Pitches, Pizza, & Pints

Scale. Acquisitions. A $425M capital transaction. Chris Byers has done it all — and he's bringing the real story to Pitches, Pizza & Pints on October 21. Network, pitch your business, and hear what it actually takes to build something big. Free pizza and drinks included. What does it actually take to scale a company from 7 people to 200+, land two major capital transactions, and then start something brand new? Come find out. Pitches, Pizza & Pints is The Verge's flagship founder event — a high-energy evening where entrepreneurs take the stage to pitch what they're building and get real feedback from the community. Each month we bring in an experienced founder to share the behind-the-scenes story of what it really took to build and scale their company. This month's featured founder is Chris Byers, CEO of Vibecore. Over nearly 14 years, Chris helped grow Formstack from a 7-person startup to a 200+ person company serving more than 35,000 customers — scaling through organic growth and six acquisitions along the way. He also led two major capital transactions, including a $425M growth equity deal with Silversmith Capital Partners. Today, Chris is building Vibecore, an advisory and engineering firm helping founders ship better vibe-coded products faster. Come network, deliver a 90-second elevator pitch ⏱️, and hear straight talk from someone who's done it at scale — all over free pizza and drinks!