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: 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 Orkes —The enterprise platform for reliable applications and agentic workflows: https://www.orkes.io/ Claude.ai —The AI for problem solvers and enterprise: http://claude.ai/ — 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: [email protected] — 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 [email protected] . Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com