About Legacy Live
The people who build it
We are a software studio in Bloemfontein, South Africa, and the makers of IBIS. The work is technical. The reason for it is people: communities that last, apprentices who become colleagues, and software that keeps human connection in the picture.
Who we are
Legacy Live is a software studio in Bloemfontein, South Africa. We design, build and look after web and mobile apps for South African founders and social-impact organisations. Community sits inside that work: most of what we ship is a way for people to find each other and stay connected.
The founders we most want beside us are ambitious, and many of them are still small. The work can be serious without asking anyone to look bigger than they are.
Ryan founded the studio. Fourteen years of running his own businesses, and two decades of community projects, taught him to care about the people behind the numbers. Projects that were later mismanaged are why he builds systems that can hold a purpose after a founder steps back.
We also make IBIS, the Integrated Business Intelligence System: one connected system for operations, finance, people and growth. Our own consultation bookings run on it.
The people
These are the people a client actually meets. Ra1nbowings does not use a photograph or a legal name in public.
Ryan
The Connector
chief executive
Ryan (the CEO) has mastered the art of connecting team members to each other, communities to each other, businesses to communities, and ideas to profits and impact. He is fanatical about scaling businesses through communities, leaving a multi-generational impact, and building healthy societies...
Superpowers
- He sees patterns and solutions that AI and other tools miss.
- He builds culture and community, then connects both to the work.
Weaknesses
- He plans as if the servers never fill up. The team keeps that plan on the ground.
JJ
The Heartist
lead designer
He came to screens through fine art and music coaching. He reads what a person needs from a product before they have the words for it, and he moves quickly once the idea is clear.
JJ is our lead designer, rated in the Top 40 user-experience designers in South Africa by the Interaction Design Foundation.
Superpowers
- He grasps what a user or a client feels, often before they can say it. The design has to feel right, not only look right.
- When inspiration strikes, he moves at superhuman speed, churning out high-quality designs faster than seems humanly possible.
Weaknesses
- A small detail, such as a misspelled word, can slip past while he is chasing the idea. The team does the fine-tuning.
Timmy
The Tech Prodigy
senior full-stack developer
Timmy is a senior full-stack developer with a mind that runs at warp speed. A tutorial at double speed, with the dull parts skipped, is enough: he applies it properly and does not forget it. He is often three steps ahead, and he has a heart of gold.
Superpowers
- Hyper-learning: a tutorial at double speed is no problem.
- He senses which new tool will matter, and how to use it, before the rest of us have started.
- A can-do attitude that spreads through the room.
Weaknesses
- He moves so fast through ideas that he sometimes needs a reminder to hold a steady pace.
- His talks on innovation hold the room and push the clock. The Connector brings them back to the plan.
Wico
The Engineer
designer and developer
Discovered as one of our first apprentices, Wico (Web Designer, Developer and Deep Tech Integration) is a pioneer of technology. He has a background in engineering and a track record of innovation, but he doesn't just integrate technologies, he integrations visions as a team leader.
Superpowers
- His patience and resilients shines bright and out-weathers any task.
- He can build... Anything. You want a custom programmed microchip that speaks to your digital app and is plugged into a robot that actually does something awesome, he's your man.
Weaknesses
- He takes time to learn a project thoroughly before he builds it, so nothing is assumed. The start is slow. Once he is in, he is quick, and we give him that time.
Arthurnacious
The Tenacious Force
senior full-stack developer
With a methodical mind and an unshakeable dedication to technical excellence, he charges into every challenge like a coding juggernaut, refusing to stop until the job’s perfected. His propensity for always going the extra mile and knack for seeing the bigger picture often has him dreaming in code. Best of all, his sharp humour keeps the team chuckling, turning even the grimmest bug hunts into a good time.
Superpowers
- He outlasts every problem.
- Legend has it that he wrote both the very first and the very last book on coding best practices.
- His witty thoughts and contagious chuckles keep morale sky-high.
Weaknesses
- When the coffee runs out, so does the momentum. We keep a stash.
- He’s so deep in the matrix sometimes, we have to nudge him to step away from the screen.
Ra1nbowings
The Orchestrator
designer, trainer, and onboarding
She is the secret weapon who makes everything click. Known publicly only as Ra1nbowings, she’s a whirlwind of versatility, stepping into any role—design, training, onboarding—and making it look effortless. Her leadership inspires, her organisation is flawless, and her teaching is so smooth, people don’t even realise they’re levelling up. She does things right the first time, keeping the chaos at bay with her perfectly crafted SOPs.
Superpowers
- Effortless Leadership: She guides with a calm confidence that turns tangled messes into streamlined successes.
- SOP Wizard: Standard Operating Procedures flow from her like second nature—precise, practical, and ready to roll.
- Stealth Trainer: Her lessons sneak up on you; one minute you’re chatting, the next you’re a pro.
Weaknesses
- Coding Reluctance: We’re on a covert mission to lure her into the coding world, but so far, she’s too busy reigning in everything else to bite.
The A Team
When the work is bigger than the people above, we bring in developers, designers, security specialists, and business people who already know how we work. The apprenticeship sometimes feeds this group. They step in for the projects that need more hands.
We teach, and some of the people we teach stay. Last December we ran a web design apprenticeship. Some people have continued in an apprenticeship of their own rather than a single cohort. This December is the second web design apprenticeship. In we open the first Business Level I apprenticeship.
Wico is on this page because that path is real. The aim is not a certificate. It is a person who can earn, whether they stay with us or leave to build something of their own. Our long plan treats that school as something we do not cut.
What we stand for
We pay the P.R.I.C.E. for purpose, reformation, integrity, community, and excellence. When they clash, purpose and integrity come first.
Purpose
The direction of the work, for us and for the person who hired us. A choice is sound if repeating it would continue to serve that collective purpose.
Reformation
We revisit often and are commited to leaving everything we work with better than we found it: culture, relationships, operations, products.
Integrity
Our yes is binding, and our no is unbending. Our words echo our thoughts, echo our values, echo our actions and what we ship. This is always the cost we're prepared to pay.
Community
Everything we build is with humans and their collective thriving in mind; effective community application is on the roadmap of every project; and we consult real prospective users for our market research.
Excellence
This is unlike perfectionism, performance, and striving for validation... It is looking with wisdom to the horizons of each tasks, setting an intentional standard appropriate within its context in time, and upholding that standard.
A studio and a product
Doing both is deliberate. Each one keeps the other in check.
IBIS keeps our client work disciplined
We live with IBIS long after each release. So we build client work the same way: as something someone will run, fix and change for years.
Client work keeps IBIS honest
Every client project is a close look at how a real organisation works. That keeps IBIS shaped by real work, not by our assumptions.
Community, in the room
The gatherings are part of the work. We host local founders, and we sit with the owners of the businesses we serve. The software comes out of those rooms.
Who we work with
Organisations whose work is about people, and founders starting something new.
Sectors
- NGOs
- Social Enterprises
- Healthcare
- Faith and community organisations
- New Founders (The Next Generation)
- Public sector and education
Some of our clients
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Where the work has reached
The 18 countries and 4 continents where our clients are based but their impact extends far beyond these regions.
Where to next
See what we have built, get a ballpark for your own project, or talk it through with us.
