Inside the expert network training every frontier AI model | Garrett Lord (Handshake CEO)
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:
- 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
- Why AI models need human experts (e.g. physics PhDs) to improve, and what this “data labeling” actually involves
- Inside the actual work: what a biology PhD does for 8 hours that makes GPT-5 smarter
- The playbook for building a startup inside a startup: separate teams, separate offices, separate everything
- Why the shift from “generalist” to “expert” data labeling created a once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity
- Why AI won’t eliminate entry-level jobs—it’s creating “Iron Man suits” that make junior employees 10x more productive
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Transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-handshake-garrett-lord
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My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/171410958/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation
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Where to find Garrett Lord:
- X: https://x.com/garrettlord
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrettlord/
- Email: Garrett@joinhandshake.com
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Where to find Lenny:
- Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
- X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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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
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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://joinhandshak
