Monday, November 1, physical therapist Joris and business expert Frank went live with their digital coach NuBeter. The online place-to-be where you can work on vitality, lifestyle, health and a better life from wherever you are. Your own personal remote coach via the Mendix platform NuBeter. A close collaboration from which an extraordinary product emerged. We talked to NuBeter owner Joris Kobossen about how the men came up with the idea and how he experienced the collaboration.
The start of something beautiful
It all started with Joris’ mother who had an illness a while back for which she had to go to the hospital. After rehabilitation at the rehab center, she was allowed to return home and then continue her recovery at physio. During physio, his mother was put on a bicycle, which she actually did not like at all. ”She doesn’t like cycling at all. So I started looking for something for her that she does like, like swimming,” says Joris. ”I then signed her up for a swimming group where she is now totally in her element.”
This was when the first ideas surfaced. ”I thought, why isn’t there someone like this for everyone, a coach who when you’re out of care can offer support, offer choices and help.”
”We feel that people who end up in care are helped well while they are in there, but once they are done there, there is no aftercare.”
Both Frank and Joris always wanted to contribute or change something around healthcare. ”We feel that people who end up in care are helped well while they are in there, but once they are done there, there is no aftercare,” Joris says. The rise of digitization and online contact in corona time stuck with the men. Which gave them the idea: lifestyle coaching, vital coaching. This was the idea the men started working on.
How did the partnership between NuBeter and Pegamento come about?
No sooner said than done. Together with Frank, Joris contacted an old acquaintance, CEO Serge Poppes of Pegamento. ”It was funny that Serge didn’t respond to my e-mail, but he did respond to a text message I sent.” This allowed the men to share their idea with Pegamento: a platform with a coach/caregiver/service provider on one side and the customer on the other. Serge found the idea interesting and indicated he would write out the idea and then see if it was possible to realize it with Mendix: a technology to build the platform with.
”Together with Pegamento, we came to the conclusion that it could be quite a cool platform.”
During projects, Pegamento uses short sprints. After each sprint, the construction team delivers small pieces of the platform according to the wishes and needs of Joris and Frank. But first, the men from NuBeter started at sprint 0 together with developers, a sprint master, consultant and implementation manager. ”During sprint 0 we evaluated whether the idea was feasible and whether we could realize it together. We came to the conclusion that it could be quite a cool platform for anyone who wants to use it.” This was the start of a close collaboration.
”Trust, that was the single most important reason for me to choose Pegamento”
Building something new takes time and money. Especially for building companies whose product or service created is the core of the organization. The men from NuBeter placed the entire responsibility, so to speak, on Pegamento and for Joris, having confidence in each other was the deciding factor. ”With Consultant Remco I can read and write and in Serge I have confidence, because he answers honestly whether something is possible or not. Serge could also have cut himself in the fingers if our idea could not be realized at Pegamento.” For Joris, it was important to have clarity about what was and was not possible, and he found that in Serge. ”He is, in my eyes, an entrepreneur with a vision. He dares to say if he disagrees with something, even if it is someone else’s vision. We need that, we are a small team that needs feedback.”
This way we were close to the fire, the team. This gave short lines of communication and the ability to sit together easily and flexibly.”
During the time the NuBeter platform was being created, Joris and Frank were allowed to use the Pegamento office in Zeist as their own office. This allowed the whole team to work closely together. ”It was great that this was allowed. This way we were close to the fire, the team. This gave short lines of communication and the ability to sit together easily and flexibly because we are in the same place,” says Joris. ”You also get the feel of the company this way, which for me as an outsider feels like trust. A diverse range of products that can also be interwoven. And that’s what we were looking for.”
You are in good hands
With NuBeter, you will be paired with your own personal coach who fits your wants and needs. Someone who offers support in achieving your goals, provides choices and helps when you are out of care, among other things.
”For example, if someone wants to lose weight, we look in our card index for a coach who specializes in nutrition and losing weight. And who enjoys doing this on the side every now and then. Then we match them up and they go through a process together on our platform. We are actually the coach’s uber,” Joris explains. ”The coach then creates a file on the platform in which he keeps track of goals and assignments for the client. For example, he can create an assignment for Wednesday that the client has to keep track of what he eats through Friday. The client then gets a pop-up on Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. with the assignment.”
The platform fully facilitates the coach in everything he/she wants to do with the client. To set it up efficiently, there are all smart features in it by smart software.
Wondering what else we have accomplished? Check out our customer cases here.
Please feel free to contact us
Do you also have an idea you want to realize and need our help with it? Or do you want to start robotizing? Or would you like to have a conversation about the possibilities? Feel free to contact us. We will gladly help you on your way.
