Garrett Lord is co-founder and CEO of Handshake, which started as a career network for college students and new grads but recently discovered something extraordinary: they were sitting on the world’s largest network of academic experts—exactly what frontier AI labs desperately needed. With 500,000 PhDs and 3 million advanced degree holders creating training data, in just eight months they’ve built a new business that hit $50 million in revenue in its first four months and is on track to blow past $100M in the first 12 months.
*What you’ll learn:*
1. How Handshake found an opportunity to leverage their proprietary network of experts to launch a data-labeling business that’s on track to blow past $100 million ARR in 12 months
2. Why AI models need human experts (e.g. physics PhDs) to improve, and what this “data labeling” actually involves
3. Inside the actual work: what a biology PhD does for 8 hours that makes GPT-5 smarter
4. The playbook for building a startup inside a startup: separate teams, separate offices, separate everything
5. Why the shift from “generalist” to “expert” data labeling created a once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity
6. Why AI won’t eliminate entry-level jobs—it’s creating “Iron Man suits” that make junior employees 10x more productive
*Brought to you by:*
CodeRabbit—Cut code review time and bugs in half. Instantly: https://coderabbit.link/lenny
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Claude.ai—The AI for problem solvers and enterprise: https://www.claude.ai/lenny
*Transcript:* https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-handshake-garrett-lord
*My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers):* https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/171410958/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation
*Where to find Garrett Lord:*
• X: https://x.com/garrettlord
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrettlord/
• Email: Garrett@joinhandshake.com
*Where to find Lenny:*
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
*In this episode, we cover:*
(00:00) Introduction to Garrett Lord
(05:00) Understanding data labeling and its importance
(13:08) The role of experts in AI model training
(15:35) The future of AI and human collaboration
(24:17) Why AI won’t eliminate entry-level jobs
(27:58) The continuous improvement of AI models
(33:05) The emergence of Handshake’s new business model
(37:07) Incubating new ideas in established companies
(40:42) Handshake’s competitive advantage
(45:43) Scaling up and meeting market demand
(48:38) Overcoming challenges and adapting
(53:08) The importance of separate teams and ownership
(57:26) The future of job matching with AI
(01:00:30) The biggest bottlenecks to advancing models further
(01:02:37) Lightning round and final thoughts
*Referenced:*
• GPQA: https://github.com/idavidrein/gpqa
• Handshake: https://joinhandshake.com/
• OpenAI’s CPO on how AI changes must-have skills, moats, coding, startup playbooks, more | Kevin Weil (CPO at OpenAI, ex-Instagram, Twitter): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/kevin-weil-open-ai
• Inside Bolt: From near-death to ~$40m ARR in 5 months—one of the fastest-growing products in history | Eric Simons (founder and CEO of StackBlitz): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-bolt-eric-simons
• Goldman Sachs: https://www.goldmansachs.com/
• General Motors: https://www.gm.com/
• Google: https://about.google/
• Sahil Bhaiwala on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahil-bhaiwala-459b0354/
• Francisco “Paco” Guzman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guzmanhe/
• Avery Yip on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/averyyip/
• Game of Thrones on HBO: https://www.hbomax.com/shows/game-of-thrones/4f6b4985-2dc9-4ab6-ac79-d60f0860b0ac
• SNOO: https://www.happiestbaby.com/products/snoo-smart-bassinet
• Careers at Handshake: https://joinhandshake.com/careers/
*Recommended books:*
• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804139296
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers―Straight Talk on the Challenges of Entrepreneurship: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205
_Production and marketing by https://penname.co/._
_For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com._
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
