Sept. 4, 2025

1229: This company is BEATING THE GIANTS while using AI to streamline payroll w/ Lorenzo Di Stefano

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Tired of the soul-crushing complexity of payroll? In this episode, we sit down with Lorenzo Di Stefano, a seasoned entrepreneur who turned his biggest business headache into a revolutionary tech company. After running a multi-location restaurant chain with over 200 employees, Lorenzo experienced the nightmare of manual payroll firsthand—the errors, the time-suck, and the compliance risks. He shares how he channeled that pain into creating GoPayroll AI, an automated platform that saves businesses up to 50% on fees and countless hours of work. This is a masterclass in turning a real-world problem into a scalable solution, competing against industry giants, and leveraging AI to build a smarter, more efficient business.

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

  • 🚀 How to identify a high-value business idea by solving your own biggest pain point.
  • 🤖 Why AI isn't just a buzzword, but a powerful tool that can help non-technical founders build a product and automate complex business operations.
  • Goliath: Actionable strategies for competing against massive, established corporations by being nimble, agile, and customer-obsessed.
  • ✅ The critical importance of validating your product idea with real customers before you invest thousands of dollars and months of your time.
  • 💰 How to structure a business model that saves your customers money while building a sustainable, long-term company.
  • ⚖️ Why payroll accuracy is about more than just numbers—it’s about avoiding costly lawsuits and maintaining legal compliance.

📝 About Lorenzo Di Stefano

Lorenzo Di Stefano is a true entrepreneur at heart, with a journey that started with selling snacks in school and led to owning a multi-location restaurant chain with over 200 employees. It was this firsthand experience with the immense challenges of managing payroll that inspired him to found GoPayroll AI. As a founder who has been in the trenches, Lorenzo brings a unique, empathetic perspective to building technology. He’s not just creating software; he’s solving a deep-seated problem he knows intimately, making business operations simpler, cheaper, and more accurate for fellow entrepreneurs.

🎯 Lorenzo’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

“Listen to people. But at the end of the day, when it comes to your core, your decision making, just really follow your heart, follow your mind and commit to that.”

📢 Memorable Quotes

  • "I think it's so important that whatever you're trying to build, you really experience, or at least get into your customer shoes and experience the pain points. Why are you building this? Is someone going to use it?"
  • "There's always ways to beat a giant. You just need to find them and be agile and test and go out there and just speak and keep going."
  • "After a year, I launched the product and no one used it. No one used it. It was so hard to sell. And that's one of the biggest lessons I learned when it comes to building something."

💡 Actionable Takeaways

  • ✅ Audit your current payroll process. Calculate the hours you spend and the fees you pay to see if an automated solution could deliver a significant ROI.
  • ✅ If you have a tech idea but aren't a coder, start experimenting with no-code tools or AI like ChatGPT to build a simple prototype and validate your concept.
  • ✅ When competing against bigger players, lean into your strengths: offer personalized, high-touch service that they can't scale.

🔗 Links & Resources

Special Offer for Listeners: Get SIX MONTHS of GoPayroll AI for FREE!