Regional Manager for Spanish- or Portuguese-Speaking Markets

LetMeGo, is a new online lodging agency that was recently selected as the best Latin American startup of 2009 (Spanish) (Portuguese). We are seeking individual entrepreneurs or teams, with or without experience, to launch the Spanish and Portuguese versions of its service.  These versions will target the markets of Latin America (including Brazil), Spain, and Portugal. Working from anywhere in the world, the entrepreneurs selected will become CEOs of their own companies, given long-term contracts, earn a yearly salary of USD48,000, receive bonuses equivalent to 20% of the dividends, and a 20% ownership stake in the business.

LetMego will hire six entrepreneurs (three for the Spanish markets and three for the Portuguese markets) for a six month contest period.  At the end of this competition, only one Spanish-language and one Portuguese-language entrepreneur will be declared the winner, become CEO of his own version of the LetMeGo service, and eventually become a partner in the parent company. If you are one of the six selected entrepreneurs, you will work from home while earning a small salary of USD1,500 per month for the first six months. During this period, you will launch your own version of LetMeGo in Spanish or Portuguese by translating the software (the Merrcury Engine), performing research, marketing your new site, offering customer service, and, if wanted or required, building a team to perform said tasks. Each entrepreneur’s site will have a unique domain name. At the end of this period, the site with the most income in each language will absorb the other two companies competing in the same language. The two winning entrepreneurs  will each receive a five year contract, be named as CEOs, earn a base salary of USD48,000 per year ($4,000 per month); plus 20% of the dividends of LetMeGo in Spanish and Portuguese, respectively; plus stock grants for 20% at the end of the contract. We are calling this selection process “The LetMeGo I18N Challenge” (I18N stands for “internationalization”.)

Why Are We Doing This?

• The online lodging industry is relatively new or nonexistent in most of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking markets. This means that there are few candidates who will possess a significant amount of experience in the sector. Instead, we are seeking those who have great potential, a drive to succeed, and an array of other skills that will help them create great versions of the LetMeGo service.
• Whenever possible, we prefer to find potential partners, not just employees.
• It has been our longstanding policy to hire people via contest–we feel that this has allowed us to build a team consisting only of the best of the best.

The Selection Process

Here is the schedule and the list of tasks involved in The LetMeGo I18N Challenge:

1. Applications will be received until Feb 20th, 2010, at 1:59 PM (13:59) US Easter Standard Time. More details below.
2. On Feb 21st, we will publicly announce the candidates who have been selected to participate in the preliminary evaluation tests. Candidates who wish to remain anonymous may do so.
3. Starting on the morning of Feb 22nd (Monday) and continuing until Feb 27th (Saturday) six tests will be administered, one per day. Each test will be designed to measure a different skill set. The tests will be brief, and should not impact candidates’ normal lives. The responses submitted by the candidates will be made public.
4. On March 1st, the six selected entrepreneurs will be announced.
5. On March 15th, the six entrepreneurs will each begin work on the task of launching their own version of LetMeGo in their own language. These projects will include, but will not be limited to the following activities:
   • Seeking out and selecting a brand and domain name.
   • Translating and localizing the software into Spanish or Portuguese.
   • Setting up the customer service infrastructure, including selection of the telephony and chat systems (to be paid by LetMeGo, of course).
   • Launching the service.
   • Finding and inviting lodgings to use the site.
   • Convincing travelers to try use the service via social and viral marketing.
   • Offering customer service.
   • Helping us improve the Merrcury Engine so that our Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking customers have a more seamless and enjoyable experience.
   • Building a team to perform all of these tasks, if required.
   • Blogging about it all.
6. From March 15th, 2010 through Sep 14th 2010, each entrepreneur will receive a small compensation of USD 1,500 per month.
7. On May  3rd, 47 days after starting translation and localization, the six entrepreneurs will launch their sites.
8. Each entrepreneur will have a budget of USD 1,000 for marketing for the six months. Yes, it is small, but we believe that viral marketing and affiliate marketing is the best way for us to grow (the same way that Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Kayak grew).
9. On Sep 15th, 2010, the owners of Torrenegra Labs (LetMeGo’s parent company) will determine the winner in each language. The selection will be based on total revenue generated, total profit generated, revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and the opinions of the judges. The winning site in each language will absorb the other two that were competing in the same language. The entrepreneurs who have built the winning sites will be declared the winners of The LetMeGo I18N Challenge and will each receive:
   • A five year contract as CEOs of their LetMeGo sites for USD 48,000 per year, plus 20% of the dividends of LetMeGo in Spanish and LetMeGo in Portuguese, respectively.
   • Stock grants for 20% of LetMeGo in Spanish and Portuguese, respectively, after the five year contract ends.

Important Information to Keep in Mind

• This competition is not limited to individuals. If you would prefer to enter as part of a team, the team’s leader should submit the application. Should a team win the competition, the leader will be named CEO of the new company.
• LetMeGo is a global marketplace: All of the sites will share the same database of users and lodgings, which will also be shared with LetMeGo.com and its network of sites. We can, of course, track the bookings originating from each site.
• The entrepreneurs won’t have to worry about hosting or software stability. The development team of LetMeGo, working alongside ServerQuo, will take care of that.
• The cost of the phone system, chat system, credit card processing, banking fees, and personnel you hire will be paid by LetMeGo and it will be deducted from the net profits of each site.
• Each entrepreneur will be able to hire additional people for his/her team as long as their site is already making money and the cost of the new personnel doesn’t surpass the income of the site.
• Each entrepreneur and his/her team will sign a legally binding contract with LetMeGo, LLC, a US-based company.
• In the event that no candidate’s site meets our expectations, we reserve the right to award the prize to no one. We also reserve the right to alter the contest in any way that we see fit, including shortening or lengthening it at our discretion.

Desired Skills

If you are interested, please keep in mind we will be looking for the following skills:

• Online marketing
• Social marketing
• Customer service
• Copy writing in Spanish or Portuguese
• Localization (translation) from English to Portuguese or English to Spanish
• Management
• A talent for communication
• Strong analytical skills

Requirements

No previous experience as entrepreneur is required, however:

• You should be able to understand spoken and written English, and be able to speak and write fluently, as well.
• You should be fully fluent in either Spanish or Portuguese.
• You must be ready to work on this project full-time.
• You must provide your own laptop and high-speed, low-latency Internet connection. You can work from home or from anywhere in the world.
• Experience in the lodging industry is a plus, but it is not required.

The Benefits

• The opportunity of becoming a major partner of LetMeGo
• The chance to work with the team that won the prize for Most Promising Latin American Startup of 2009: LetMeGo
• Plenty of exposure for you and your project, given that LetMeGo and The LetMeGo I18N Challenge will being widely covered by the media
• The opportunity to work from anywhere in the world
• The chance to take part in changing the way the lodging industry works in Latin America (including Brazil) and parts of Europe.

How To Apply

Before February 20th, 2010, at 1:59 PM (13:59) US Easter Standard Time, send an email message to challenge@letmego.com with the following information:

• Subject line: LetMeGo Challenge Application
• Your name
• Your phone number
• Your resume
• A link to your LinkedIn profile
• A paragraph in Spanish or Portuguese where you explain what you think will be the biggest challenges that LetMeGo will face in your languages.
• A paragraph in English explaining what makes you the best candidate for the position
• Links to your online presence (blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc)
• How you found out about this opportunity

Incomplete applications won’t be considered.

About LetMeGo

We’re supposed to tell you we’re a “Web 2.0″ company that’s building “synergies” and “paradigm shifts” and “leveraging core competencies”, and that sort of stuff. Yawn. Here’s the scoop: LetMeGo is the most advanced lodging service on the web, built by world-traveling, ninja-grade coders who love great deals and hate hassles. It’s where you’ll find the perfect lodging at the perfect price. You can learn more about us and our team visiting http://letmego.com/aboutus – You can learn more about the making of LetMeGo by reading “Alexander’s Chat – The Making of LetMeGo“. LetMeGo has offices in New York City and Bogota, Colombia.

LetMeGo is a venture of Torrenegra Labs. Torrenegra Labs creates and invests in driven, enthusiastic, people-oriented companies that develop ground-breaking online technologies and leading-edge business models. Learn more at http://torrenegralabs.com.