Where does Slark perform best?

I've been playing a bit of Slark recently and I must say that I'm loving the hell out of him. Mid and late game are going great for me, but I'm struggling a bit early game. Should I be taking the suicide lane due to my pounce escape? Solo? Duo? No matter where I'm placed it seems like I get lit up every time I go in for any last hits or denies. Due to his early squishiness it's becoming pretty hard to effectively lane. At what point should I start roaming to gank?

Any help is much appreciated.

EDIT: Thanks for all the help guys! Here is what I learned from all of your wonderful comments:

-Slark should be played mid

-Slark should be played in the safe lane

-Slark should also solo the hard lane

-Slark doesn't need a lane partner except for when he does

-Start with a bottle on mid as long as I never start with a bottle on mid

-Slark is solely a pubstomp hero that nobody has seen pubstomp yet

-Slark is bad

-I'm bad

-Sometimes other heroes can counter Slark

-People used to say heroes were bad until they said they were good

-insert your favorite hero here can kill Slark using just two skills!

-r/dota2 is a very indecisive batch of lads