Post: #1

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If you're in University then I suggest you pick and choose two of these and double major:

-Mandarin

-Spanish
-Portuguese
-Arabic
-Bahasa Indonesia

-Business/Finance/Accounting

While you're in school, study abroad for the longest possible period in Brazil or Spanish speaking Latin America and also in China at some point. Do internships with import/export companies in China/Shenzhen/Guangzhou and then do internships with ecommerce and internet companies in Brazil or Latin America, such as Peixe Urbano, NetShoes, etc.

There is a juggernaut opportunity in e-commerce in Latin America, China, and SE Asia. Sourcing goods from China/Asia and reselling them via ecommerce in LatAm in either a b2c or b2b function is where it's at, though, IMO.

http://usmediaconsulting.com/img/uploads...t-2013.pdf

http://latinlink.usmediaconsulting.com/

Ditto Middle East - although I personally would not want to move there. This is arguably an even larger opportunity but I wouldn't want to touch it.

Ecommerce opportunities in Latin America are exploding. Develop strong networks, contacts, and partners on the supply side (Asia) and the demand side (LatAm) and be a superior middle man through better marketing, execution, web design and web presence, and branding.

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Other ecommerce markets to consider:

- SE Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia)

- Middle East

- Africa (maybe?)

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Alternatively, if you are a graduate of a reputable university from a western nation and have 1-3 years of solid work experience at a well known company (McKinsey, Morgan Stanley, Razorfish) then I suggest that you look at the German global startup incubator Rocket Internet.

http://www.rocket-internet.de

They have crap tons of cash and are starting up groupon/amazon/zappos clones all over the world. They are particularly strong in SE Asia.

If you want to take a leap into international entrepreneurship but do not want to take the risk of spending your own cash, this is a phenomenal middle ground. You will get thrown into a venture-backed startup in a high-growth emerging market with 100Ks or millions of euros of startup capital. You won't get equity but you will be put in a semi-managerial position and be able to seize opportunities and grow projects on your own.

After 1-2 years in this environment you will be more than prepared to explore opportunities on your own.

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Post: #2

I meet those qualifications, do you have any more information or reference sites on entrepreneurial projects using the China/SE Asia & Latin America connection? I come from a Mexican household so I'm fluent in Spanish and plan on picking-up Portuguese. I also have my BA in Econ and will be receiving a MS in Finance in May.

Post: #3

Juice - I sent you an email. Nice blog btw.

Post: #4

the e-mail has been very informative, thanks!

Post: #5

(03-17-2013 12:30 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  Juice - I sent you an email. Nice blog btw.

Hey youngmobileglobal, I meet those qualifications as well. As a college senior in the US, I am majoring in Marketing and International Business and am currently trying to find ways to get into e-commerce in China and southeast Asia. I previously did a semester exchange in Singapore and since then I've been looking for opportunities in that region of that world. Can you send the email you sent to Juice? Thanks.

Post: #6

PMed you AMO.

I suggest that you look into boutique management consultancies in SG/HK/China or look into Rocket Internet in SE Asia.

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Post: #7

Hey YMG, I meet quite a few of those qualifications I'm a final year student in the UK studying Advertising and Marketing. I speak Spanish, Portuguese, and a bit of French which i'm picking back up after I master Portuguese. I spent 7 months studying abroad in Barcelona, and two summers ago I did an internship at IBM. I'm not too keen on joining a big MNC as I feel that my talents would be better suited to starting my own business/collaborating with others in a small firm. I have UK and US citizenship but I am keen on relocating to Latin America for a few years after I graduate. Any advice/guidance you can offer would be much appreciated!

Post: #8

(03-17-2013 01:53 PM)LaPastillaRoja Wrote:  Hey YMG, I meet quite a few of those qualifications I'm a final year student in the UK studying Advertising and Marketing. I speak Spanish, Portuguese, and a bit of French which i'm picking back up after I master Portuguese. I spent 7 months studying abroad in Barcelona, and two summers ago I did an internship at IBM. I'm not too keen on joining a big MNC as I feel that my talents would be better suited to starting my own business/collaborating with others in a small firm. I have UK and US citizenship but I am keen on relocating to Latin America for a few years after I graduate. Any advice/guidance you can offer would be much appreciated!

If you are trilingual between English, Spanish, and Portuguese then you are in very good hands.

Assuming you are very very very proficiently fluent in these three languages, I offer the following suggestions:

1. Find the top 10 most touted and talked about startups in Latin America and look directly on their website to see if they are hiring. If they don't seem to be hiring for any positions relevant to your profile then get on linkedin, upgrade to a business account, and find out who the CEOs and managing directors are in SP, Rio, Bogota, etc.

Message them directly and make a pitch about who you are, in what capacity you would like to work in their venture backed startup, why you are unique and valuable and offer more value than a local with a similar profile (while sounding humble of course) and request a skype interview.

2. Apply to the offices of companies like Deloitte, BCG, McKinsey, Weber Shandwick, Ogilvy, and other management consulting and marketing juggernauts. I know that you don't want to work for a big company but the emerging markets branches of these global juggernauts are often smaller operations in which you would be handling a large number of different tasks. It will FEEL like a tight boutique operation. You will simultaneously get the benefit of having the brand name on your CV.

Similarly, you can find boutiques that specialize in certain countries and finagle a skype interview with them.

EDIT - instead of "apply" you should "hack human resources" and get directly in touch with decision makers via linkedin inmails. NEVER APPLY ONLINE. Any time you ever send a CV/resume into these offices you want HR to be receiving it directly from their managing directors and not from the automated system.

3. Vigorously and extensively research the digital media, internet marketing, and ecommerce environment in Latin America. Figure out what hard technical skills would be in demand (SEO, SMM, graphic design, coding) and rapidly acquire those skills. I just put a thread called "Scholar and Hustler" - read that to understand what I mean.

/thread-21811.html

Your degree in Marketing doesn't mean much to them if you don't have rigorously tested hard skills that you can offer them.

Simultaneously, even if you are a UK SEO whiz or social media marketing guru, if you can't apply it to the local market then those skills are equally useless. You need to prove to them that you can deliver in their market.

4. If/when decision makers get back in touch with you, offer to be a "Virtual Intern". This means that you might do things like assist in writing articles for their English language blog or doing basic graphic design deliverables. They have no idea who you are so, for the sake of building credibility and a working relationships based on tangible outputs, it would potentially be mutually beneficial for you to do free work for them for a while to prove yourself.

--------

Of all of the things I proposed I strongly suggest number 2 the most.

You are young and diving into Latin America when you have no practical and rigorous work experience using Spanish or living there is probably not a great idea IMO. Better to start with a bigger and established company, build a large professional base, use Spanish/Portuguese in a work setting for 2 years, and then scout opportunities while you are on the ground. You will get a strong sense of what is in demand and where you can be valuable.

------

AMO - and any other young bucks reading this thread - this applies to you too, but replace all the LatAm destinations with SE Asian destinations if you like Asia.


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Post: #9

(03-17-2013 02:55 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

(03-17-2013 01:53 PM)LaPastillaRoja Wrote:  Hey YMG, I meet quite a few of those qualifications I'm a final year student in the UK studying Advertising and Marketing. I speak Spanish, Portuguese, and a bit of French which i'm picking back up after I master Portuguese. I spent 7 months studying abroad in Barcelona, and two summers ago I did an internship at IBM. I'm not too keen on joining a big MNC as I feel that my talents would be better suited to starting my own business/collaborating with others in a small firm. I have UK and US citizenship but I am keen on relocating to Latin America for a few years after I graduate. Any advice/guidance you can offer would be much appreciated!

If you are trilingual between English, Spanish, and Portuguese then you are in very good hands.

Assuming you are very very very proficiently fluent in these three languages, I offer the following suggestions:

1. Find the top 10 most touted and talked about startups in Latin America and look directly on their website to see if they are hiring. If they don't seem to be hiring for any positions relevant to your profile then get on linkedin, upgrade to a business account, and find out who the CEOs and managing directors are in SP, Rio, Bogota, etc.

Message them directly and make a pitch about who you are, in what capacity you would like to work in their venture backed startup, why you are unique and valuable and offer more value than a local with a similar profile (while sounding humble of course) and request a skype interview.

2. Apply to the offices of companies like Deloitte, BCG, McKinsey, Weber Shandwick, Ogilvy, and other management consulting and marketing juggernauts. I know that you don't want to work for a big company but the emerging markets branches of these global juggernauts are often smaller operations in which you would be handling a large number of different tasks. It will FEEL like a tight boutique operation. You will simultaneously get the benefit of having the brand name on your CV.

Similarly, you can find boutiques that specialize in certain countries and finagle a skype interview with them.

EDIT - instead of "apply" you should "hack human resources" and get directly in touch with decision makers via linkedin inmails. NEVER APPLY ONLINE. Any time you ever send a CV/resume into these offices you want HR to be receiving it directly from their managing directors and not from the automated system.

3. Vigorously and extensively research the digital media, internet marketing, and ecommerce environment in Latin America. Figure out what hard technical skills would be in demand (SEO, SMM, graphic design, coding) and rapidly acquire those skills. I just put a thread called "Scholar and Hustler" - read that to understand what I mean.

/thread-21811.html

Your degree in Marketing doesn't mean much to them if you don't have rigorously tested hard skills that you can offer them.

Simultaneously, even if you are a UK SEO whiz or social media marketing guru, if you can't apply it to the local market then those skills are equally useless. You need to prove to them that you can deliver in their market.

4. If/when decision makers get back in touch with you, offer to be a "Virtual Intern". This means that you might do things like assist in writing articles for their English language blog or doing basic graphic design deliverables. They have no idea who you are so, for the sake of building credibility and a working relationships based on tangible outputs, it would potentially be mutually beneficial for you to do free work for them for a while to prove yourself.

--------

Of all of the things I proposed I strongly suggest number 2 the most.

You are young and diving into Latin America when you have no practical and rigorous work experience using Spanish or living there is probably not a great idea IMO. Better to start with a bigger and established company, build a large professional base, use Spanish/Portuguese in a work setting for 2 years, and then scout opportunities while you are on the ground. You will get a strong sense of what is in demand and where you can be valuable.

------

AMO - and any other young bucks reading this thread - this applies to you too, but replace all the LatAm destinations with SE Asian destinations if you like Asia.


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Wow was not expecting such an extended response thanks for the wisdom and I just signed up to start learning more about Finalcut on Udemy! I will start researching more about good startups in South America and get into contact with people down there and see what I can do...cheers again mate!

Post: #10

Any advice for us young folk who aren't in/didn't attend a very reputable college?

Honestly, I am seeing alot concerning ecommerce/emarketing/websites etc. And I want a slice of this opportunity..

But where to begin? Is a degree necessary? Should I begin with learning to make websites? any tips are welcome

Post: #11

If you can't take advantage of the pedigree of your degrees then yes, you should be working on building your hustler tools as much as possible.

http://www.codeacademy.com

http://www.udemy.com

http://www.railsforzombies.org

http://learnpythonthehardway.org/

Etc etc. I'd say start with codeacademy.

Try doing what I laid out here: /thread-21118-...#pid381259