Hi Reader,

Welcome to Hal9 Weekly — insights from our founder Javier on turning AI ideas into real products.

Each week, we'll share practical frameworks, founder stories, and product updates to help you build faster.

Javier's Insights:

Vibe coding is awesome for getting started fast. But there are three places where founders hit a wall.

We see this constantly when people ask us for help building their AI MVP—someone uses Lovable or another no-code tool, builds something that works, then gets stuck when they try to scale.

Here's where vibe coding breaks down:

1. Notifications

You want to keep users engaged. Send them SMS updates, emails, or WhatsApp messages to improve retention.

Vibe coding tools just can't handle this. The integrations aren't stable enough, and you end up with a product that can't stay connected to your users.

2. Mobile Apps

Some products just need to live in your pocket, not on a website.

But mobile development is a different beast. You need App Store approval, cross-platform support for Android, and the whole process is way more expensive and complex than web development.

Vibe coding doesn't cut it here.

3. AI

This is where we see the most frustration.

Say you're building a tool that helps people find the best small town to move to in the US, like our client Rocco Seyboth. You can't vibe code that—you need real data sources and custom AI to make it work.

Or maybe you're building a matchmaking app. You can't just ask an LLM to generate a high-quality matchmaking algorithm and call it a day.

And even if you can connect to ChatGPT or another LLM through vibe coding, reducing costs and increasing quality takes real AI expertise.

Vibe coding is perfect for validating ideas and building prototypes fast.

But when you hit these walls, that's when you need to bring in real development to take it to the next level.

Which of these have you run into while building your MVP?

Customer Success Story: ValProperty

How AI Saved a Real Estate Founder Six Figures (And Became Her Technical Cofounder)

ValProperty is revolutionizing home buying with AI-powered property analysis. Founder Donna Bower, an experienced real estate entrepreneur, faced a critical decision: spend six figures acquiring an existing AI startup, or build her own solution to analyze complex property disclosures—repairs, roof conditions, claims—that buyers need to evaluate quickly.

The Challenge: Develop an AI-driven MVP that could process multiple property documents simultaneously, deliver polished assessments to prospects, and scale for beta release—all without the massive financial outlay of acquiring another company.

Hal9 helped ValProperty:

• 💰 Save over six figures by building instead of acquiring
• ⚡ Deliver an initial application in one week, full MVP in one month
• 📄 Process multiple property documents with advanced AI analysis
• 🚀 Impress prospects with beta-ready functionality and secure API access

The result? ValProperty launched with a robust platform that handles complex real estate transactions, gathered valuable prospect feedback, and positioned the company for market entry—all while building a technical partnership Donna describes as "family."

"I ❤️ Hal9. They saved me over six figures, they are my AI cofounders and feel like family to me." — Donna Bower, Founder @ ValProperty

Let's Talk

Book a quick call with Javier — he'll help you validate it before you build, so you don't lose time chasing the wrong version.

Talk soon, —The Hal9 Team