key investment driver, meaning each location’s revenue versus operating cost structure holds up before adding corporate overhead. That kind of standalone profitability at the unit level is the prerequisite for any multi-location rollup to work.
Somersault’s pace from 7 to 30-plus locations in 36 months represents roughly one new location per month. That is an aggressive expansion rate for a capital-intensive physical location business, and it is only sustainable with a repeatable acquisition and onboarding process baked into the operation.
The Hustler’s Library Take
Most small business owners think about growth as a straight line: get more customers, earn more revenue. Gordon and Condon are doing something structurally different. They identified a category leader with strong brand recognition, verified the unit economics held at location level, partnered with an operator who already knew the system, and then used capital to do what the operator alone could not: buy and open locations at scale.
The insight worth borrowing is the two-sided diligence they describe: the fundamentals that do not change (team quality, community connection, curriculum integrity) and the opportunity to modernize for today’s customer. They are not reinventing The Little Gym. They are running it better and wider.
This is also a reminder that some of the highest-ROI business moves are not in starting something new. Buying an established, profitable business with a proven system, then scaling it through acquisition and disciplined operations, is a path that does not get nearly enough attention from entrepreneurial media.
What You Should Do
1. Run the unit economics test before you scale anything. Gordon specifically said The Little Gym had “attractive unit economics when the business is operated well.” Before you open a second location of anything, prove that location one is profitable as a standalone operation. If it only works because you personally subsidize it with sweat equity and zero salary, it is not scalable. Understanding your fixed vs. variable costs is the first step to knowing what each unit actually earns.
2. Build your repeatable playbook before acquisition, not after. Condon described the franchise model’s power as “a repeatable process.” You acquire a business or open a location, follow the playbook, and repeat. Most business owners acquiring their second or third location discover they never documented how the first one worked. Think like a franchisee before you need to, not after you are managing three locations and have no manual.
3. Find the operator, then bring the capital. Somersault worked because Gordon and Condon backed Richard Moore, who already had 30 years of institutional knowledge in the brand. If you are looking to grow through acquisition, your highest-leverage move is identifying an experienced operator who has hit the ceiling of what they can do alone, then structuring around them. Growing through acquisitions works best when you are acquiring people and systems, not just real estate and equipment.
4. Understand what franchise investing actually looks like. If you are evaluating franchise ownership as a serious investment vehicle, the full picture involves FDD review, territory rights, royalty structures, and franchisor support quality. Our guide to buying a franchise breaks down what to look for before you sign anything.
Source: Entrepreneur, November 5, 2026 | Additional reference: FTC Consumer’s Guide to Buying a Franchise
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