Ilir Sela, Founder & CEO of Slice, grew up with pizza in his DNA—his family ran pizzerias in NYC, so he knew the grind inside out.
Watching mom-and-pop pizza shops get left behind, he bootstrapped MyPizza in 2009.
What started with Ilir entering orders in a Starbucks has grown into Slice—a platform now driving $1B+ in GMV for 20,000+ independent pizzerias, saving them $265M.
Primary is proud to have backed Slice from the seed stage.
In this conversation, Jason Shuman and Ilir get into:
• how Slice evolved from mypizza.com
• the power of bootstrapping early
• how North Macedonia became a talent hub for Slice
• why even 1% M-O-M churn can cripple your startup
ABOUT US:
Primary is the largest early-stage venture firm in the world, with over $1B in Assets Under Management, and notable investments under its belt include unicorns like Slice, Chief, Electric, and more.
With a dedicated team of Partners, Associates, and Advisors, Primary operates with one clear modus operandi: to allocate unreasonable resources toward building unfair advantages.
Follow us on LinkedIn:
(00:00) Trailer
(01:33) The Rise of Slice and Its Macedonian Roots
(06:08) Family Legacy in the Pizza Business
(14:22) The Birth of Nerdforce
(22:12) The Evolution of MyPizza to Slice
(30:21) Vertical vs Horizontal Platforms
(33:49) Building a Strong Sales Culture
(39:43) The Role of AI in SMB Tech
(45:42) Venturing into Supplies and VC Funding
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