Deep Dive: LASSO Talks GTM & the Power of the Right Partner

LASSO helps power the world’s biggest live events. But for years, event staffing companies struggled with disconnected systems for scheduling, timekeeping, and payroll. That changed when LASSO partnered with Check to embed payroll directly into their platform.

To hear how the launch came together, Sid Madhubalan, Chief of Staff at Check, sat down with Natalie Mason, who leads payroll at LASSO. In this conversation, Natalie shares why payroll was the missing piece, how Check helped LASSO move faster, and why having a dedicated Check partner has been critical to success.

Sid: Can you start by telling us a bit about LASSO?

Natalie: LASSO is a workforce management solution for the live event industry. Our customers do anything from the Super Bowl to Coachella to Dreamforce. We help with staffing—everything from ticket takers and security officers to super technical positions like running audio boards, and live event cameras.

Before LASSO, everything was manual. Excel spreadsheets, a lot of texting and calling. So we created a platform where anyone can run any sized event, smoothly.

Sid: Why did you decide to add payroll?

Natalie: We started with scheduling and time & attendance, then inventory and project management. Payroll was the last piece of the puzzle. Customers would say, “I need a payroll company, I’m not happy with the one I have.”

In our industry, pay rates can change within the day. I can work one job in the morning at one rate, and in the afternoon at another. Most payroll systems make you lock in pay rates in the person’s profile, and manually change them. But with LASSO, time and attendance is the source of truth. That’s a huge deal for us.

Sid: What was most important to you and your team when you were evaluating a payroll partner?

Natalie: One of the major selling points is the pricing model. Check only charges per active employee paid, not per database record. In our world, someone might work one day and never again. And margins are often so tight in this industry that our customers can’t afford to pay for people just sitting in a database. That was a really big deal for us.

Sid: Can you share what launching payroll was like?

Natalie: I came in a little later, after dev and product had already started. They’d never run payroll, so there were things we didn’t prioritize or hadn’t thought about. Launch wasn’t hard, but it could have been smoother if I’d been involved earlier.

But Check was always supportive, not just providing the tech. You jumped on calls and guided us through best practices.

Sid: What has it been like leading payroll at LASSO?

Natalie: At first, we thought our implementation team would onboard customers and hand things off to support for ongoing questions. But payroll is too important—you can’t wait until Monday morning to fix a Friday 3pm payroll issue. We realized we needed a dedicated person. That ended up being me.

I’ve learned a ton. Some days are really hard, but it’s motivating. And the team has helped a lot. Jim [Kohl at Check] has walked me through things, like how to use a worksheet to calculate taxes. One day, a customer had a payroll mismatch with ADP, and instead of panicking, I walked through the calculation myself and figured it out without opening a ticket. That was a win for me.

Your team is so supportive and when I'm in a panic, you guys being able to break down an issue in a way that I can understand and can absorb. And then I’m able to apply it later on in different situations.

Sid: Was there a moment that showed you Check was a true partner?

Natalie: Yes—early on with our very first customer, we hit a bug and everyone at Check jumped in. Jim was on it after hours, even Andrew, Check’s CEO, was on the ticket. It turned out to be a freak issue, but you treated it seriously, fixed it, and supported us in front of the customer. That showed me you weren’t just a vendor, you were a true partner.

Sid: How have customers responded?

Natalie: They love that everything is all in one place. Before, they were exporting files from one system and importing into another. Now they’re already in LASSO, and payroll is just part of it.

Q: What advice would you give to another platform considering Check?

Natalie: Do it. Payroll can be a huge revenue opportunity, and with Check you’ll get the support you need. That’s the biggest differentiator—your customer service. Most vendors are transactional. Check isn’t. You really care about helping us succeed.