About Us
Are you looking for the top talent in technology? You’ve come to the right place.
SMASH is an American talent company with headquarters all over the world, including the United States, Costa Rica, Colombia, and more.
The secret to our success lies with our top-tier talent and long-term relationships. This commitment means you can always find the highest quality, motivated, and experienced technology candidates when you need them most.
SMASH is the vision of CEO Kelly Phillipps, who started his career in tech when it was still called “data processing.” It was a very different world then, but it made Kelly hungry and humble. It also gave him a working knowledge of the tech industry from the ground up. These qualities set him up for lasting success.
Decades later, Kelly faced a dire problem as CTO of Backcountry.com: a shortage of qualified IT engineers. Kelly decided to radically change his hiring process to continue growing his company. And what he learned set the foundation for what would become SMASH. It also gave him a cutting edge in finding untapped talent around the world.
Now, Kelly and his team focus all their energy on finding the best IT professionals and helping other companies build the teams of their dreams.
When you partner with SMASH, our team does all the work for you. We’ve cracked the code for finding, hiring, and retaining the finest employees around. This revolutionary approach allows companies to manage their staff on their own terms, build teams meant to last, and cut hiring costs at the same time – and that adds up to good business.
What do our Clients have to say about SMASH?
At first we thought we would have a “Costa Rican” team, then SMASH convinced us to go with what they call “geographic transparency” it doesn’t matter where you sit. At Extra Space Storage we just have teams that happen to have people from Costa Rica and people from Utah. We are so glad we did.
Jeff Stott
SVP Information Technology
Smash has been a key partner in helping our company move faster and more efficiently. For the past three years, Smash has assisted us in providing value and helping us scale more quickly than we could via local talent. Our Smasher aren’t just contractors…they’re members of our team who we utilize as heavily as any other engineer. From React to C#, the Ticos from Smash have proven to be indispensable to our team’s success.
Nate Green
Director of Software Engineering at Extra Space Storage
Smash has been a reliable partner and key to the success of our software engineering program over the last few years. They have consistently provided talented, dedicated engineers to join our teams - usually much more quickly than other hiring channels. The embedded model has resulted in high morale and quality outcomes, as well as impressive tenure and loyalty.
Rich Keeler
Sr Director of Software Engineering at Extra Space Storage
Meet Our Founders
Kelly Phillipps
SMASH CEO
Kelly began his tech journey during the era of “data processing,” a vastly different landscape. He sees his early limited access to a system he wasn’t fully qualified for as a stroke of luck. This experience fostered in him a sense of drive and humility, which have been key factors in his lasting success.
Decades later, as the CTO of backcountry.com, Kelly confronted a pressing issue: a shortage of qualified IT engineers. Determined to fuel the company’s growth, he overhauled the hiring process. This initiative not only formed the basis for what would later become SMASH but also positioned him at the forefront of discovering untapped talent worldwide.
Matt Phillipps
SMASH VP – Co-Founder
With over 30 years in technology, Matt emphasizes experience over age. His passion for driving organizational change and refining processes has guided him through the challenges of launching SMASH a decade ago.
Matt is skilled in data analytics, AI, and infrastructure, leveraging his dedication and expertise to effectively address technology and organizational challenges. With experience spanning large corporations to startups, he values the critical role of talent in achieving success and ensures that SMASH prioritizes hiring top talent.
During the day, Matt enjoys solving puzzles with the dedicated team he and Kelly have built. Outside of work, he cherishes family adventures in the great outdoors.