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:

• Ilir Sela

• Jason Shuman

• Primary Venture Partners

(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