I went to Echelon Singapore with modest expectations.
Another expo. Another set of panels. Another round of business cards and follow-up emails I’d probably get to eventually. I’d been doing these for a few years, and while the lead volume was there, the quality wasn’t always where I wanted it to be. When the invitation came to join Echelon Singapore 2026, I figured — why not try something different.
We flew out on June 2. The event ran June 3 and 4. We came home June 6. It turned out to be one of the most unexpected trips I’ve had in years — and most of what made it good had nothing to do with the expo itself.
What the Expo Actually Delivered
The conference floor was solid. I was on a panel covering AI strategy, SEO, and startup growth in Southeast Asia. Good room, good conversation — the kind where you find yourself actually engaged instead of just waiting for your turn to talk.
One of the most interesting people I met were founders of an Indonesian startup called Foxion. Their names were: Brilliant Kevin (yes, that’s his real name and I call him ‘BK’) and Rey. Three years in, forty people on the team, and already pulling around $40,000 USD in monthly recurring revenue. Their pitch: they’re building the Palantir of Indonesia. Bold claim — but there was real substance behind it. Both founders were sharp, the energy was right, and it was their first time exhibiting abroad. That kind of hunger is genuinely contagious to be around.
That conversation reminded me of something I think about a lot when it comes to why I still attend these events. The panels and the sessions aren’t really the point. The point is the people you find in between — the ones you’d never have run into otherwise.
The Last Night of the Expo
On the evening of June 4, the conference wrapped up with a networking night at a venue near the waterfront. Asahi Super Dry, truffle fries, a room full of founders and panelists wrapping up the week. Standard fare for this kind of event.
That’s where I met Jon.
His name is Jon Taylor Lim — local Singaporean, slightly taller than me, glasses, a bit of long hair. He sort of wandered into our little group from the food table and mostly just listened for a while. Quiet, present, unhurried. When we started asking him questions, we found out he’d been in the Echelon hackathon. He’s been coding since the Node.js era, does some vibe coding now. A few minutes in, we found out he’d proposed to his fiancée just a few months earlier, wedding planned for next August. And we found out we share the same faith — he’s a born-again Christian, about ten years younger than me.
After the drinks and finger food wrapped up, our group — me, my wife, the Foxion founders – BK and Rey, and Jon — moved to a hot pot place near the hotel for a late dinner. We’d just met him a couple of hours earlier. It didn’t feel like it.
A Day We Didn’t Plan For
Late that night, after Angeline and I had gotten cleaned up and were about to sleep, Jon sent us a message.
“Hi Sean, Jon here. So lovely to meet you and your wife today. I remembered you mentioned you’d still be around tomorrow — I’d be happy to drive you guys around and host you. I can take you to places you want to visit. But if you want couple time together, please don’t let me intrude. Just thought I’d offer since I’m free.”
I read it twice. Then I showed it to my wife.
We’d met this man four hours ago.
We messaged back to make sure he was serious. He was. So we agreed to meet at our hotel at 10:30 the next morning.
He drove us around for the entire day — and I mean the entire day. We didn’t get back until 11:30 that night!
We went to Jurong Lake Gardens. We walked the Chinese gardens and the Japanese gardens, the bamboo walkway, saw the waterfalls. All man-made, but with trees reaching four or five stories high — there were moments where it genuinely felt like you’d stepped out of the city. We perspired heavily through our clothes in the June heat and didn’t care.
Jon took us past the building where Disney holds office in Singapore (the landscaped entrance alone was worth seeing), and to the spot where he’d proposed to his fiancée. He’d scouted it carefully — foot traffic patterns, weather contingencies, all of it. Very intentional guy.
We also swung by IMM Mall. The wife picked up stuff to bring to people back home and I picked up some shoes for two of the kids — a few of them had outgrown their pairs. We had dinner at Gluttons Bay near Marina Bay Sands. The truffle xiaolongbao was exceptional. We watched the light show. Late that night, Apple remembered she needed to grab groceries for teammates back home and we made an unplanned stop at FairPrice Express.
Jon didn’t hesitate. He just kept going.
Why He Did It
Toward the end of the day, I asked him directly.
“Why did you even consider taking us out and spending the whole day with us? We just met.”
He said: “Because I feel at home with you and Angelyn.”
He said there was something in our marriage that drew him in — something that told him we were like-minded people who love and fear God.
I don’t think he fully understood what that meant in that moment.
Apple and I have been through seasons in our marriage that were hard. Real hard work. There are stretches where it can feel discouraging — where you’re both pushing forward but not always in the same direction, and the work of staying connected feels heavier than it should. To have someone who barely knew us look at our relationship and say that it made him feel at home, that it pointed him toward something — that hit differently.
That meant more to me than the entire day he gave us. And the day itself already meant so much.
Before we parted ways, we prayed together — for Jon and his fiancée, and he prayed for us. We took pictures. Later that evening, on a video call, we were already telling our kids about him.
What I Took Home
I went to Echelon Singapore looking for leads and connections. I found those — the conversations with founders building companies across Southeast Asia, the panel discussions about AI and content and what’s coming next in search, the Salesforce partnership threads I’m now following up on. That’s all real and it matters.
But the thing I’ll remember most from this trip is a quiet Singaporean coder who spent an entire day with two strangers because something in how they treated each other made him feel something profound.
I think about that a lot. About what it means to build a marriage in a way that becomes a witness. About how the most important things you’re building — the things that actually last — often aren’t the ones on the deck or in the P&L.
Very few of the best leads I’ve ever gotten came from expos. Most of the best relationships I have came from unexpected moments outside the official agenda. This trip reminded me of that ratio.
God puts people in your path for reasons that don’t fit on a business card. Sometimes they close a deal. Sometimes they just remind you of what matters. Both are worth showing up for.
So keep showing up. You’ll never know who you might meet.
Related reading: Business Networking Done Right for More Opportunities | Entrepreneurship: Risking with People | Fear, Faith and Laughter
