the shortcut that it creates when clicking on the 'start' button points to c:\programdata\microsoft\windows\start menu\programs\bartender9.3 which i think is what you meant by a 'smart shortcut'
the actual exe itself is in c:\program files (x86)\seagull\bartender suite.
no matter which way i try it, it ignores me....(what am I married to this? lol)
what I did today was to create a new pool of machines (1803) and did NOT do the VMware OS Optimization Tool
and now the app starts just fine.