Who Dane works with

The impact that Dane has had on our entrepreneurs and their business is significant.

Wavemaker Partners is a Singapore-headquartered Venture Capital firm investing in early-stage enterprise, deep technology and sustainability startups in Southeast Asia. Over the last ten years of operation, we have invested in over 160 startups. Dane Hudson was appointed Venture Advisor on 1 April 2021 and has been actively supporting over 50 portfolio companies through board directorship, leadership development and coaching, CEO mentoring and skills development. Dane provides Leadership Coaching and Mentoring services to our portfolio companies. Beyond Directorship and Leadership Coaching, He also facilitates Wavemaker Partner's Scaling Curriculum, a series of workshops for our entrepreneurs on topics around leadership, strategy, organisational design and organisational development. The impact that Dane has had on our entrepreneurs and their business is significant. I highly recommend Dane Hudson as a coach and advisor. His extensive global executive experience and his Impactful Leadership content makes him a significant contributor to any CEO, Founder or leader.

You gave me the confidence and clarity needed to lead effectively through this period of profound change.

I am very grateful for Dane's guidance throughout one of the most challenging and transformative periods of my career and as new CEO of a large ASX-listed company. I valued the assistance in managing the diverse personalities and agendas within the board while giving me perspective and helping to establish a robust strategy. What made the engagement with Impactful Leadership so powerful was your flexibility to pivot and address leadership challenges as they emerged, always ready to chop and change your teachings depending on my specific needs in the moment. Your depth of experience allowed me to engage meaningfully with every opportunity and challenge I brought to the table (and there were many) while maintaining focus on the overall objectives. You gave me the confidence and clarity needed to lead effectively through this period of profound change. What began as a six-month engagement ultimately extended well beyond that because of the skills & support you provided to both me and the organisation.

They say it is lonely as a Founder and Dane helps make it a lot less so.

Dane was my executive coach for the last 2 or so years since the beginning of Pluang and has been a great mentor, teacher and coach to improve my leadership skills. He has been a valuable resource in helping us through tough decisions and challenges, as well as in working with Richard and I on improving our leadership capabilities. We found the frameworks for things like HR and decision making particularly useful. Thanks so much Dane in helping us become better leaders! Still got a lot of work to do to get us there but very happy with the overall progress! They say it is lonely as a Founder and Dane helps make it a lot less so.

The work hasn't been about big theories or frameworks, but about small behaviors that really matter.

I initially went into coaching fairly skeptical. I wasn't convinced it would add much value and thought it might end up being a bit of a formality. I'm glad I was wrong. Working with Dane has helped me become a much more aware and intentional leader in a relatively short period of time. What has been most impactful is that the work hasn't been about big theories or frameworks, but about small behaviors that really matter. Things like listening more carefully, speaking last in discussions, being more conscious of how I show up, and building stronger trust and feedback loops with my team. Those small changes have had a real impact. I feel the difference in how I lead and several colleagues have mentioned that they've noticed a shift as well. Dane has a great ability to challenge you in a constructive way while keeping everything practical and grounded in real situations. I'm grateful for the impact he's had on my leadership and would strongly recommend him to anyone looking to grow as a leader.

Clear direction and initiatives for me to build increased trust with my team, while also maintaining discipline and accountability.

Dane has supported me as a coach and mentor for close to a year. Although I am an experienced multi-national CEO running Australia's largest renewable energy company, his coaching and Impactful Leadership content has provided clear direction and initiatives for me to build increased trust with my team, while also maintaining discipline and accountability. I strongly encourage any CEO to speak with Dane, as I am sure he will be able to assist them on their leadership journey.

Dane is also a good listener and is a very experienced mentor and coach.

I have known Dane Hudson for over seven years. He is a very experienced executive and builds and develops diverse and strong teams. He has knowledge, skills and expertise of a variety of businesses and he has strong strategic and operational skills. In addition to his intellectual capabilities, he has significant emotional intelligence and great communication skills. He understands how to develop strong cultures and is uniquely experienced in both Asia and the West. Dane is also a good listener and is a very experienced mentor and coach. I would recommend him to anyone who wants a trusted confidant who can help develop their career and develop their leadership skills and how to get strong followership.

He takes time to understand my goals and challenges, and his coaching is both insightful and practical.

Lyka is Australia's healthiest pet food company that provides fresh food on demand. It is reshaping an industry built around highly processed and an unnatural foods for pets. I have had the pleasure of working with Dane since January 2023 and can confidently say that he has had a significant impact on my leadership approach. Dane's extensive experience on a broad range of topics and his comprehensive materials have been invaluable to me. Dane's commitment to my success and the success of my company is evident in the tailored coaching he provides. He takes time to understand my goals and challenges, and his coaching is both insightful and practical. Working with Dane has been an absolute pleasure, and I highly recommend him to anyone looking to their leadership skills to the next level.

Having my ideas challenged by a seasoned CEO enabled me to hit the ground running on my first day in role.

While preparing my transition into the role as the CEO of a large company, I had the privilege to work with Dane as my coach. During our sessions, Dane helped me mentally prepare for this new role and shared his vast experience with me; this helped me understand the leadership role challenges ahead. Using a combination of leadership coaching conversations and introduction to tactics needed as a first time CEO, I built my 100 day plan as part of these coaching sessions. Having the opportunity to combine mental and personal development along with the active leadership learning process made these sessions unique. The opportunity to confidentially share my thoughts, and have my ideas challenged by seasoned CEO, enabled me to hit the ground running on my first day in role.

To call Dane my 'CEO coach' would be a disservice. Dane has mentored and cared for me like family.

10 years after founding and running one of the most successful tech companies of the ASEAN region, I found myself in an unfamiliar spot – finally with time to rethink work, relationships and life more broadly. It was a tall order. I needed someone who had the battle scars from being in similar situations before, patience to share that knowledge transparently and the skill to deliver those nuggets of wisdom in a way that I could absorb effectively. In Dane, I found that and much more. To call Dane my 'CEO coach' would be a disservice – Dane has mentored and cared for me like family as I have made this transition to my second act.

In working with Dane for over three years now, I've grown significantly in my leadership as I learn from him.

Growing as a leader has been my major priority, so I made the decision to get a coach to help me grow faster instead of just learning by doing. In the past four months, I've grown significantly in my leadership as I learn from my coach, Dane Hudson. My recent performance appraisal from my team affirmed my growth as a leader. This is a journey and I am still at the beginning, but I aspire to be a great leader — which I am confident to achieve with Dane's coaching.

Dane has coached at least half of our founders and we see the impact of his assistance.

Argor is a venture capital fund that focuses exclusively in Southeast Asia and is very particular and selective with who we invest in. Given we have a small portfolio, it is critical that our founders are ably supported. Dane has coached at least half of our founders and we see the impact of his assistance. I can highly recommend Dane as a coach, mentor and advisor to any CEO or leader.

The feedback we receive from our founders is extremely positive, and we as investors also see the difference.

Elev8.vc is Singapore's premier deep tech venture capital fund investing in B2B startups. We discovered Dane as a CEO/Founder coach in 2022 and since that time he has mentored four of our portfolio CEOs. The feedback we receive from our founders is extremely positive in terms of the leadership coaching and business guidance that Dane provides. Importantly, we as investors also see the difference in our founders because of Dane's guidance. We can highly recommend Dane as a CEO coach and mentor!

Dane is engaging, relatable and beyond all, has a wealth of real-world knowledge.

I have been fortunate enough to have been engaged in a Leadership Coaching program with Dane, since January 2021. Dane tailors the program to ensure current business challenges that arise are addressed, whilst maintaining the program deliverables. Not only have I benefited greatly in the coaching and development of my personal leadership style and capabilities, I have also been able to transfer these skills and learnings to help mentor others on the executive team at Frostbland. Throughout this program, Dane has come to understand many idiosyncrasies of our business and as such, we have further engaged his services to facilitate our Leadership Strategic Vision workshop. Dane is engaging, relatable and beyond all, has a wealth of real-world knowledge, that has been invaluable in my journey thus far under his guidance.

Our major investor, Wavemaker, recommended Dane given his extensive leadership experience and his knowledge of scaling start-ups in Asia.

Heyy was founded in 2021 and is a Singapore-based mental health technology start-up. As the founder of a rapidly growing business, I realised that I needed coaching and advice from an experienced leader. Our major investor, Wavemaker recommended Dane Hudson given his extensive leadership experience, his knowledge of scaling start-ups in Asia and his extensive leadership content and frameworks. I am very excited in having Dane by my side.

My only regret is not to have started working with him earlier.

I am very honoured to have the privilege to work with Dane in my journey to grow igloocompany in the past 9 months. Across all the myriads of problems in scaling a start-up against the COVID pandemic backdrop, Dane has been extremely sharp and insightful in offering his guidance. His coaching style is one that is very empathetic and warm, and at the same time, he challenges you to make the hard decisions to do the best for the business. Under his tutelage and mentorship, I have learnt and grown significantly as a leader and most importantly as a person. Beyond coaching, Dane is very generous in sharing his vast experiences, as well as providing access to his deep network across various parts of the world. His involvement with igloocompany has not only served as a steady influence that shaped my leadership style, but also a beacon of support and strength to the wider team. My only regret is not having started working with him earlier! Thanks for everything Dane — to greater heights!

Dane's vast senior management experience globally, combined with his extensive network in Asia, has been a great support.

Dane's vast senior management experiences globally, combined with his extensive network in Asia, and his warm yet firm approach, equips him well to coach business leaders in the region. I have had the pleasure of knowing Dane for the past 3 years and must attest to his high standards and say that he is someone who will push you to your next level.

Working with Dane has transformed how we approach our sales process.

Freeboh is a dynamic company providing innovative workforce management solutions that help organizations optimize staffing and operational efficiency. Working with Dane has transformed how we approach our sales process. His structured guidance and insightful questioning led us to develop a more focused approach to communicating our value proposition to potential clients. What truly sets Dane apart is not only his strategic expertise but his remarkable generosity in sharing ideas and opening doors to his extensive network. His coaching combines strategic vision with practical frameworks, allowing our team to implement immediate changes with tangible results. I am deeply grateful for Dane's support and would highly recommend him to any organization looking to enhance their business approach and achieve greater clarity in their market positioning. The impact of his guidance continues to benefit our company well beyond our initial engagement.

His thoughtful insights and structured approach were instrumental in refining our five-year growth strategy.

Worldwide Hotels Group, Singapore's largest owner-operator of economy and mid-tier hotels, engaged Dane Hudson as my executive mentor during a pivotal growth phase. Dane is an impactful leader whose coaching helped sharpen my strategic focus and leadership effectiveness. He guided me in improving internal processes, fostering high-performing teams and aligning leadership practices with our company values to support sustainable growth. His thoughtful insights and structured approach were instrumental in refining our five-year growth strategy, ensuring it was both ambitious and executable. I deeply value his clarity, integrity, and ability to challenge constructively.

He's experienced and excels in leadership development through a structured program, rather than focusing on tactical advice.

I highly recommend Dane as a coach for any CEO or Founder. He's experienced and excels in leadership development through a structured program, rather than focusing on tactical advice. Dane is also friendly and open, and someone I genuinely looked forward to meeting. He also helped facilitate our company's strategy retreat which really helped us build team trust and alignment.

I therefore confidently recommend Dane as a CEO coach to any leader who aspires to grow their leadership capability and scale their business.

Infinid is an innovative FinTech company that enables homeowners to access their property wealth. I enlisted Dane's assistance to support me on my leadership growth as a Founder and CEO, and to be an advisor to guide me on some of the more difficult tactical and strategic decisions as we scale our business. He has definitely lived up to, if not exceeded my expectations. I therefore confidently recommend Dane as a CEO coach to any leader who aspires to grow their leadership capability and scale their business.

Having Dane as a coach and mentor has assisted me significantly on this journey helping me grow as a leader while also assisting me in making the right decisions through his insightful questioning.

Moon Technology is an early stage start up in Singapore building a very technologically advanced product for the global healthcare industry. There is so much for us to accomplish with complex decisions and tradeoffs to be made everyday. Having Dane as a coach and mentor has assisted me significantly on this journey helping me grow as a leader while also assisting me in making the right decisions through his insightful questioning. If you need a coach, I would strongly recommend you speak with Dane.

Within the first 10 minutes of meeting me, he clocked my issues.

Dane helped me during a crucial point in my career when I was thinking about leaving venture capital in order to join a portfolio company as an operator. Within the first 10 minutes of meeting me, he clocked my issues. He then talked me through a framework on emotional intelligence and identified where I was strong and where I was weak. It gave me the language to be able to understand myself better, and implement techniques to better handle situations that trigger me. I am forever grateful that we were connected at that exact point in my life where I needed it most. I'm a strong promoter of Dane for anyone who is going through a crucible moment in their career or is taking on a leadership role.

I can recommend connecting with Dane if your CEO needs a coach or assistance in improving their business.

Venturi Partners is a leading private equity firm investing in and working with consumer-focused companies across India and Southeast Asia that are creating category-defining or disruptive brands lead by visionary leaders and exceptional teams. Given Dane's extensive FMCG experience, over 20 years working in this region and his coaching of a wide range of founders and CEOs, it was logical for us to connect him with our portfolio company leaders. Since then, several of our portfolio companies have utilised Dane's expertise in either performing business diagnostics, which have a very clear focus on identifying opportunities to grow revenue and margin, or in his coaching and mentoring support. I can recommend connecting with Dane if your CEO needs a coach or assistance in improving their business.

I would highly recommend using Dane and leveraging his Impactful Leadership content.

Portcast is a Singapore-based technology startup, founded in 2017, and serving global manufacturers and logistics companies in making their supply chains more effective and sustainable. In this journey to be the best version of a leader as I can be, Dane has been coaching me with his expertise and experience of being a leader himself as well as coaching senior executives from multinational companies and tech startups in the SEA region. In the 12 months that we've worked together, I've really valued the discussions and insights with Dane — more specifically, the self-reflection through 360 degree feedback that Dane helped conduct; navigating through organizational challenges; thinking through what it means to be a 'leader' in the true sense. I would highly recommend using Dane and leveraging his Impactful Leadership content.

He is not just a coach, but a seasoned operator.

Dane has been a valuable coach and I highly recommend him to any founders or executives seeking to transition and grow. What stands out is that he is not just a coach, but a seasoned operator. He brings real-world experience and translates it into clear principles and frameworks that are practical to apply, both in leadership and in life. His coaching has been particularly helpful in identifying and working through blind spots. The progress in my thinking, decision-making and self-awareness is tangible. I would strongly recommend Dane to any leader looking to transition and grow with structure, clarity and honest challenge.

Dane's support has been invaluable to me and Sprout on our scaling journey.

It is gives me great pleasure to endorse Dane as a coach and mentor. As a start-up CEO with a team now of over 450 people, expanding internationally and driving towards our series C, we face a myriad of complex strategic and tactical issues every day. Dane's support leveraging his extensive personal CEO knowledge, Impactful Leadership content and experience coaching other founders across the region has been invaluable to me and Sprout on our scaling journey. I would highly recommend to any CEO utilising Dane as a coach and advisor.

I am privileged to have Dane as my mentor on corporate structuring and business leadership.

I am privileged to have Dane as my mentor on corporate structuring and business leadership. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience as a CEO with MNCs and a deep understanding of the culture and operations in this region. Dane is logical in his approach and clear minded. I have benefited tremendously from our discussions, covering how to best structure our business entities with an aim for IPO; as well the most effective leadership and management structure. I have translated our discussions into actions and am seeing good results.

A genuine and grounded person with a dry wit, which helped drive engagement and keep things fresh.

Linklaters is one of the world's leading legal firms, having been established in 1838 and now with offices around the globe. I engaged Dane to support me on my leadership growth. He has a wealth of experience from across sectors and geographies which provided a useful lens through which to assess my career priorities. His perspective and techniques helped me to identify opportunities and ways to overcome challenges. He took the time to get to know me and how my team view me, so that he could tailor his guidance. I enjoyed my meetings with Dane — he is a genuine and grounded person with a dry wit — which helped drive engagement and keep things fresh in his sessions.

I would highly recommend utilising Dane as a coach and advisor.

Transcelestial Technologies was founded in 2016 and is a Singapore-based technology startup delivering superfast global Internet distribution through its proprietary laser communications technology. With Transcelestial's rapid growth, I realised I needed guidance and mentoring from a seasoned leader to be successful in my role as a CEO and to support the company's expansion. My co-founder (Dr. Mohamad Danesh — Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer) and I decided to contract Dane Hudson to support us both in our leadership journeys. Dane has been coaching both founders now for almost 24 months. He has additionally supported the organisation with a number of workshops on various topics such as Sales Practices and Presentation Skills. His experience as a leader and coach is complemented by his extensive and practical Impactful Leadership content. I would highly recommend utilising Dane as a coach and advisor.

This has helped me navigate the investment landscape alongside early-stage developments.

Atomionics has built a groundbreaking quantum gravimeter technology, capable of a 10,000X improvement in pinpointing valuable resources like nickel, oil, copper, gold etc. I have been working with Dane since June 2022, and his contributions to the company has been remarkable even in such a short time. Dane has a diverse set of experiences in different functions of the business. He has been able to impart these unique learnings as a coach and advisor to me. This has helped me navigate the investment landscape alongside early stage developments. This has been absolutely crucial to our growth at Atomionics. His framework for coaching and leadership acts as a crucible for the brightest young entrepreneurs to grow as business leaders and lead high growth teams. This is a boon to the burgeoning Startup ecosystem in Singapore.

Dane's extensive, hands-on experience and insights across industries have helped in a very substantive and practical way.

As an Owner and 'active' Managing Director of a high growth (manufacturing) business, Dane's extensive, hands-on experience and insights across Industries have helped in a very substantive and practical way to walk the fine line of guiding the CEO who manages the business.

His coaching framework and material are immensely insightful to young founding CEOs like me.

Polybee is building an autonomous service for pollination and yield forecasting using nano-drones and AI to increase profits in fresh produce. I have been working with Dane since July 2022, and his contributions to the company have been remarkable even in such a short time. Dane has rich, deep and wide-ranging experience in business leadership across different functions. His coaching framework and material are immensely insightful to young founding CEOs like me, of which there are many in South East Asia's vibrant startup ecosystem.

His business diagnostic was clear, practical, and actionable.

IMMEX is one of Sydney's largest and most respected specialized Occupational Health and Medical Practices, with facilities across the Sydney region. We engaged Dane with two key objectives. Firstly, to conduct a business diagnostic that would guide IMMEX's continued growth while preserving our excellent service delivery; and secondly, to support my development as a leader. Dane has over-delivered on both fronts. His business diagnostic was clear, practical, and actionable. His leadership coaching, drawing on the Impactful Leadership framework, has significantly enhanced my effectiveness as CEO. I can highly recommend Dane if your are seeking a consultant to improve your business, or if you are a CEO looking to develop and grow.

I can confidently assert that Dane is an inspirational leader with strong leadership and strategic thinking.

I can confidently assert that Dane is an inspirational leader with strong leadership and strategic thinking. Due to Dane's diverse experience in leading and consulting in several types of businesses, he can give applicable advice and solutions that are impactful to support any organization. I highly recommend Dane as he has amazing leadership, as well as business development and performance consulting skills to help best facilitate any company's growth.

He has educated me on how to be a CEO while also providing guidance in how to evaluate and make decisions in challenging situations.

At Peec, we design and manufacture the petrol-to-electric transition envisioning a way to save petrol-running vehicles — and turn them into next-generation assets. As a new CEO I knew that I needed guidance on this journey so enlisted help from Dane Hudson. I have been extremely pleased with my experience with Dane as a coach, mentor and advisor. He has educated me on how to be a CEO while also providing guidance in how to evaluate and make decisions in challenging situations. The breadth of his experience paired with his empathetic nature truly does make the sessions with him extremely effective, engaging, and comforting for any CEO going through their journey of ups & downs. I can wholeheartedly recommend Dane to support any CEO, regardless of their industry as Dane's coaching and experience is relevant in any industry.