Unwavering perseverance, robust leadership, and the continuous drive to help others are just some of the essential values that Mr. Walter de Oude shared during the Singapore Mentorship Committee’s hike on May 27th, 2023. It was an utmost privilege for the Singapore Mentorship Committee to have hosted Mr de Oude who, as the founder of Chocolate Finance and SingLife, paved his way to become a top global entrepreneur within the crowded spaces of Finance and Insurance.

Drawing from his vast wealth of experience while working in top finance firms over the past 20 years, Mr. de Oude emphasized the importance of having the ability to make robust and effective decisions even in times of uncertainty. He stressed that leaders and entrepreneurs should have the mindset of always staying aligned and focused on the larger end goals. By understanding these philosophies and beliefs, it provides insights into how great leaders and entrepreneurs maintain their consistency at the top level even through the toughest of challenges.

Photo of Javier with Mr Walter de Oude

An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future

As a top global entrepreneur himself, Mr. de Oude’s motivation for excellence stems from his passion and continuous will to contribute meaningfully to society and the lives of others in future. He summarised his beliefs into three main aspects: Purpose, Adaptability, and Trust.

Firstly, beyond just being an exceptional leader and entrepreneur, Mr. de Oude laid out the importance of doing tasks with a robust purpose. In his endeavours, Mr. de Oude wanted to merge the domains of banking, investment, and insurance into a single entity in order to simplify the financial needs of current customers. By clearly understanding the end user pain points, he envisioned a clear pipeline to tackle these issues head-on with the purpose of empowering and benefiting others, even in the most subtle of ways. The ability to continuously give back and share provides exceptional entrepreneurs, like himself, a sense of fulfilment that further fuels their compassion for helping others.

Secondly, top entrepreneurs always have the courage to take on challenges and explore new domains. They effectively adapt and leverage rapidly advancing technology to make processes smarter, more productive, and more efficient. They yearn to have a growth mindset to continuously explore areas that go beyond their comfort zone. They can then provide novel solutions which deviate from conventional thinking, when the right opportunity arises.

Lastly, leaders and entrepreneurs have the ability to establish strong trust and integrity-based relationships with others. They are able to understand their customers and partners well and would always continuously show their unwavering support in a multitude of different aspects.

These essential qualities help groom top global entrepreneurs as they strike a comfortable balance between purpose, resilience, and integrity. They never back down from uncertainty and obstacles, but rather, always positively position themselves for long-term visions and goals.

Group photo for 27th May SYHL

The Importance of Purpose

Beyond sharing the qualities to become a top global entrepreneur and leader, Mr. de Oude also expounded on his aspirations as to why he chose to venture into entrepreneurship despite having excellent standing within the company. He saw that many of the current customers he interacted with wanted to see Change. They wanted to shift away from traditional means of banking and insurance to explore new methods that were refreshing and innovative.

As such, this “spark” generated his self-determination and purpose to continuously build up the solution for this Change. More importantly, he highlighted the need for each individual to strive to find this “spark” which will naturally enable them to always be passionate and committed. He quoted: “The best entrepreneurs find what they are interested and passionate towards rather than have someone tell them what they should be passionate towards.” This direction enables future entrepreneurs to strive for excellence rather than success, and passion instead of comparison.

A strong passion creates the ability for an individual to always bounce back from adversities. They learn from their mistakes and acknowledge their weaknesses in order to improve themselves while finding alternative ways to solve these issues. By being able to manoeuvre through these obstacles, they develop the ability to be comfortable with uncertainty and patient for opportunities. This develops a sense of fulfilment in what they are doing and enables them to maintain a positive outlook towards long-term future goals and pave a journey of their own.

Mr. de Oude embodies the definition of a top global-ready entrepreneur, leader, and individual who has demonstrated that a strong passion paves the way for success even in fast-paced and challenging environments. By adopting the mentalities that he shared, this lays a robust foundation for future entrepreneurs and leaders to always strive for continuous improvement towards a meaningful purpose.