🎤 About Lee Lee Kindell, founder of MOTO Pizza in Seattle, built a thriving Detroit-style pizza chain from an unexpected start . Originally planning a post-hostel retirement project, the pandemic accelerated his pizza venture, focusing on handcrafted, Detroit-style pizzas with unique toppings reflecting local Northwest and Filipino influences. Kindell's commitment to quality is reflected in the use of a 120-year-old sourdough starter named Betty and a three-day fermentation process for his dough.
MOTO Pizza has rapidly expanded to several locations, including T-Mobile Park and Belltown, with an emphasis on technology , kindell is incorporating pizza-making robots to enhance efficiency without sacrificing the artisanal quality. 2026 will include pizza drone delivery . Lee's vision combines innovative technology with a focus on creating a welcoming, community-oriented dining experience, emphasizing that kindness remains a core value.
MOTO Pizza now boasts multiple locations, including Belltown and T-Mobile Park and continues to push boundaries by integrating robotics, exploring drone delivery for 2026 and maintaining a focus on kindness, community, and innovation.
🎙️ In This Episode, We Talk About:
Lee’s journey from hostel entrepreneur to pizza visionary
How the pandemic accelerated MOTO Pizza’s growth
The balance of craft and technology in modern food businesses
Why kindness and community matter more than anything else
Robotics, automation, and the future of food tech
Sourcing ingredients sustainably and the slow food movement
The reality of scaling a food business (and staying true to your values)
Pizza drone delivery and what’s next for logistics
The intersection of creativity, business, and culture
Lessons for entrepreneurs far beyond the food industry
Pizza in space came up too. 🍕🚀
🔗 Connect with Lee
LinkedIn: Lee Kindell
Website: motopizza.com
Instagram: @motopizzashop
TikTok: @motopizza
📚 Free Resources & Ways to Support CavnessHR
📖 Get 7 free ebooks from The Jason Cavness Experience → buildcavnesshr.com/ebooks 🤝
Join the CavnessHR Builders Club → buildcavnesshr.com
🚀 Support CavnessHR on Wefunder → wefunder.com/cavnesshr
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.