Sean Percival

From Los Angeles, to Silicon Valley and now Norway

I make things, sell things, and try to have some fun

Scroll me...

Sean Percival

E-commerce & marketing executive, investor, author, and humble candlemaker.

Annual Letters

Once a year I put pen to paper. Coincidentally, it also happens to be the only time I update this website.

2026

The Annual Letter (2026)

January 2026

For 2026, the theme is create. Crushing it at Xplora, scaling Extra Slutty Olive Oil, closing the boutique, buying a Colorado Airbnb, and vibe-coding with AI...

2025

The Annual Letter (2025)

January 5, 2025

2025 sat nicely atop a foundation of stability. My team at Xplora crushed it. We bought a 2nd home in Colorado as an Airbnb. Closed our Oslo shop but Byvoks is thriving. The theme for 2026? Create.

2024

The Not-so-annual Letter (2024)

January 2024

After a long break, I'm back with reflections on the past year, lessons learned, and what's next...

Enquiring minds want to know...

What is Sean working on these days?

Xplora

I'm the VP of Global E-commerce at Xplora where I manage 14 webshops and a team of 9

Byvoks

Nice scents with a sense of humor. Candles, coffee, and olive oils you can customize

Banana for Scale

Our product studio of both good and bad ideas.

How did we get here?

I'm glad you asked. Here's my story, so far.

1979

Born in Los Angeles

I can think of worst places to get started

1985

Sent my first Email

From my dad's early version of corporate email using an acoustic modem

1986

Got a Nintendo NES

To this day a better Christmas gift has not been given

1989

Gave my first speech

Crushed it at the 6th-grade graduation ceremony

1993

Got on the Internet for the first time

and it was all downhill from there

1997

Lost my virginity

Like many things in life, it was only awkward the first time

1998

Moved to Las Vegas

Because nothing says 'good life decisions' like moving to Vegas at 19

1999

First job as an adult

A janitor no less, no more...

2009

Sold first E-commerce business

Started a business for $12 and sold it shortly after for $100K

2010

Became a dad

Passed out during the delivery. I'm not good with blood.

2013

VP Online Marketing at Myspace

Managed a team of 12+ through a tough time in the pioneering social network's history

2014

Raised $3M for Wittlebee

Raised a large seed round from investors like Google Ventures. Scaled the business and then crashed it

2015

Moved to Silicon Valley

Finally made it to the startup promised land, just in time to watch the peak

2015

Partner at 500 Startups

Over 100 deals done with early-stage startups from around the world

2017

Moved to Norway

Why? For the nice weather and low cost of living of course

2018-2020

CMO at Whereby

Worked on the rebrand and reduced churn

2020-2022

Covid Fog

Like everyone else lived in a covid fog

2021-2024

CMO at Iterate

Worked on new ventures

2023

Launched Byvoks

The funny Oslo candles you can customize

2023-2025

Ran the Byvoks store

Operated a small boutique in Bislett, Oslo where we sold products and ran workshops

2024

Passed 1,000,000kr sales Byvoks

That's a lot of wax!

2024

Bought my first apartment

A little late in life but worth the wait

2024

VP of Global E-Commerce at Xplora

Overseeing a global portfolio of 14 webshops

2025

Bought 2nd home

Our little vacay home and Airbnb side hustle

2026

???

After reading all that do you still want to chat?

I get a lot of random messages through my site (mostly bad startup pitches). I generally don't reply, but you never know.