Garrett Lord
Co-founder and CEO, Handshake
His student careers platform, Handshake, built an AI unit that went from zero to over $1 billion in gross annualized revenue in 16 months.
- Born
- Not published
- Now
- Co-founder and CEO, Handshake
- Studied
- Michigan Technological University
Interesting facts
- Turning point
The idea for Handshake came from Palantir's $5,000 referral bonus, which made him ask why companies couldn't reach strong CS students without referrals.
mtu.edu - Numbers
He and his co-founders drove 40,000 miles in a rusty Ford Focus pitching Handshake while looking for their first client.
mtu.edu - Early start
Called himself "a super nerd" as a kid and had to show his teacher how to set up the classroom's new computers. He later ran an IT business on the side.
mtu.edu - Before AI
Landed a Palantir forward-deployed engineering internship by persistently emailing its recruiters, then won the company's annual summer hackathon.
mtu.edu - Side project
Joined the Mont Ripley ski patrol and played broomball in his first year at Michigan Tech.
mtu.edu
Career
- HandshakeCo-founder and CEO2012 to now
Education
- BS, Computer science, Michigan Technological University, 2014