“You can only see the road to success “after” you have succeeded.”

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Bachir El Khoury is the founder and CEO of Limpid Logic, a software development company that specializes in building mobile apps and games for iOS and Android platforms. Bachir is a software engineer, game designer and entrepreneur who has over 15 years of experience in web technologies, software development, and game design.

Limpid Logic delivers high-quality solutions on time and within budget. The company has helped numerous companies and government agencies build mobile applications that integrate with their existing systems tailored to meet their business needs. By providing premium services for blue chip clients, Limpid Logic has built large commercial mobile applications for the banking, real-estate and educational sectors.

MO: What inspired the name Limpid Logic?

Bachir:  A lot of people actually ask me what is the meaning of the word “limpid”, I decided to dedicate a special section for it on our website.

The word “limpid” is an adjective, a quality of a liquid. It means: completely clear and transparent. Synonym word to clear, transparent, lucid and bright.

We are not offering anything less than that, a clear and transparent logic.

MO: What influenced your decision to launch your own company instead of working for an established agency? Have you always had an entrepreneurial spirit?

Bachir:  Limpid Logic started after I was fed up with how some agencies work these days and how “not so transparent” they are with their customers, especially when providing software as a service.

To the majority of people, software is unknown grounds and “secret of the trades” is open for exploitation. I have witnessed the pain of so many customers who have paid a premium price for a product that doesn’t work, only because it was actually built very badly by two guys overseas for 10% of the cost. They end up paying twice the price re-building the product again from scratch, through a professional software company that knows what it’s doing.

We aim to change that. Customers deserve to know. And that is what we are selling: knowledge. Our customers don’t just get a great app or game after few weeks, they get to learn about all aspects of the development and be part of the process even before they get a quote.

MO: Can you talk about the new ludusworld.com concept that you’re currently developing and what it will mean to the gaming industry?

Bachir:  Ludus World is a new concept we have been developing recently. Although I cannot reveal too much at this stage, I will at least elaborate on the problem we are trying to solve.

The problem is all around us. People are getting more and more closed onto themselves, getting sucked into their own worlds, enchanted by what those mobile screens have to offer. Look around you when you are on the train, or on the bus. Social networks are part of that problem. Is this what being social is all about? Missing out a friend’s birthday, because “Oh, I’ve posted it on Facebook, haven’t you seen it”.

People seem to be left out, only because they’re not plugged into those virtual social worlds.

This could have been a scene in the Matrix movie.

Well get ready to be reborn in a new world, Ludus World, where friends are real friends, and where you socialise like our ancestors always did. It’s not a social app though; in fact social is the smallest part. There is a game aspect to it as well. A game you play in real life by doing the things you already do, like going to work, or buying a cup of coffee. We hope Ludus World will add more fun to our lives, while we explore our existing world through different lenses. If you haven’t done so yet, please check out our Facebook page to keep up with our updates http://www.facebook.com/ludusworld and subscribe on our website www.ludusworld.com for a chance to join our beta program, which starts soon.

MO: What advice would you give to company thinking about creating a game for promotional purposes?

Bachir:  We get a lot of enquiries about people wanting to build games. Some enquiries come from established companies that want to promote a new product, and some come from the “guy next door”, or his 12 year old son, who has this cool idea for a game.

Building games is an excellent way to promote your product or brand. Not only you get people to interact with your brand in a fun engaging environment, but you also get the benefits of the distribution channels such as the App Store, where you can extend your brand reach by penetrating new markets.

As for the guy next door, it always hurts me to break the bad news, by taking him through the process of game design and development. Building games is fun, but it is a complex process that does require significant effort. A team of game designers, sound designers, visual artists, software engineers and more, must work together to create the actual game. Then you have to worry about marketing and selling it.

So building a game is like staring a business. You need to develop a proper business plan, with good business model, marketing strategy and everything else a business would need to succeed. And don’t forget to raise capital for it, because building games (that make any real money) is not cheap and is a long process.

MO: What are some trends in your industry that you’re currently excited about?

Bachir:  Technology is moving so fast these days that some trends are born and die on the same day.

We are excited about the whole space we are in, in particular when we see how much power is being put in the hands of software developers. They are the magicians of today. But businesses should beware of the nasty ones with those evil potions. Make sure you and your developer are building a mutual relationship and share common interest in the product.

MO: If you could go back in a time machine to the time when you were just getting started, what business related advice would you give yourself?

Bachir:  Almost everyday I go back in time to the first day I’ve started. It’s a bit like “the groundhog day”, where Bill Murray finds himself living the same day over and over.

At least once a day, I meet new people, learn something new, make one step forward, make a mistake, do one thing I love, do one thing I hate. So what I would say to myself then, is what I always say to people asking what is the road to success: “You can only see the road to success after you have succeeded.”