Chris Barton


  • Keynote Speaker
  • Shazam Founder | Global Entrepreneur
  • Based in United States
  • Showreel
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Chris Barton is the founder and creator of Shazam, widely recognised as the first mass consumer AI product in history and later acquired by Apple as its sixth-largest acquisition ever. A three-time startup founder who previously worked at Google and Dropbox, he now holds 12 patents and teaches innovation and entrepreneurship, sharing lessons on bringing impossible ideas to life.

Description

Chris Barton keynote speaker sessions leave audiences believing in the limitless potential of ideas. Chris is the founder and creator of Shazam. It is widely recognised as the first mass consumer AI product in history. Apple acquired Shazam in 2018 as its sixth-largest acquisition ever. Today, Shazam has over 2 billion downloads and more than 100 billion songs Shazamed worldwide.

Chris Barton keynote speaker: from Google and Dropbox to founding Shazam

Chris is a three-time startup founder. He is also an active advisor and investor to emerging companies. Before Shazam, he served as Google’s first Head of Mobile Relations. He was later a founding member of Google’s Android Partnerships team. Chris was also one of the first 100 employees at Dropbox, where he spent four years leading carrier partnerships. He is an inventor with 12 patents to his name, including one used within a Google algorithm. He also teaches innovation and entrepreneurship across four online universities.

Bringing impossible ideas to life

In his presentations, Chris discusses his “Start From Zero” thinking approach. It involves questioning established norms and defying conventional wisdom. His compelling narrative captivates audiences. It inspires them to achieve extraordinary feats in their own organisations. One of Chris’s latest innovations, Guard, employs AI to detect drowning in swimming pools, a feat never achieved before.

Organisations that book Chris Barton keynote speaker sessions can expect jaw-dropping stories about creating Shazam and practical lessons on turning impossible ideas into reality. Explore more business keynote speakers represented by Corporate Speakers Global, or read more about his story on Wikipedia.

Keynote Topics

Bring Impossible Ideas to Life

Technology & A.I. are dramatically changing what’s possible in our world. Our challenge as we create new things is to dislodge from the comfort of what we already know. Chris Barton created Shazam after being told by every “expert” that his outlandish idea was impossible. It was an idea far ahead of its time. In this presentation, Barton helps audiences imagine and then create new visions for the future. He inspires with jaw-dropping stories about creating Shazam and shows how innovation comes from not just an idea, but from a series of insights to overcome obstacles along the way.

Overcome Obstacles with Imagination

A great idea gets you nowhere without tenacity. True disruption requires both persistence and creative solutions. In creating Shazam, Chris Barton faced obstacles, many thought were insurmountable. Most would have given up, but he refused. Instead, Barton challenged every assumption about the obstacles he faced. He shares stories and actionable lessons that inspire audiences to pursue their dreams.

Build the Vision You See (But Others Don’t)

Entrepreneurs have passion, ideas, and desire but can get stuck on the difficult journey to achieving their dreams. They want to bring something truly new to the world, but need to learn how to overcome big obstacles, choose their priorities, and convince others of their vision. Chris Barton inspires and teaches entrepreneurs using the story of Shazam’s creation, including the scrappy and creative hacks that transformed an idea into a product with two billion customers.

Eliminate Effort to Unlock Explosive Growth

We all know simple is great, so why don’t all organizations create amazing things just like Apple? The reality is that friction permeates almost everything we do. This “extra effort” frustrates our customers, partners, and colleagues. In creating Shazam, Chris moved mountains to make one thing very easy – identifying any song. Shazam changed the way the world discovers music. Chris Barton combines stories from creating Shazam with his twelve years at Android (Google) and Dropbox to provide concrete examples of how we can all push boundaries to eliminate friction.