Luis Santos
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Luis Santos · Founder & Entrepreneur · Dubai

I build companies.
The world taught me how.

I'm a Portuguese entrepreneur based in Dubai. In under three years I built First Class into one of the Middle East's highest-rated property companies, alongside ventures in food, fintech and healthcare. The way I build was shaped by a long road, from a small town in Portugal to more than 160 countries.

Luis Santos
Dubai, UAELuis Santos
What I build

A property company first, and a habit of building.

First Class is the flagship: short-term rental management that grew from a single apartment in 2020 to one of the highest-rated operations in the region. Around it sit ventures I have started, scaled, and in some cases closed, each one a lesson in where to put capital and attention.

600+
Homes managed
97.8%
Review score
110k
Guest nights
150+
Team
How I think

The writing is the work, made legible.

Frameworks I actually use, observations from the markets I operate in, and the discipline behind the decisions. Four series, written for builders.

The perspective

More than 160 countries. The point was never the count.

Visiting nearly every country was a personal goal, but the value was the perspective: how business gets done in different places, how people read risk and trust, how little of what works is universal. That is the lens I bring to building.

United Arab Emirates Afghanistan Albania Armenia Angola Argentina Austria Australia Azerbaijan Bosnia and Herz. Bangladesh Belgium Burkina Faso Bulgaria Burundi Benin Brunei Bolivia Brazil Bahamas Bhutan Botswana Belarus Belize Canada Dem. Rep. Congo Central African Rep. Congo Switzerland Côte d'Ivoire Chile Cameroon China Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Cyprus Czech Rep. Germany Djibouti Denmark Dominican Rep. Algeria Ecuador Estonia Egypt W. Sahara Eritrea Spain Ethiopia Finland Fiji Falkland Is. France Gabon United Kingdom Georgia Ghana Greenland Gambia Guinea Eq. Guinea Greece Guatemala Guinea-Bissau Guyana Honduras Croatia Haiti Hungary Indonesia Ireland Israel India Iraq Iran Iceland Italy Jamaica Jordan Japan Kenya Kyrgyzstan Cambodia Dem. Rep. Korea Korea Kuwait Kazakhstan Lao PDR Lebanon Sri Lanka Liberia Lesotho Lithuania Luxembourg Latvia Libya Morocco Moldova Montenegro Madagascar Macedonia Mali Myanmar Mongolia Mauritania Malawi Mexico Malaysia Mozambique Namibia New Caledonia Niger Nigeria Nicaragua Netherlands Norway Nepal New Zealand Oman Panama Peru Papua New Guinea Philippines Pakistan Poland Puerto Rico Palestine Portugal Paraguay Qatar Romania Serbia Russia Rwanda Saudi Arabia Solomon Is. Sudan Sweden Slovenia Slovakia Sierra Leone Senegal Somalia Suriname S. Sudan El Salvador Syria Swaziland Chad Fr. S. Antarctic Lands Togo Thailand Tajikistan Timor-Leste Turkmenistan Tunisia Turkey Trinidad and Tobago Taiwan Tanzania Ukraine Uganda United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Venezuela Vietnam Vanuatu Yemen South Africa Zambia Zimbabwe Dominica Marshall Islands Liechtenstein Comoros Nauru Monaco Kiribati Seychelles Barbados Bahrain Vatican City Grenada Micronesia Antigua & Barbuda St Kitts & Nevis Mauritius Singapore Malta Andorra Palau St Lucia Maldives Kosovo San Marino St Vincent & Grenadines Samoa Sao Tome & Principe Tuvalu Tonga Cape Verde
Visited, 164 Planned, 19 Still to go, 14
Recognition

Covered, rated, and on stage.

As featured in
The NationalKhaleej TimesGulf NewsArabian BusinessSkiftHandelsblatt
One thought ahead

A note when I have something worth saying.

Operating notes, foresight, and the occasional field lesson. No noise.