Progress starts with the courage to question what exists.
Vijay Solanki helps leaders challenge familiar thinking, make innovation happen and find the courage to turn ideas into action. His work connects the entrepreneurial spirit of startups with the realities of leading established organisations.
Across more than 30 years, his international career spans the UK, Europe and Australia, including roles at Unilever, Capital Radio, Shazam, BlackBerry and Philips. As Shazam’s launch Marketing Director, he helped introduce a new way of discovering music. At Philips’ global headquarters in Amsterdam, he worked on digital innovation within a multinational business.
For more than a decade, Australia has been home. His Australian roles include Chief Digital Officer at Southern Cross Austereo, CEO of IAB Australia and Global Chief Marketing Officer at Sinorbis. Alongside his corporate career, he has founded a startup and coached more than 1,000 founders.
A psychology graduate and author of Founding Courage: Inside the Minds That Start Things, Vijay explores the human behaviours behind innovation and change. His keynotes combine personal stories, practical tools and audience participation to help people question assumptions, sharpen priorities and take purposeful action, including as they navigate the human challenges of AI.
Talking Points
Making Innovation Happen
Audiences learn how to turn an ambitious idea into a practical next step within their organisation. Drawing on his experience at Shazam, Unilever and Philips, Vijay explores the behaviours that help innovation progress and the habits that hold it back. Using the Delusion Gap and the Power of No from Founding Courage, participants examine assumptions, identify the evidence they need and sharpen their priorities. They leave able to define a manageable experiment that tests an idea before committing to a larger investment.
Making Innovation Happen
Leading Through Change in the AI Age
Audiences learn how to bring greater clarity, human judgement and purposeful action to AI-related change. Drawing on his corporate experience, founder coaching and Founding Courage, Vijay explores how curiosity, empathy and courage help leaders navigate uncertainty and involve others. Participants consider a challenge in their own organisation, separating what they know from what they assume and identifying the conversations needed to move forward. They leave able to frame a clearer leadership decision and define a focused experiment with a purpose, boundaries and a learning goal.
Leading Through Change in the AI Age
Building Your Next Stage of Growth
Business owners learn how to challenge assumptions and focus their attention on the opportunities that matter for their next stage of growth. Drawing on his corporate, startup and founder coaching experience, Vijay explores when familiar habits become constraints and how to balance conviction with customer understanding. Using ideas from Founding Courage, participants identify what to stop, defer or simplify to make room for progress. They leave able to choose a growth assumption to test and define a customer conversation or experiment to move it forward.
Building Your Next Stage of Growth
Video
Vijay Solanki - Shazam - getting the brand right for a start-up | Saxto Speakers
Having worked closely with Vijay during the formative years of lastminute.com, I recognise the depth of experience behind this book. Through honest storytelling and sharp psychology, he reve ... keep reading Brent Hoberman CBE
Vijay has a rare ability to blend marketing craft with entrepreneurial instinct — I saw it firsthand at Shazam. This book captures that brilliantly: sharp insights and practical actions that leaders can apply immediately to build more entrepreneurial organisations.
Entrepreneurs and founders come in all shapes and sizes. Some may be tech bros trying to emulate Silicon Valley and obsessed with world dominating scale. Yet far more startups have founders with a much wider focus, and this book also champions courageous entrepreneurs driven by service, purpose and impact.
