The AI Cookbook with Malcolm Werchota

episode artwork

Malcolm Werchota

09 September 2025

19m 42s

E55: How Handshake Found Gold in Their Own Database - The $100 Million Hidden Treasure

00:00

19:42

10 years building a college job board. 500,000 PhDs sitting idle. One Christmas party conversation. Result? Zero to $50 million ARR in 4 months – the fastest B2B pivot in AI history.

Breaking down:

  • The Hidden Asset: 20M users | 500,000 PhDs | 3M Master's students | 1,500 universities | 10 years of trust already built
  • The Pivot: January 2024 launch | February: $1M revenue | March: $10M | April: $50M ARR | Now approaching $100-150M
  • The New Game: PhDs earning $100+/hour teaching AI quantum physics | Not $2/hour for tagging cats | Data labeling is now a $100B industry
  • The Playbook: Separate team | Separate office | 24/7 work culture | CEO spending 80% time | Equity packages like founders

Plus: Why YOUR company's dormant data is probably worth millions – and the radical "startup within a startup" strategy to unlock it.

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