Trace Smith was not supposed to be in hospitality. He was working 100-hour weeks in private equity, on a path that looked successful on paper but felt empty in practice.
“I didn’t see myself doing it for the next 25 years,” Smith said. “I was pretty unfulfilled.”
The call that changed everything came from a former colleague who had spotted something early. The craft beer boom was accelerating, jumping from just dozens of breweries decades earlier to thousands across the United States. But the infrastructure around it had not caught up. The industry was still operating without modern systems to connect producers, retailers, and consumers.
“He noticed all this change happening in the beverage space,” Smith said. “And there just wasn’t technology keeping up with it.”
What started as a conversation about helping raise money quickly became something else. Smith left private equity and joined full time, trading stability for uncertainty and the chance to build something from the ground up.
“I’m gonna jump off this treadmill and jump onto another one with you,” he said.
Building The Infrastructure
Next Glass did not grow by chasing trends. It grew by connecting layers of an industry that had been operating in silos.
At the center of that is Untappd for Business, a platform that helps operators manage menus and turn them into tools that drive real discovery and foot traffic.
“We realized we could build a better menu management platform,” Smith said. “Where operators could add items quickly and have all the information in one place.”
Instead of pulling details from multiple sources, restaurants can manage beverage menus through a database-backed system and publish them directly to a built-in audience of consumers already searching for what to drink next.
That middle layer is where the value compounds.
“If you’re used to editing menus in Word or on a chalkboard, and you can do it instantly in one place, that’s a delightful experience,” Smith said.
From Two Sales Reps to Global Reach
When Untappd for Business launched, there were two sales reps and zero customers.
Within a few years, the platform scaled to more than 10,000 locations across 70 countries. That growth did not come from a single tactic. It came from a focus on building something operators actually wanted to use.
“You might be able to sell a product once,” Smith said. “But word travels pretty quickly.”
The team stayed focused on what mattered: building a great product, creating a better experience, and making life easier for operators.
“We’re saving people a lot of time,” Smith said. “We’re empowering them to enhance the guest experience.”
That is where software becomes more than a tool. It becomes part of the operation.
Integration Over Complexity
One of the clearest examples of this approach is Next Glass’s integration with Toast.
Instead of forcing operators to duplicate work, the integration allows menu data entered into the POS to flow directly into Untappd for Business. From there, it can be published across digital menus, signage, websites, and the Untappd app.
“I shouldn’t have to add something in one system and then go do it again somewhere else,” Smith said.
For restaurants, that kind of connection is more valuable than another standalone feature. It reduces friction during service and keeps teams focused on execution.
“We’re not building things we think are cool,” Smith said. “We’re building what our customers want us to build.”
Digital Hospitality Starts Behind The Scenes
The story of Next Glass is not just about beverage data or menu software. It is about building infrastructure that supports better guest experiences without getting in the way.
From leaving a stable career to navigating the uncertainty of COVID, Smith’s journey reflects a pattern seen across hospitality and technology alike. The work is not linear. The wins are not guaranteed. Progress comes from staying focused on the problem when everything around it is changing.
“If you’re going through hell, keep going,” Smith said.
For operators, the takeaway is simple.
The tools you choose should reduce friction, not add to it. They should help you serve guests better, not distract from it. And they should give you more control over your business, not less.
That is what digital hospitality looks like when it works.
