The Journey · 2004 — Today

Every stop on this route taught me something the next one needed.

I didn't arrive in e-commerce through a graduate programme. I built a technology business first, sold it, then joined the industry in its earliest days — when "e-commerce" was still a new word in Asia. Twenty years later, the through-line is the same: build the system, own the number, grow the market.

And running quietly underneath the whole route: four bands, one marriage, one son, and a guitar case that has seen more airports than most executives.

Apr 2023 — Present · Singapore

Sonova Consumer Hearing (Sennheiser)

Head of E-Commerce, APAC & MEA

Leading a 15-market direct-to-consumer operation spanning Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, with full P&L accountability — and serving as de facto global platform lead for a 36-market Shopify Plus deployment.

Three consecutive years of above-plan growth, most recently finishing more than 30% ahead of target
Led the global migration of 36 markets to Shopify Plus in eight months — completed without losing a single trading day
17×+ blended return on performance media, with a media architecture balancing brand and performance investment
Launched new DTC markets including Hong Kong, and expanded cross-border commerce across Southeast Asia, China, and Taiwan
Sonova Excellence & Innovation Award — Process Improvement of the Year, 2026

Sean at the Sennheiser campus in Germany — At the brand's home, Germany

Sean with colleagues in the flagship listening room — Product immersion with the team

May 2016 — Feb 2023 · Asia-Pacific

Specialized Bicycle Components

APAC E-Commerce Leadership

Grew APAC e-commerce nearly 20-fold in seven years — through the most explosive demand cycle the cycling industry has ever seen.

Built rider-first digital commerce across APAC's most demanding and diverse markets, integrated with a dealer network
Proved that DTC and retail partners grow faster together than apart
Navigated the pandemic-era boom: record demand, global supply constraints, and a channel that suddenly became mission-critical

Sean with a mountain bike outside a Specialized concept store — Ride days, Singapore

Meanwhile · the whole time

Off the clock

Through every chapter: weekend soundchecks with four bands, a wedding with guitars in the photos, festival stages and pub backrooms — and lately, a small co-pilot who joins every trip.

Family on a flight together — The travelling co-pilots

2014 — 2016 · Singapore

Nomads Agency

Digital & E-Commerce Consulting

Agency-side years: building digital commerce and go-to-market strategies for client brands. Seeing dozens of businesses from the inside taught me pattern recognition — what makes commerce operations succeed, and the predictable ways they stall.

Dinner with the agency team — With the agency crew

Jul 2012 — Feb 2014 · Southeast Asia

Quiksilver

Digital Marketing & E-Commerce

Boardsports, big brand, early regional e-commerce. Performance marketing, SEO/SEM, and the craft of selling lifestyle online — before most brands in the region had figured out that they needed to.

With the Quiksilver team in the Singapore office — With the Quiksilver team, Singapore

2011 — 2012 · Singapore

JigoCity

First E-Commerce Role

An American e-commerce venture, and my entry into the industry when "e-commerce" was still a new term in this part of the world. The fundamentals I learned here — acquisition economics, conversion, operational tempo — have never stopped being relevant.

2004 — 2010 · Singapore

The Entrepreneur Years

Founder → Exit · Business Turnaround

I started as an IT entrepreneur in Singapore, building a technology consultancy that I ultimately sold to a German company. From there, I ran end-to-end turnarounds of acquired businesses — strategy, marketing, and technology implementation, hands-on. I've pulled the cables myself. That instinct for owning the whole system, not just a function, has shaped every role since.

How I lead

The thesis, as behaviour

Run the team like a band

Trust, rhythm, and knowing when to let someone else take the solo. Six people becoming one sound is the same discipline as fifteen markets becoming one operation.

Priority is earned, not declared

Commercial requests prove their intent with evidence — success definitions, revenue logic, confirmed budgets. The loudest voice doesn't outrank the most valuable work.

Spend speed where it pays

A checkout-breaking bug reaches delivery in minutes with zero approval friction. A cosmetic tweak queues. Speed is a budget — I allocate it commercially.

Respect the people who do the work

I've run my own cables, closed my own sales, carried my own amps. Titles don't build things — teams do, and they can tell when a leader remembers that.

Education

Foundations

BSc (Hons) Business — University of London / LSE
Full-time scholarship, 2002–2005

Diploma in Accountancy & Taxation — Nanyang Polytechnic
1995–1998