Hi Reader,

Happy New Year from Hal9! 🎉

Welcome to the first Hal9 Weekly of 2026 — insights from our founder Javier on turning AI ideas into real products.

As we kick off the new year, we're excited to share practical frameworks, founder stories, and what we've learned from helping startups ship faster.

Javier's Insights:

How We Tripled Our Customer Base (And What Actually Mattered)

This past year, we tripled our customer base at Hal9. But honestly? That's not what I'm most proud of.

What really stands out is watching the team grow into their roles.

Aprillia, Tracy, and Pedro started presenting at conferences. Javier Iñaki took over leading engineering. Everyone leveled up in ways I didn't expect.

We also finally got organized. For the first time, we have actual specialization:

• Someone owns marketing
• Someone owns sales
• Engineering has real roles now—backend, frontend, DevOps

It sounds basic, but it's the difference between scrambling every day and actually running a company.

The bittersweet part? We're still too distributed to celebrate together. 33% of the team is in Mexico, 33% in Seattle, 34% scattered everywhere else. So we threw two Christmas parties—one in Mexico City, one in Seattle (complete with karaoke).

Someday we'll get everyone in the same room. But for now, I'm just grateful for how far this team has come.

Here's to 2025 — may it bring more growth, more clarity, and maybe one epic team gathering.

What did your team accomplish last year that you're proud of?

Founder Case Study: HYPD

From Prototype to Production-Ready MVP in 30 Days

HYPD is revolutionizing how people discover local experiences — connecting users with authentic neighborhood events while helping small businesses gain visibility without expensive advertising.

The Challenge:​
After validating their concept with a no-code prototype, HYPD needed a scalable, production-ready platform to launch in Seattle and San Diego. They had an aggressive timeline and needed to build the right foundation for future AI-driven curation.

What Hal9 Built:

In just 30 days, we developed:

• 🌐 A dynamic web application listing hand-picked local events
• 🎯 Clean, intuitive UX designed for rapid user acquisition
• 🏗️ Scalable architecture ready for AI-powered features
• 💼 A polished platform that became a key asset for investor pitches

The Results:

✅ Launched a fully functional event discovery platform in one month
✅ Attracted early users in targeted neighborhoods
✅ Strengthened fundraising efforts with an impressive demo
✅ Established a clear technical roadmap for AI integration

"We proved the concept with a no-code MVP. To build the scalable, real-world version at the speed we needed, we partnered with Hal9."​
— Harrison Rolfes, Founder @ HYPD

HYPD now has a solid foundation to scale their community platform and introduce intelligent event curation as they grow.

Let's Talk

Got an AI or web app idea you want to launch in 2025?

Book a quick call with us — we'll help you figure out the fastest path from concept to launch.

Here's to building something great this year,

—The Hal9 Team