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Continue reading →: The Dominican Republic’s Border Security LessonEurope’s immigration debate often focuses on morality and ideology. The Dominican Republic offers a different perspective — one shaped by direct migration pressure, strict enforcement, and major investment in border security. Its experience raises a fundamental question: can a country maintain control over immigration without first maintaining control over its…
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Continue reading →: CONFOTUR: Who Can Afford the Rules?I’m a real estate developer, and this is going to sound crazy — but hear me out.I think CONFOTUR isn’t a tourism incentive. It’s a textbook case of regulatory capture — and it’s not even the only one. Regulatory capture is simple: a rule gets written in the name of…
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Continue reading →: Samana Group Channels $25M in FDI to the Dominican RepublicIn the last few years, our holding has channeled roughly $25M in foreign direct investment into the Dominican Republic and generated almost half a million dollars in taxes for the Dominican government — through VAT, land transfer tax, employer contributions, and advance income tax. That second number is the one…
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Continue reading →: Major Milestone for Samana Group: Infrastructure and Housing Consortium Deal SignedDear Team, Investors, Clients, and Partners,Today marks one of the most important milestones in the history of Samana Group. After an intensive, multi-month process, we have successfully finalized and signed a strategic execution partnership structure that covers both infrastructure and housing delivery for Nomad City. To the best of our…
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Continue reading →: Why We’re Leaving HubSpot After Years as a CustomerAfter years with HubSpot, we’ve decided to leave the platform. Partly because of pricing, but mostly because of how we were treated once we tried to optimize our setup. Like many growing companies, we ended up overprovisioned: too many paid seats, inflated marketing contact tiers, modules we barely used, and…
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Continue reading →: Samana Group CEO Letter: What happened in 2025 and what to look for in 20262025 was a challenging year for real estate developers across the Dominican Republic, and Samana Group was no exception. Market conditions tightened simultaneously across our core buyer regions, extending sales cycles and delaying financing across the sector. At the same time, the year materially strengthened the company’s structure, governance, and execution…
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Continue reading →: The longest 15 seconds of my lifeI was standing in front of over 60 people from one family in Samaná.3 generations. Nearly 100 years connected to one piece of land. I had just presented our progress and vision and made the offer.3 years of work came down to this moment. Fifteen seconds that felt endless. Then…
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Continue reading →: Samaná Bay is one of the most critical whale nurseries in the entire Atlantic… Yet most people here don’t realize how fragile it has become. Every winter, humpback whales travel thousands of kilometers to give birth and nurse their calves in this exact body of water. NOAA, the International Whaling Commission, and the Dominican Marine Mammal Sanctuary have documented that Samaná consistently hosts one…
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Continue reading →: Eight Years Ago, My Fight For Justice in Nigeria BeganHere is the Final Score. Eight years ago, I was living in Lagos, after spending years building online travel and e-commerce companies in Nigeria. I helped launch Jovago (later rebranded as Jumia Travel) and grew it into one of the continent’s leading online hotel booking platforms. After stepping down from…
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Continue reading →: Osiem lat temu rozpoczęła się moja walka o sprawiedliwość w Nigerii
Właśnie pisze się jej ostatni rozdział. Osiem lat temu mieszkałem w Lagos, po kilku latach budowania firm z branży travel i e-commerce w Nigerii. Pomagałem uruchomić Jovago później Jumia Travel i rozwinąłem je w jedną z wiodących platform rezerwacji hotelowych na kontynencie. Po odejściu z tego projektu założyłem nową firmę…
Hello,
I’m Marek
Conscious Capitalist, Author of “Chasing Black Unicorns”. Born in Poland. Made in Nigeria, South Africa and the Dominican Republic. Co-founder: Jumia Travel, SunRoof, Samana Group.
Marek Zmysłowski Blog 