Michael Lastoria

Michael Lastoria
Born	Michael Lastoria (1980-03-24) March 24, 1980
Alma mater	Westmont College
Occupation	Co-Founder & CEO &pizza Founding Partner, JWALK

Michael Lastoria (born March 24, 1980) is an American Entrepreneur best known as Co-Founder and CEO of &pizza. He is also a Founding Partner at JWALK, a New York-based full-service creative agency, and the Founding CEO of Innovation Ads, a marketing and media services company.^[1]

Early career

In 2002, at the age of 22 Michael Lastoria founded his first company, Innovation Ads, an advertising, technology and marketing services firm, as his first job out of college in New York City. In four years, as Founding CEO, he oversaw the rapid growth of the company and its successful sale to Seaport Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, in 2006. Lastoria remained the company's CEO from 2006-2009.^[2] Thereafter, he became a founding partner of JWALK, a New York-based full-service creative agency, specializing in fashion, beauty and hospitality. He remains a Founding Partner and leads the company's growth strategy.^[2]

&pizza

The &pizza concept was first incubated in an art studio in West Chelsea, New York City in 2010.^[2] In 2011, Michael Lastoria brought this idea to Washington, D.C. to launch a counter-culture chain of elevated, community-based pizza shops.^[3] In July 2012, he co-founded &pizza with the opening of the brand’s first location on historic H Street.^[1] Every shop is designed with the local community in mind, with distinct artistic and architectural elements that incorporate both the neighborhood’s past and present.^[4] &pizza works with local urban artists to commission murals and installations, making each one of their shops unique.^[5] The different aspects of each shop are tied together with the brand’s signature black-and-white aesthetic and trademark ampersand motif as key elements of the design.^[6]

Over the next 4 years, Lastoria oversaw the company’s rapid sales growth and expansion, raising $15 million and opening 15 stores across the greater Washington, D.C. metro area and Baltimore.^[7]

As of November 2016, &pizza had 19 shops in D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and Philadelphia, with another shop in Washington, D.C. set to open within the year.^[7] In November 2016, &pizza announced it’s plans for rapid expansion into several new markets, including New York City, using $25 million in growth capital funded largely by AVALT Capital, a Boston-based investment firm.^[8] &pizza’s expansion into the New York market is set to begin in NoMad, the location where other fast-casual chains such as Sweetgreen had their start. Plans to expand to the Boston market are being planned.^[9]

As Co-Founder and CEO, Michael Lastoria established the brand’s counter-culture attitude and core values: "celebrate oneness, make it personal, keep it fresh and elevate everything."^[2] In line with these values, &pizza focuses on their employees, otherwise known as “Tribe Members.” The brand emphasizes building company culture and showing employee appreciation with above-minimum wage pay, a focus on full-time employment and a career trajectory.^[10] In June 2016, Lastoria raised wages at &pizza to $11.75 an hour to surpass the District of Columbia's minimum wage of $10.50 per hour.^[11] Additionally, &pizza provides an especially unique benefit to all employees, ampersand tattoos.^[12] As of November 2016, 60 employees have the company’s ampersand logo tattooed somewhere on their person.^[13]

Awards & Leadership

Michael Lastoria and his business ventures have been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine and a variety of entertainment publications.^[14] He was listed in the Top 100 Movers & Shakers by Fast Casual.com,^[15] The Power List 2016: Reader’s Pick by Nation's Restaurant News ^[16] and Washington Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 2016.^[17] He has also been a featured speaker at Georgetown University,^[18] The Washington Post,^[19] and The Fast Casual Executive Summit.^[20]

Education & Personal Life

Michael Lastoria holds a B.A. in Economics and Business from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.^[14] He currently splits his time between Washington, D.C. and New York City, and prefers to spend time outside the office motorcycling or reading.^[21]

References