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EntrepreNURSING: Our journey to Pitch Deck and Demo Day

One busy week for all student nurses as we take on our consecutive days filled with jampacked activities and deadlines. Last Hospital and Community duties were on the same week as our pitch deck, and unexpectedly, the presentation in UCC for the demo day. Probably one of the most nerve-wracking experience (aside from return demonstrations and practical exams) was the Pitch Deck and Demo Day presentations. Gladly, my teammates were also great communicators, hence, we were able to make time to prepare for our pitch deck presentation despite having less than 3 hours of sleep the day before the Final Pitch Deck. During our preparation, my teammates worked all night to edit, practice, and organize our presentation. The hardest part was probably keeping our laughs’ volume low and trying not to sleep during discussions. Furthermore, on the Final Pitch Deck presentation, there were minor changes on the target market however we were glad that our revisions were quite minimal and my teammates were amazing and very cooperative throughout our journey as Panimalay.

During our validation in the CMU-Office of Student Affairs (CMU-OSA), we were granted the opportunity to interview one of the staffs regarding our start-up. From there, we were able to gather important information that served as the primary basis of the key features that we included in our app called “Nomads”— a home finder app.

However, despite the comprehensive information gathered from our interviewee, she had to refer us to the Housing Committee of the university administration for further clarification regarding some of our queries. She also stated that it is impossible to make appointment to the Housing Committee heads as of that moment since the faculty and staff were out of the country for an important business together with the university president.

Furthermore, we are still grateful for the opportunity to interview one of the heads from the OSA. We were able to confirm that indeed, one of the primary concerns of the students is the difficulty in finding a suitable place to stay. Even the staffs at the OSA are also receiving various feedbacks regarding the student-housing system of the university.

Our “trip” to OSA led us to include the e-payment feature on our app in which students don’t have to line for hours in the cashier just to pay for their rent. This was also the key to sustainable app usage. Since students will be able to utilize the app, not just during boarding in, but as well as monthly for their rent payment. In conclusion, our validation in the OSA had immensely improved our understanding towards the problem we are trying to solve, as well as broaden our perspective in developing the envisioned solution for a better CMU.

Lecture Series 2022

The validation of our business proposal was conducted to ensure the relevance and validity of the start-up. During an interview, Ms. Natasha Bajuyo, a boarder of Castillon Boarding house (fronting Lawaan Student Village) mentioned that her main problem when the face-to-face classes started was to look for a place to stay in. She mentioned how hassle it was for her to look for quality, safe, and available slot of boarding houses near the campus. Moreover, she also mentioned that the lack of accessibility to ATM machines made it harder for her to easily pay and claim money.

During this week, the team decided to add few features to the app. This is to attain customer’s satisfaction keep the app running throughout the school year and not just during the beginning of every school year.

Oh well, finally, the time has come for me to breathe fresh air and enjoy chirping bird sounds as I walk to the College of Nursing to attend my GEE 16 class. I’m a bit anxious as we started introducing ourselves in front of the class. Nevertheless, I’m quite excited for this course. I realized how this course can be helpful despite being not quite related to my degree program— BS Nursing.

During the discussion of introduction, the expected activities were also mentioned. One of which is conducting interviews and business presentations, wherein the most important skill to be equipped is excellent communication skills. In comparison with nursing profession, communication skills plays a significant role in treating patients, since building rapport to patients can positively influence the outcome of the nursing intervention being rendered.