Hurun Founder Rupert Hoogewerf Kicks off Dulwich Horizons 2022

Students at Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong enjoy endless learning opportunities in the classroom, on the playing field, online, and in the wider world. These opportunities help our students acquire the knowledge, skills, and motivation to make a positive difference in the world.

This week we were thrilled to kick off our 2022 Dulwich Horizons speaker series with none other than Mr. Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of The Hurun Report. Publisher of the annual China Rich List, The Hurun Report is one of the most influential business media in China and around the world.

Mr. Hoogewerf shared his personal story of entrepreneurship with a group of 12 Senior School students at a round-table discussion. Our students posed a number of insightful questions to Mr. Hoogewerf including:

What were his biggest challenges and how did he overcome them?

• How to find and keep your motivation?
• What does it take to manage a successful business?

Mr. Hoogewerf shared advice, gathered from 20 years of experience, for our aspiring entrepreneurs. The best entrepreneurs, he says, have these five distinct capabilities:

• Vision
• Courage
• Leadership
• Decision-making
• Luck

Mr. Hoogewerf also emphasised that these capabilities can be learned. He singled out the role that the holistic education offered at Dulwich Pudong plays in developing them.

Mr. Hoogewerf challenged our aspiring entrepreneurs to focus on what the world will be like in 15 years. He invited our students to compose a letter to a 15-years-older version of themselves as way to cultivate and develop vision.

After meeting with students, Mr. Hoogewerf then delivered a talk to our Dulwich Pudong parents on the subject of Youth Leadership. Based on his research, he reminded us that even though the challenges facing us are real, there are also incredible opportunities, citing the fact that the number of unicorn companies in China has more than doubled in the last two years.

"Every generation thinks that everything has already been done and there's nothing left for us to do," said Mr. Hoogewerf. "But there are more opportunities out there now than there ever have been before."

About Dulwich Horizons

The Dulwich Horizons Future Leaders Series brings together industry-leading professionals with current Dulwich Pudong Senior School students for dynamic, open-ended sharing sessions.

Professionals come from a variety of fields, each representing the highest level of personal and professional achievement. They engage our students in lively, thoughtful, open-ended discussions reflecting the true nature of the world beyond the classroom.

In the past our students have met luminaries such as:

• William Fay – Hollywood producer
• Ellen MacArthur – World-record setting yachtswoman andactivist
• Ellie Simmonds – para-Olympic gold medalist
• Mike Gatting – England cricket captain
• Joe Xia – Co-founder and CTO of Mobike
• Michael Ma - CEO of WME | IMG China
• David Wei – former CEO of Alibaba

"Ever since our founding in 2003, Dulwich Pudong has been preparing students for global leadership," says Head of College, Caroline Taylor. "Whether that is in the business world, the arts, non-profits, government, or civil service, our graduates are well known for having the skills and confidence to succeed in whatever field they choose.”