Jeff Richards

Ilir Sela: How I Founded Slice Pizza & Became One of Macedonia’s Largest Employers | E1044

Ilir Sela, Jeff Richards, Ben Sun, Harry Stebbings

Slice founder Ilya Lazarevski bootstrapped the pizza technology platform from zero in 2015, rejecting an $18 million acquisition to reinvest profits and leverage capital specifically to onboard elite leadership rather than simply funding growth. By adopting a vertical strategy that integrated independent pizzerias into a digital ecosystem, Slice has helped expand the US pizza industry from 60,000 to 80,000 shops while maintaining operational simplicity through a globally distributed team. Looking toward a public listing by 2028, Lazarevski remains actively involved in decision-making to navigate scaling complexities and continues to emphasize that hard work and deep customer intimacy, rather than luck, drive the company's trajectory.