When Prime Pizza LA opened its first shop on Fairfax in 2014, the goal wasn’t simply to make pizza. It was to fill a cultural void.
“We are two huge pizza fans — both of our dads are from New York, and I lived there for five years,” said Zak Fishman, CEO and co-founder of Prime Pizza LA. “When I came back to LA in 2012 and started working with James [Starr] on his restaurants, we both lamented the fact that LA didn’t have any NY-style pizza. It was a different landscape back then. We really wanted to change that.”
What came next became one of Los Angeles’ most beloved slice shops — a by-the-slice, neighborhood-rooted concept built on authenticity, craft and a relentless commitment to doing things the right way.
“It was very important to us that it was by the slice,” Fishman said. “That is what was really missing. There wasn’t a strong slice-culture. We hired one of the best pizza makers in Brooklyn and he came out to help us develop the recipes. Two weeks later, we were off and running.”
For the next 10 years, Prime Pizza grew methodically and deliberately, expanding to seven high-performing locations across LA county. But by 2024, the founders wanted a bigger future — one that required the right strategic partner.
“We were at seven locations and we really wanted to grow faster and bigger,” Fishman said. “That’s when we went out looking for a capital partner.”
They found that partner in CapitalSpring.
From the beginning of the search process, Fishman and his team were focused on finding an investor who understood the restaurant business at an operational level — not one who would simply provide a check and step back.
“A lot of private equity groups are really leading from a finance perspective,” Fishman said. “They are all finance people — that is their background — and they aren’t really getting into the operations with you very much, nor do they understand the nuances of our industry.”
“What really attracted us to CapitalSpring is that they put a heavy emphasis on the operations side,” he said. “They have multiple partners in the firm who are true operators - having grown up in operations like I did. They are real restaurant operators. That differentiates them from other investment firms — they want to work hand in hand with us to improve operations and not just write a big check and tell us to open a million locations.”
The alignment was immediate. “We were very lucky to find CapitalSpring early on in the process,” Fishman said. “We both locked in and both parties knew the other was the right partner.”
The deal closed at the end of 2024, marking the start of a new era for Prime Pizza.
Once the partnership was formalized, the day-to-day differences became clear. CapitalSpring wasn’t just advising from a distance — they were working alongside our team in meaningful, practical ways.
“There is a huge operational lift that they do themselves because we are a small team and still building out our corporate team,” Fishman said. “We didn’t have a CFO or in-house accounting. They are doing a lot of the lifting on financial reporting. We’re having weekly calls with them. They are sending our weekly sales emails. They are putting together the board decks. That is typically something your internal team would be doing, but since we are such a small company, we don’t have the resources yet. All of this gives us time to focus on our business, opening stores, executing against the guest and building a team so we can take on these responsibilities ourselves.”
In fact, CapitalSpring played a direct role in strengthening the company’s leadership infrastructure. “They helped lead the search for our CFO — who we just hired,” Fishman said.
Beyond staffing and financial infrastructure, CapitalSpring also opened up an entire ecosystem of vetted partners, vendors and cost-saving opportunities.
“Now, it’s a lot of sharing resources that they have success with across their other portfolio companies,” Fishman said. “That means it might be a chemical company, a financial services company, bookkeeping services — all different vendors across the restaurant spectrum. They think it could save us money or add value in some way, and they bring those partners to us. That is the most common way they add value to our back office and save money at the store level.”
The partnership has already yielded tangible expansion. “We opened locations eight and nine this year with CapitalSpring,” Fishman said. “We are opening six stores next year and hoping to stay in that region of growth for the foreseeable future.”
Above all, Fishman emphasizes the cultural fit. CapitalSpring’s approach aligns closely with the founders’ values — collaborative, respectful and focused on building a sustainable culture focused on people.
“Part of the value in CapitalSpring is that they are not a heavy-handed organization,” Fishman said. “They invest in concepts they think are really great — they aren’t picking up a bunch of distressed assets and shoving solutions on them. They are investing in quality concepts they trust. It is very much collaborative: ‘You’ve done a great job getting the company to this point; let us help you in the next stage.’”
For Fishman, that was non-negotiable. “They don’t just say, ‘We are in charge now, so do it this way,’” he said. “Rather they listened to us, learned our business and supported us where they felt they could add value. That is one of the most important things I needed to find in a partner.”
The brand now has the capital, infrastructure, and operational backbone to grow at a pace that once felt out of reach, Fishman says. And just as importantly, it has a partner that respects the ethos behind the brand.
With nine units open, six more on the way, and a long-term goal of becoming a 40- to 50-unit concept, Prime Pizza LA is stepping into its next decade stronger than ever.
For more information on CapitalSpring, visit: https://1851franchise.com/capitalspring/info.
The statements above represent the opinions of founders and senior executives of portfolio companies in which private funds advised by CapitalSpring have invested. These individuals are not clients of CapitalSpring and have not received any compensation for their endorsement. Because their companies benefit from a relationship with CapitalSpring, including investments by CapitalSpring and private funds that we advise, conflicts of interest may exist. Past performance is not indicative of future results. These endorsements should not be interpreted as investment advice or recommendations.
CapitalSpring
SPONSORED
Through a collaborative partnership, this New York-style slice shop is scaling its footprint across Los Angeles and beyond - without losing the soul that made it a local institution.
When Prime Pizza LA opened its first shop on Fairfax in 2014, the goal wasn’t simply to make pizza. It was to fill a cultural void.
“We are two huge pizza fans — both of our dads are from New York, and I lived there for five years,” said Zak Fishman, CEO and co-founder of Prime Pizza LA. “When I came back to LA in 2012 and started working with James [Starr] on his restaurants, we both lamented the fact that LA didn’t have any NY-style pizza. It was a different landscape back then. We really wanted to change that.”
What came next became one of Los Angeles’ most beloved slice shops — a by-the-slice, neighborhood-rooted concept built on authenticity, craft and a relentless commitment to doing things the right way.
“It was very important to us that it was by the slice,” Fishman said. “That is what was really missing. There wasn’t a strong slice-culture. We hired one of the best pizza makers in Brooklyn and he came out to help us develop the recipes. Two weeks later, we were off and running.”
For the next 10 years, Prime Pizza grew methodically and deliberately, expanding to seven high-performing locations across LA county. But by 2024, the founders wanted a bigger future — one that required the right strategic partner.
“We were at seven locations and we really wanted to grow faster and bigger,” Fishman said. “That’s when we went out looking for a capital partner.”
They found that partner in CapitalSpring.
From the beginning of the search process, Fishman and his team were focused on finding an investor who understood the restaurant business at an operational level — not one who would simply provide a check and step back.
“A lot of private equity groups are really leading from a finance perspective,” Fishman said. “They are all finance people — that is their background — and they aren’t really getting into the operations with you very much, nor do they understand the nuances of our industry.”
“What really attracted us to CapitalSpring is that they put a heavy emphasis on the operations side,” he said. “They have multiple partners in the firm who are true operators - having grown up in operations like I did. They are real restaurant operators. That differentiates them from other investment firms — they want to work hand in hand with us to improve operations and not just write a big check and tell us to open a million locations.”
The alignment was immediate. “We were very lucky to find CapitalSpring early on in the process,” Fishman said. “We both locked in and both parties knew the other was the right partner.”
The deal closed at the end of 2024, marking the start of a new era for Prime Pizza.
Once the partnership was formalized, the day-to-day differences became clear. CapitalSpring wasn’t just advising from a distance — they were working alongside our team in meaningful, practical ways.
“There is a huge operational lift that they do themselves because we are a small team and still building out our corporate team,” Fishman said. “We didn’t have a CFO or in-house accounting. They are doing a lot of the lifting on financial reporting. We’re having weekly calls with them. They are sending our weekly sales emails. They are putting together the board decks. That is typically something your internal team would be doing, but since we are such a small company, we don’t have the resources yet. All of this gives us time to focus on our business, opening stores, executing against the guest and building a team so we can take on these responsibilities ourselves.”
In fact, CapitalSpring played a direct role in strengthening the company’s leadership infrastructure. “They helped lead the search for our CFO — who we just hired,” Fishman said.
Beyond staffing and financial infrastructure, CapitalSpring also opened up an entire ecosystem of vetted partners, vendors and cost-saving opportunities.
“Now, it’s a lot of sharing resources that they have success with across their other portfolio companies,” Fishman said. “That means it might be a chemical company, a financial services company, bookkeeping services — all different vendors across the restaurant spectrum. They think it could save us money or add value in some way, and they bring those partners to us. That is the most common way they add value to our back office and save money at the store level.”
The partnership has already yielded tangible expansion. “We opened locations eight and nine this year with CapitalSpring,” Fishman said. “We are opening six stores next year and hoping to stay in that region of growth for the foreseeable future.”
Above all, Fishman emphasizes the cultural fit. CapitalSpring’s approach aligns closely with the founders’ values — collaborative, respectful and focused on building a sustainable culture focused on people.
“Part of the value in CapitalSpring is that they are not a heavy-handed organization,” Fishman said. “They invest in concepts they think are really great — they aren’t picking up a bunch of distressed assets and shoving solutions on them. They are investing in quality concepts they trust. It is very much collaborative: ‘You’ve done a great job getting the company to this point; let us help you in the next stage.’”
For Fishman, that was non-negotiable. “They don’t just say, ‘We are in charge now, so do it this way,’” he said. “Rather they listened to us, learned our business and supported us where they felt they could add value. That is one of the most important things I needed to find in a partner.”
The brand now has the capital, infrastructure, and operational backbone to grow at a pace that once felt out of reach, Fishman says. And just as importantly, it has a partner that respects the ethos behind the brand.
With nine units open, six more on the way, and a long-term goal of becoming a 40- to 50-unit concept, Prime Pizza LA is stepping into its next decade stronger than ever.
For more information on CapitalSpring, visit: https://1851franchise.com/capitalspring/info.
The statements above represent the opinions of founders and senior executives of portfolio companies in which private funds advised by CapitalSpring have invested. These individuals are not clients of CapitalSpring and have not received any compensation for their endorsement. Because their companies benefit from a relationship with CapitalSpring, including investments by CapitalSpring and private funds that we advise, conflicts of interest may exist. Past performance is not indicative of future results. These endorsements should not be interpreted as investment advice or recommendations.
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