Alexander’s Blog – The Making of LetMeGo

Agile software development definitely rocks! Our own, custom-built version of this methodology, which we call RRápido, has allowed us to push dozens of improvements to our service during the past two weeks. We have published 15 new versions of the Merrcury Engine (the software behind LetMeGo), more than one per day. The changes have been processed and published so fast, in fact, that we haven’t had time to update our automated selenium tests. As a consequence, most of those tests are failing right now. Fortunately, we have hundreds of unit tests that run before and after every publication, and the system must pass all of them before publications are certified. This has allowed us to significantly reduce the chances of creating new bugs as we release new features.

Screenshot of our publishing scripts running the unit tests before a new release.

Alexander Torrenegra

We have good news, and bad news.

The good news is as follows: LetMeGo’s open beta has been very well received by both travelers and our lodging partners. Thousands of lodgings have already submitted bids for travelers’ itineraries.

New tickets for the customer service team for the month of January. The open beta was released Jan 20th.

But here’s the bad news: While we expected lodging staffs to have some questions about the system (and, for that matter, to occasionally submit bids that didn’t make sense) as they became familiar with it. Unfortunately for the team, I underestimated the load that our customer service team would be exposed to… BIG TIME! In order to cope with this Gigi, Treeny, and Carmen have been each working more than 12 hours per day. Other members of the team are now helping us in customer service as well, even though that isn’t their designated role within the team: Alberto, who recently join the team as product developer; Tania, my love and the co-founder of LetMeGo; and I have all been pitching in. I haven’t been able to help much, though, as I have a thousand other things to focus on at the same time.

Fortunately, we also have a solution: We are slowing down all public relations efforts not related to the LetMeGo I18N Challenge. That will buy us some time both to deal with the backlog, and to increase the size of the customer service team. Interested in helping us out with the latter? Check out the job opening.

Alexander Torrenegra

We have great news for lodgings that require travelers to submit booking prepayments via PayPal: LetMeGo now allows them to set “PayPal” as one of the payment methods that they accept. When a traveler decides to book an offer submitted by one of those lodgings, we will ask the lodging staff to contact the traveler directly, in order to provide instructions for processing the PayPal payment.

If you already have a lodging listing in LetMeGo and wish to start accepting bookings with PayPal, please update its payment methods by following these steps:

1. Go to “My Lodgings“
2. Click on “Update Listing Details”
3. Scroll down to the “Payment Methods” section, click on it, and follow the instructions.

If you previously completed a lodging listing in LetMeGo, but deleted it after you found out that LetMeGo previously could not work with PayPal-only lodgings, please contact us and we will restore the listing for you.

If you have questions, click here to contact us via email, online chat, or phone.

Alexander Torrenegra
(Check out my LetMeGo Profile)

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 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 28th (Sunday) seven 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. If you are representing a team you lead, please include the links to the LinkedIn profiles of all members of your team.
• 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). If you are representing a team you lead, please include the links to the online presence of all members of your team.
• 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.

Questions?

Feel free to post them here. Leonardo Suarez (LetMeGo’s Business Development Manager) and I will try to do our best answering.

The last two years have been Ieading up to this post. I am ecstatic to finally be able to announce that LetMeGo is open for business–our public beta has officially launched. As a traveler, you and everyone you know can now submit your itinerary and let lodgings bid for you stay. Please note that during this initial period, we’re focusing mostly on lodgings in the U.S. and Canada, though we have a number of lodgings located in other areas of the world, as well. To submit your itinerary go to http://letmego.com/submit

We will retain the “beta” tag for now, as we may still have to iron some details out; nevertheless, as of this moment, if you book a lodging through LetMeGo you will be covered by our 120% satisfaction guarantee (more details coming soon).

Dozens of people have helped us get to this point. The list is so long, that I decided to give proper credit to everyone in here: http://letmego.com/pages/credits – To all of you who helped: THANK YOU!!!

It is now up to the public to validate our dreams and ideas or to confirm our worst nightmares . You can still help, of course. First of all, please use us to choose the lodgings for your next vacation, business trip, or any other time you need the best lodgings for the best possible price. Also, cross your fingers and wish really hard for LetMeGo and our team to succeed. And, of course, spread the word!

Thanks for following our development of this massive project, and welcome to LetMeGo.

Alexander Torrenegra

This is me doing what I do best: sitting, isolated, behind a computer screen. Tania took this photo in 2002 as we started building Voice123.

I don’t like doing myself what most people call “public relations” (PR). I personally don’t like to sell stuff, especially face-to-face. That is why, several years ago, I decided to move away from offering and selling professional services. I focused on building online marketplaces where all transactions would take place online, and for the most part, automatically. Our first marketplaces, Voice123 and Language123, are business-to-business ventures serving small niches. For these efforts, there was little need for a comprehensive PR strategy, and indeed, these businesses grew for many years without any proactive PR effort.

LetMeGo is a whole different ball game, though. Given that this is our first business-to-consumer service, and it is an upstart competitor in an industry dominated by large players where PR is virtually mandatory, I knew long ago that we would eventually have to develop a comprehensive strategy. Still, since didn’t have a clear PR effort for LetMeGo until a few months ago. Now, not only we have a plan and a person in charge, but we have brought two experts on board to help us in this front: Brett McCallon, whom I already blogged about, and Caroline Andoscia. Caroline is the founder of Andoscia Communications, a PR firm. Caroline’s background includes being the Director of PR at Condé Nast Traveller.

And that’s not it. LetMeGo recently won the PS10 competition. The prize for the winning company is a PR campaign for the Latin American market. The campaign is to be headed by Andres Barreto (@andresbarreto) with the help of María del Carmen Lara (@mariadelcarmenlara) and Juan David Vargas (@nozuan). This prize comes in very handy, as we will soon announce our plans for the Spanish and Portuguese versions of LetMeGo, for which we didn’t have a PR strategy, either.

Brett, Caroline, Andres, María del Carman, and Juan David are currently working on the PR strategy that we will execute during the next few months as the beta version of LetMeGo is opened to the public and then LetMeGo is officially launched. The results of their efforts, the PR buzz, should be visible to you quite soon.

Alexander Torrenegra

I have written about the ideal size of development teams here and here. In short, I consider that a product developer and manager, like myself, should not try to handle a development team of more than six people. I’m currently managing seven or, better put, one too many.

What to do if I want to increase the size of the dev team, anyway? Build another team, of course! Building a new team is not easy, though. In the case of LetMeGo, the first step is to find the leader for said team: a person with experience in software architecture, software development, quality assurance, product development, project management, customer experience management, and marketing. Luckily, I happen to know a person with said skills: Alberto Dominguez.

Alberto worked for a few months with Torrenegra Labs, the parent company of LetMeGo, doing research. Before that, Alberto was project developer with StudioCom where he was in charge of MyCokeRewards.com, among other projects, for several years.

Alberto won’t be managing people initially. Before I allow him to build a team and delegate tasks, he will have to show me what parts of the product development process he can handle perfectly (yes, I’m a mad perfectionist!). Only then I will allow him to hire people for his team.

Bringing Alberto to the team is quite a bet, both for him and for LetMeGo, as we are not $elf-$ustainable yet. Fortunately, Alberto has an entrepreneurial drive and he is willing to assume the challenge. As for LetMeGo, I believe that luck is just a matter of taking advantage of opportunities when they show up. Hiring Alberto may be one of those moments that define luck for me. Welcome to the team Alberto!

Alexander Torrenegra

You can follow Alberto in Twitter (in a feed containing a potpourri of both English and Spanish) at @simpleprojectz.

The Kubrrick Scope was the last scope of the Merrcury Engine (the software behind LetMeGo) to be completed for the private beta. I’m writing about it now, instead of prior to the beta launch, because we released the private beta the moment Kubrrick became ready. The Kubrrick Scope includes many of the system’s most traveler-facing features: submitting an itinerary, inviting lodgings to submit bids, and comparing those bids once they are received.

I won’t provide many details here, as beta testers can experience this system for themselves right now. If you would like to become a beta tester, you can apply here.

One of the features of Kubrick is the Heuristic Algorithm for Lodgings (HAL for short) that will match itineraries with lodgings.

Graphic design on the Kubrrick Scope started last year and was created, as with all other scopes, by Javier “Maestro” Mesa. Coding started in November of 2008. Most of the coding and unit testing was done by Henry “Tufla” Canastero. Omar Duque, German “Gonzo” Gonzalez, Nicolas “Nickman” Bohorquez, and Luis Betancourt also contributed to the coding. Automated Selenium testing are being done by Gisella “Gigi” Borja and Sergio Perilla. In other words: almost everybody had a hand in making Kubrrick a reality. Thank you team!

Alexander Torrenegra

P.S. Kubrrick was not named after a musician (as it is the case for all other scopes of the Merrcury Engine). It was named after one of our favorite movie directors, Stanley Kubrick.

After almost two years of development, more than 40,000 hours of hard-work, a 90-day immersion, and an investment that would allow a family of 4 to live in Tahiti for more than two decades, we have completed the beta version of LetMeGo, and it has gone live. Initially, the beta will only be accessible to a select group of beta testers. In a few weeks, we will complete this private beta period, and then we will open the doors to everybody.

While we are certain that our superhuman team of coders have created a totally flawless service that will work perfectly from day one, we think we should probably test out everything, just to be on the safe side. This is where you come in. The private beta will mark the first time that anyone outside of our team will get to see what we have created, and we’re very excited for you to test it out.

You may have participated in a private beta before–if not, here’s a quick explanation of the sorts of things you can help us with:

In essence, we want you to use our site as if you were a traveler who wants to journey to various places (in the U.S. and Canada only, at the moment). You will create itineraries, and then invite certain participating lodgings to bid on your itinerary. If you find that something about the experience doesn’t work, is wonky, or is simply confusing, you inform our customer service agents (LetMeGo aMeGoes), and we address the problem.

If you think you can help us, please click here to register for the private beta.

Alexander Torrenegra

P.S. I happen to be traveling in the Chilean and Argentinean Andes today. While I certainly didn’t plan to be traveling during the release of the LetMeGo Private Beta, my travels have left me even more convinced of the site’s potential.  As I talk with small owner/operators of individual lodgings, who are eager to offer customized lodgings to each customer and who don’t work with the big online travel agencies, I see endless opportunities for these owners, for travelers, and for LetMeGo.

View of the Lanin Volcano from the the Argentinean-Chilean border over the Andes.