With David Prokupek as CEO and Ryan focusing on developing the menu, the restaurant was designed with quick scalability in mind.
The first Smashburger restaurant opened in Denver in June 2007, and the chain then expanded to Houston, and then to Minneapolis, areas where Ryan and other founding management were familiar with the local real estate market.

Marketing for the restaurants focused on the customizability of the menu, freshness of ingredients, and features to give each restaurant a local feel.
The chain's first marketing revolved around the tagline "Smash, sizzle, savor."
In 2011, as the business was growing at a steady clip, it shifted its theme to "Smashed Fresh.
Served Delicious."
The restaurant identified 14 distinct customer archetypes to pursue based on income levels, geography, education and lifestyle.
While it initially relied heavily on social media to build its brand, the company started television and radio advertising in 2013 with Denver-based Definite Productions as a marketing manager.
It later hired one of the executives from that company as chief marketing officer.

The restaurant chain grew to 143 locations, half franchises, and $54 million in annual revenue by the end of 2011.
That year, it was reported to have as many as 450 franchise agreements in the books.
That year it announced plans to open new locations around airport in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain through franchises.
It had grown to 170 locations around the world by 2013, and $228 million in revenue.
In 2014 it grew to 256 locations and $300 million in revenue.
It had grown to 312 stores with 7,000 employees in early 2015.
In mid-2016 this had grown to 365 locations.
That year, the company announced a franchise agreement with Pearl Investments LLC to open 26 new locations in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
By mid-2017, this had grown to 380 locations in 38 U.S. states and nine countries, of which 220 were company owned and the rest were franchises.

The success of Smashburger and other specialty burger restaurants is credited with taking market share from major fast food brands like McDonald's, even with Smashburger's burgers sold at higher prices.
Where McDonald's was considered the market leader for casual dining, it saw a sales drop of 2.4 percent and a 15 percent drop in net income in 2014, the first decline in those figures in 33 years.
Changed consumer tastes, in particular Smashburger's popularity, was credited, because of a customer perception that Smashburger's food was of higher quality and more customizable.
Still, Smashburger  commands a relatively small portion of the larger U.S. market for burgers.
The restaurant had an estimated 0.2 percent U.S. market share in 2014, compared to 1.4 percent for Five Guys and a combined 71 percent for McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King.
With David Prokupek as CEO and Ryan focusing on developing the menu, the restaurant was designed with quick scalability in mind. The first Smashburger restaurant opened in Denver in June 2007, and the chain then expanded to Houston, and then to Minneapolis, areas where Ryan and other founding management were familiar with the local real estate market.
Marketing for the restaurants focused on the customizability of the menu, freshness of ingredients, and features to give each restaurant a local feel. The chain's first marketing revolved around the tagline "Smash, sizzle, savor." In 2011, as the business was growing at a steady clip, it shifted its theme to "Smashed Fresh. Served Delicious." The restaurant identified 14 distinct customer archetypes to pursue based on income levels, geography, education and lifestyle. While it initially relied heavily on social media to build its brand, the company started television and radio advertising in 2013 with Denver-based Definite Productions as a marketing manager. It later hired one of the executives from that company as chief marketing officer. 
The restaurant chain grew to 143 locations, half franchises, and $54 million in annual revenue by the end of 2011. That year, it was reported to have as many as 450 franchise agreements in the books. That year it announced plans to open new locations around airport in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain through franchises. It had grown to 170 locations around the world by 2013, and $228 million in revenue. In 2014 it grew to 256 locations and $300 million in revenue. It had grown to 312 stores with 7,000 employees in early 2015. In mid-2016 this had grown to 365 locations. That year, the company announced a franchise agreement with Pearl Investments LLC to open 26 new locations in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. By mid-2017, this had grown to 380 locations in 38 U.S. states and nine countries, of which 220 were company owned and the rest were franchises.
The success of Smashburger and other specialty burger restaurants is credited with taking market share from major fast food brands like McDonald's, even with Smashburger's burgers sold at higher prices. Where McDonald's was considered the market leader for casual dining, it saw a sales drop of 2.4 percent and a 15 percent drop in net income in 2014, the first decline in those figures in 33 years. Changed consumer tastes, in particular Smashburger's popularity, was credited, because of a customer perception that Smashburger's food was of higher quality and more customizable. Still, Smashburger  commands a relatively small portion of the larger U.S. market for burgers. The restaurant had an estimated 0.2 percent U.S. market share in 2014, compared to 1.4 percent for Five Guys and a combined 71 percent for McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King.
Smashburger