Each week we share insights from our founder Javier Luraschi, spotlight real startup stories, and keep you updated on what’s happening at Hal9 and beyond. Looking forward to staying in touch.
The Unpopular AI Take That's Actually Winning 💪
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Hi Reader, Welcome to Hal9 Weekly — insights from our founder Javier on turning AI ideas into real products. Javier's Insights: We Just Shipped Hal9 1.0.0 — Here's the Bet We're Making We just released Hal9 1.0.0 — and it's already trending. But the version number isn't the real story. The story is what we learned across five years of building. Back in 2021, we shipped 0.4.0. It was a code-first tool built mostly for data analytics. By 2024, 0.8.0 had evolved into a generic AI platform — chatbots, agents, APIs, and more. Then in 2025, we hit a turning point: we realized AI alone wasn't enough. So we merged AI experts with AI agents, and for the first time, we got real traction. Now in 2026, we're releasing 1.0.0 and fully doubling down on one idea: People + AI. This is an unpopular take in the current AI hype cycle. But we strongly disagree with the crowd. Experts still matter. Even the smartest AI model lacks the deep expertise and hard-earned life experience that only people bring. The future isn't AI replacing people — it's AI working alongside them. That combination is what actually delivers results. We have to be right about this. For the benefit of humanity, we better be. 💪 Customer Success Story: SmallTownMove From Data to Dream Town — An AI-Powered MVP in Two Months SmallTownMove is a startup on a mission to simplify relocation across the USA — helping individuals and families find their ideal small town based on lifestyle, housing, and job opportunities. The challenge? Build a fully functional, polished MVP in roughly two months. That meant processing data for thousands of towns, integrating sources like real-estate APIs, location services, and government statistics — all while generating SEO-optimized content and delivering a user experience that actually felt ready for customers. Hal9 made it happen. In about 2.5 months, our team of data scientists, engineers, and designers delivered: 🗺️ A web platform with filters for jobs, lifestyle, and housing — powered by real data sources ✍️ AI-generated, SEO-friendly content that highlights what makes each town worth considering 🖼️ AI-enhanced imagery with a consistent, aspirational style grounded in real-world visuals ✨ A polished, intuitive UX built for both users and search engines from day one The result? SmallTownMove launched with a market-ready product, a clear product vision, and a strong foundation for future features like climate-based filtering. "From data processing and design to AI recommendations, Hal9 delivered my product in two months." — Rocco Seyboth, Founder @ SmallTownMove Let’s TalkGot an AI idea/building something and want to chat about it? Book a free consultation 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
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Each week we share insights from our founder Javier Luraschi, spotlight real startup stories, and keep you updated on what’s happening at Hal9 and beyond. Looking forward to staying in touch.
Hi Reader, Welcome to Hal9 Weekly — insights from our founder Javier on turning AI ideas into real products. Javier's Insights: Lovable Is Great. Until It Isn't. We use Lovable at Hal9 all the time for building initial demos. It's genuinely one of the best tools out there for getting from zero to something fast. But there's a conversation founders need to have earlier than most of them do: what happens when you move beyond the prototype? We recently ran a full experiment — built a real...
Hi Reader, Welcome to Hal9 Weekly — insights from our founder Javier on turning AI ideas into real products. Javier's Insights: The Biggest Mistake in AI Marketing Isn't What You Think Most marketers trying to win in the AI era are asking the wrong question. They're asking: How do I optimize harder? The real question is: What am I actually optimizing for? I recently sat down with Apurva Pawashe Luty from Optimly to dig into this — how LLMs actually work, why most AEO (Answer Engine...
Hi Reader, Welcome to Hal9 Weekly — insights from our founder Javier on turning AI ideas into real products. Javier's Insights: Send the Investor Update. Every Month. No Exceptions. There's a take going around that investor updates are optional — or even a distraction. I disagree. The fastest YC companies to hit $1B valuations? They sent monthly investor updates. Consistently. Here's why it matters more than most founders realize: It takes very little time. A well-structured update takes...