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Laxmi Khanolkar
Laxmi Khanolkar

Laxmi Khanolkar

CEO & Co-Founder

Apar Games

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Laxmi Khanolkar is a member of:

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Brief about company, offerings and foundation of the company

Apar Games was found in May 2007. We have a widespread
range of products right from outsourcing art work to conceptualization and
developing games on various platforms like PC, smartphone, tablet and social
networks. From a 4 member team, Apar games has culminated into a 60 member team
with a head office in Mumbai and a support office in Chennai. We work in
technologies like Flash, HTML5, Unity 3D, Objective C, Android NDK and Augmented
reality games.

Risks involved in business and way of addressing

Information security is crucial , Developing talent is a
challenge (not risk really), Retaining skilled talent.While offering game
development as a service, as gaming is all about developing experience, every
thing cannot be defined in  the scope of
work. You have to introduce certain features that may not be part of the
initial defined scope and yet deliver the product on time. This may hamper  your budget for the product and the entire
thought process goes for toss. However, we minimize these risks by having
detailed GDDs and prototype in the production cycle.Secondly we believe to
build a long-term relationships with our clients to get an advantage over the
competition.



 

Some of the difficulties faced while building product/ solution

When we were a 4 member team without any “brand” backup,
we faced various issues  like
attracting  talent, retaining them,  making the global market believe in us to
give us the “First “ chance etc. Only way to tackle it, was the determination
of creating a difference. 

Different actions if I rebuild my company from scratch all over again

Nothing! Each step in building this company, consider it
as a pros or a con, has added to what it is today. ‘Experience makes a man perfect!’ It’s the same here. Every
experience in terms of may it be a project, client or resources have been the
ladder to Apar Games success.

Motivation and Drives factor

 “Creating
a GAME”

Unique about my way of motivating troops

Nothing in specific that is individually practiced by only
me. I am just passionate about games and I know the idea of creating,
designing, talking, playing & living GAMES is what motivates me & my
troops both. I believe creative people are motivated to evade into another
world by even a ray of light in the dark.  

Way of choosing my people

Hiring a talented person is easy but nurturing and creating
a cutting edge talent is what a company should look at for every individual
they hire since it’s beneficial for both the company and the individual. We at
Apar Games believe in the same and hence have always inspired people to take up
challenging projects guiding them through the process. With Intel as our
partners, we research and keep ourselves and the team updated with the upcoming
technology and give them freedom to explore it. 

The challenges and lessons learnt to get first customer

When we started the company we all had our share of
experience working in the gaming industry. The combined experience and exposure
of our team convinced the client that we could deliver the desired product in
the said time. Our approach is to “help” rather “service” them in their game
development need, gave us the big break.  

My role at different dimensions as the company evolved
The journey of starting from scratch and leading
the company to this level in a matter of just 5years means you have been
through all phases involved in the company. Right from identifying the right
talent, to training them in the desired manner to deriving the desired output. Apart
from pitching for clients, conceptualizing the game, design, programing,
stemming, we also maintain the game till the said time. Initially I was
involved in even minute processes rather I would say I still keep a tab of each
minute processes but now obviously it has scaled down a lot. 
As a leader how I make sure that I am connecting the right dots

A leader is never a one if he/she does not possess the
qualities of being one. Being calm, listening and acting at the right time with
precision is my mantra. Of course, I have had my share of falls but important
is we were able to stabilize them. 

Best company I admire globally

POPCAP. They create games to entertain people, do not
really go by the set path. But they have a specific goal and follow a specific
process, eye for detail. etc. 

Advice for fellow entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs in gaming industry.Dream! Follow it! Make it
happen! You’re the one whom people look upto to make their dreams come true!

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