First Block with Garrett Lord, Co-founder and CEO of Handshake
Von Anastasia Crew
Start-up Marketing-Lead
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Listen to the First Block podcast on Spotify. To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit notion.com/startups.
The TL;DR
Stack days relentlessly, even at 60%: Garrett lived out of a Ford Focus getting rejected by hundreds of universities before Handshake took off. His philosophy: some days you're at 100%, some days 60%, but if you stack your best effort daily over years, the results are overwhelming.
Define culture through extreme clarity, not consensus: Garrett describes Handshake's culture as "Olympic pace"—the kind of intensity that makes some people uncomfortable. He believes watering down culture to please everyone dilutes what makes a company special, and being transparent about high standards helps the right people self-select in.
Go big when the opportunity presents itself: With AI reshaping the entire economy, Garrett's advice is clear: Playing it safe means getting passed up—this is the moment to put all chips on the table with conviction.
Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from the world's leading companies tell us about the many "firsts" of their startup journeys. We explore the ups and downs that founders face as they build, and what they've learned along the way.
In this episode, we spoke with Garrett Lord, co-founder and CEO of Handshake. Handshake is the leading career platform connecting students and young professionals with employers, serving 17 million users and nearly 1 million companies.
Garrett shares his journey from growing up in a working-class family in Michigan to building a company that democratizes access to career opportunities. He discusses his days living out of his car, the importance of talent density, and why this is the moment to go all in on your biggest bets.
What's in this episode:
Download Handshake’s Sales CRM template to track clients through every stage of the pipeline—from initial lead to closed deal—with customizable status tracking, priority levels, and estimated values.
Thought starters for founders
After listening to Garrett's insights, ask yourself:
Are you being too consensus-driven in defining your culture?
How would your trajectory change if you focused more on talent density today?
What would it look like to "go all in" on your biggest opportunity right now?
Read the full transcript here
