Chris Barton

Founder and Creator of Shazam, Entrepreneur, Inventor & Tech Investor

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Biography

Chris Barton wanted a way to identify songs he was hearing everywhere around him. There wasn’t one – so he invented an app called Shazam. Chris’s creation is nothing short of pure magic. That was his goal. Chris seeks to delight people by using technology to make seemingly impossible ideas come to life. Read More >

Shazam, which now has over two billion downloads, is just one of them. In addition to creating Shazam, which Apple acquired for $400 million, Chris holds 12 patents and played key roles in the early days of Google and Dropbox.

Despite having dyslexia, incredibly, he didn’t let that get in his way. In fact, it gave him a different way of looking at problems. Chris’s newest venture, Guard, aims to use AI to detect drowning in swimming pools.

In his speeches, Chris’s story and storytelling completely captivate audiences. He inspires people to make big things happen in their organizations – to create magic in defiance of the obstacles. Read Less ^

Speech Topics

CREATE YOUR OWN SHAZAM MAGIC: Disrupt Your Thinking. Defy Barriers. Inspire Delight.

From the moment Chris Barton dreamt up Shazam, he was told identifying songs out of thin air was impossible. His path from a dream to a $400 million acquisition by Apple is a story out of a Hollywood movie. Meanwhile, Shazam has racked up over two billion downloads! Chris’s story and insights give people the inspiration and tools to accomplish big things within their own organizations. Chris customizes the emphasis of this presentation for each individual audience. He introduces lessons learned from founding Shazam, as well as his pioneering involvement with Android at Google and mobile partnerships at Dropbox. Concepts like “creative persistence” and his Start from Zero methodology are new ways of thinking and overcoming barriers. Startups use these concepts to tackle insurmountable obstacles, and you should too. Make big things happen and create Shazam-like magic in defiance of all odds. Read More >

The format can be a presentation or moderated conversation. Chris can tailor an inspiring message on creativity, innovation, leadership, resilience, collaboration, and more. Audiences learn how to make big things happen by: Read Less ^

Questioning the familiar to distill to the basic truths
Overcoming barriers with creative persistence
Remaining focused on core insights despite resistance
Making things simple and friction-free
Replacing “uninspiring” with “delightful” by connecting to emotions

Testimonials

“Chris’s keynote completely captivated our audience of 1700+ SAP customers, partners, and employees. His talk was truly entertaining and inspiring. Our audience’s perception of entrepreneurial innovation was completely transformed.”

- Managing Director, Switzerland, SAP

“Chris customized a powerful keynote that delivered significant value for Coca-Cola. His messages sparked action among our executives and inspired our bottler partners toward our goals. Chris’s energy and enthusiasm really stands out. He is an inspiration with truly eye-opening insights and stories.”

- VP Customer & Commercial Leadership, Coca-Cola

“We recently had Chris Barton speak at our 40th anniversary celebration. He delivered what was by far the best one hour keynote that our clients and staff had ever seen. Chris was insightful, energetic, and entertaining speaker with thought-provoking ideas.”

- CEO, Costa Rica, Porter Novelli

“Brilliant brilliant brilliant speaker! Chris delivered an inspiring and on point presentation tailored to over 7,000 Optus employees to launch our new Innovation strategy. To date, Chris’s talk attracted the highest in real time attendance and engagement as compared to any other speaker we have had on this topic. Chris shed light on how innovation can be a big breakthrough, but it can also be an everyday improvement sharing practical examples from his time at Shazam and Google. The presentation balanced both the mindset that is required to drive a cultural shift for innovation as well as the process to bring innovative ideas to life. Chris delivered a compelling talk that generated talkability across the organization with leaders revisiting the recording later with their teams to help reinforce key messages. Powerful content delivered with an engaging story!”

- Director Innovation Strategy, Optus

“Chris embodies inspiration from head to toe. We loved his stories and insights on the core mindsets that lead to game-changing innovation. His delivery was fun, genuine and honest, both during his speech and as our “guest star” at my leadership team’s offsite dinner.”

- CEO, Mexico, L’Oréal

“Every single person loved your presentation. All day people were coming up to me. Loved that there was so much take away. People are still buzzing about your presentation days later. Thanks for making me look good."

- Sr. Vice President/Chief Operations Officer, YMCA