From impossible idea to global phenomenon, Chris Barton teaches leaders how real innovation actually happens.
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As technology accelerates, many organisations become consumed by keeping up, leaving innovation sidelined at the very moment competitive advantage is becoming harder to sustain.
When Chris Barton first imagined Shazam, there were no smartphones, no app stores, and experts at MIT and Stanford said the technology was impossible. What followed was a six-year battle through technical dead ends, near-bankruptcy, and relentless problem-solving that ultimately produced one of the world’s most beloved consumer technologies. Chris shares the practical mindsets and methods leaders can use to challenge assumptions, solve hard problems creatively, and keep moving when innovation gets uncomfortable.
Drawing on the principles that helped make Shazam a global success, Chris Barton reveals how friction quietly kills innovation, customer adoption, and business growth. From product design to leadership decisions, he shows how identifying and removing invisible points of resistance can unlock momentum, accelerate action, and create dramatically better outcomes.
Chris Barton is the visionary founder of Shazam, the revolutionary app that changed the way billions of people discover music and became one of the defining technology success stories of the digital era. What began as an idea that many believed was impossible became a global phenomenon, proving Chris’s belief that breakthrough innovation does not come from following the pace of change, but from challenging assumptions and creating what others cannot yet see. A sought-after keynote speaker, Chris brings audiences inside the real story behind one of tech’s most iconic innovations, revealing the creativity, persistence, and unconventional thinking required to turn bold ideas into reality. Drawing from his entrepreneurial journey, his work in Silicon Valley, and years spent solving problems others thought unsolvable, Chris shows leaders how to think beyond constraints, remove friction, and unlock innovation in a world where technology is rapidly leveling the playing field. Chris’s keynotes are practical, energizing, and deeply relevant for organizations navigating disruption, growth, and reinvention. He equips leaders and teams with frameworks to challenge conventional thinking, embrace creativity as a competitive advantage, and build cultures where innovation can thrive, even in the face of uncertainty. With a rare combination of visionary thinking, entrepreneurial credibility, and highly actionable insight, Chris Barton inspires audiences to stop simply keeping up with change and start creating what comes next.
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