Handshake is a platform that helps young professionals find work and creates meaningful connections in the professional world.
The inception of Handshake took place during the co-founder's internship at Palantir, highlighting the challenges faced by students in finding quality job opportunities.
The team behind Handshake faced tremendous determination and sacrifice, including sleeping in McDonald's parking lots, but their unwavering belief in the project kept them going.
Deep dives
Building Handshake to Connect Students with Job Opportunities
Handshake is a platform that helps young professionals find work, including internships and full-time jobs. Unlike LinkedIn, which focuses on your past, Handshake is all about your future. It serves as a valuable resource for college students and graduates, but also extends to those looking to restart or jumpstart their careers. The platform has grown significantly, with over 18 million students and young alumni from 1,300 universities connecting with 600,000 employers. Handshake's goal is to make job opportunities more accessible and create meaningful connections in the professional world.
The Journey of Building Handshake from a Side Project to a Successful Startup
The inception of Handshake took place during the cofounder's internship at Palantir, where they realized the challenges faced by students in finding quality job opportunities. They started by driving to universities, talking to career centers, and understanding the problems faced by both students and employers. Handshake's team grew over time and they raised a seed round of funding to scale their platform. Through persistence and hard work, they expanded the platform to include universities across the country, eventually achieving significant growth and recognition.
The Challenges of Fundraising and Overcoming Doubts
The process of raising funds for Handshake was challenging, with many rejections and obstacles faced along the way. However, through perseverance and strategic efforts, they were able to secure investors, including notable firms like LightSpeed and True Ventures. The co-founder talks about the importance of personal connections and the value of mentors who guided them through the fundraising process. Despite the success in raising funds, the team remains focused on constant growth and achieving new milestones.
Building the Company from Scratch
The journey of Handshake's founders involved tremendous determination and sacrifice. They began by visiting universities and signing up five schools in their first year after college, with the founders' own funds running low. They faced challenges like sleeping in McDonald's parking lots and finding showers at university pool facilities. Despite the difficulties, their unwavering belief in the project and the support of their team and families kept them going.
Scaling Up and Overcoming Obstacles
As Handshake grew from five to 60 schools, they faced financial constraints and intense competition. However, the team's relentless resourcefulness, product improvements, and leveraging relationships with industry professionals enabled them to stabilize and expand their customer base. They continually worked on building a stable product that engaged students and garnered support from universities and employers. The founders' ability to navigate challenges and secure funding highlights their determination to rise above setbacks and seize the opportunity.
Handshake CEO and co-founder Garrett Lord was amazed when he first learned that Silicon Valley firms like Google recruited on college campuses ... just not his, Michigan Technical University. But after excelling in the competitive Palantir internship program, he started asking himself, “How come they can’t reach us?” That question led him to found the job placement platform Handshake, which has raised $434 million in funding and is used by 100 percent of the Fortune 500.
In this episode, Garrett and Joubin discuss growing up in an “achievement-focused household”; how Garrett went from struggling to be noticed by Palantir’s recruiters to Handshake CEO; how his $1 billion-plus-valued company started with a broken-down Jeep; working without a safety net; why Garrett has changed his mind about hustle culture; “fortune favors the bold” and “no shave til you raise”; the relief of raising VC funding; how money condenses or extends time; and transitioning from scrappy to scaled CEO.
In this episode, we cover:
The impostor syndrome — and crucial epiphany — that Garrett had while interning at Palantir (05:46)
Starting the IT Oxygen club, and Trojan Horsing other college recruiters in Michigan (11:34)
Does having a chip on your shoulder make you more powerful? (17:08)
Living in the car, sleeping in McDonald’s parking lots, and showering at university pools (22:25)
Hard work and the importance of luck to Handshake’s success (27:08)
The difficult VC fundraising process, and finding a crucial ally: Former assistant dean of the Stanford GSB Andy Chan (30:55)
Handshake’s first office: A Palo Alto mansion owned by one of LinkedIn’s co-founders (37:55)
Growing fast and hiring a COO, Jonathan Stull (41:45)
Is Handshake the next LinkedIn? “Why not LinkedIn plus Indeed?” (47:16)