Flat Structure Celebrates Impact

Garrett Lord's approach to building Handshake AI demonstrates that extraordinary growth comes from recognizing and leveraging your unique strategic advantages while creating separate, focused execution teams with clear ownership.

At the core of Handshake's success in AI data labeling is their recognition of a fundamental shift in the market - from generalist work to expert-driven data. As Lord explains, "The models have gotten so good that the generalists are no longer needed. What they really need is experts." This insight allowed Handshake to leverage their massive network of 18 million professionals, including 500,000 PhDs and 3 million master's students, giving them what Lord calls "this massive strategic advantage which is like no customer acquisition cost."

When building this new business within an established company, Lord prioritized complete separation and focus. He created distinct teams with single responsibilities: "Everyone did not have any responsibilities in the existing part of the business. It was extremely clear who was the directly responsible individual across each area." This extended to physical separation (different part of the office), different compensation structures, and different work expectations. The new venture operated with startup intensity - five days in the office, weekend work, and 2-3am nights.

Lord established a culture centered on urgency and ownership with the mantra "leave nothing to chance." He emphasized the uniqueness of the opportunity: "There will never be a time like this. I've never seen anything like it. I doubt I'll ever feel anything like this in business again where there's unlimited demand." This created a powerful sense of responsibility to execute flawlessly.

The team maintained an extremely flat structure focused on results rather than hierarchy. As Lord describes it: "Just because you run one function doesn't mean you're the directly responsible individual on a project. We pick the best person who's most capable of driving an initiative forward regardless of the function." This was paired with rigorous metrics and operating cadence from day one, unlike their approach with the original Handshake business.

For leaders and teams navigating AI disruption, the implications are clear: identify your unique data or audience advantage, create focused teams with complete ownership, establish urgency through clear articulation of the opportunity's uniqueness, and prioritize execution quality above all else. The window for capturing AI opportunities may be brief, requiring the discipline to say no to distractions and the courage to disrupt your own business before someone else does.