The 26-year-old CEO of Corgi — a buzzy insurance coverage startup that has become identified online for its so-called “hot girl” advertising and marketing — reportedly threatened to shut down the company’s New York workplace during a weird dispute over whether workers were correctly caring for a pet.
“If you can’t raise a dog, you cannot run an office,” co-founder and CEO Nico Laqua advised workers in a July 19 message obtained by Business Insider.
The blowup centered on Hamilton, a younger corgi stationed at the company’s New York workplace, where employees had been utilizing pee pads because a vet said the pooch was not totally vaccinated and should keep indoors, according to the report.
Nico Laqua, proper, and Emily Yuan are pictured. Corgi is coming out of stealth with a whole of $108M raised to give startups higher insurance coverage. Linkedin
“Buying pee pads of any sort for Hamilton is a fireable office [sic], on the spot,” Laqua raged, according to Business Insider.
Workers who refused to take Hamilton outside should schedule a one-on-one with him, the boss added.
“The best case scenario for this meeting will be a PIP,” he wrote, referring to a efficiency enchancment plan.
The doggy drama unfolded as Corgi — the fast-growing insurance coverage startup that has gained online discover for its so-called “Corgi girls,” social-media antics and hard-charging office tradition — ballooned to roughly 400 workers and a reported $5 billion valuation.
Earlier in July, Laqua ordered the New York workers to ship Hamilton to San Francisco, according to inside Telegram messages reviewed by Business Insider.
One worker requested whether the roughly 8-week-old pup could be taken to a vet first to decide whether he was healthy enough to fly.
Corgi co-founder Emily Yuan poses with one of the insurance coverage startup’s namesake pups as the company faces scrutiny over CEO Nico Laqua’s handling of another workplace corgi. Linkedin
Another staffer urged that the message be deleted, warning: “Nico gona tweak if he hearrs pee pad.”
Days later, one employee advised colleagues that Laqua had threatened the complete outpost over the pet’s journey plans.
“I just heard Nico say that there will be no NY office if Hamilton isn’t out here by Wednesday morning,” the worker wrote, according to Business Insider.
Another staffer reported that Laqua said he was “shutting down nyc” if the canine did not make the journey.
Employees also pushed back on Laqua’s insistence that Hamilton, one of several workplace canine the company had, be taken outdoor.
“The vet specifically told me he shouldn’t be going outside until his last round of shots,” one employee wrote.
Another worker urged staffers inform airport personnel that Hamilton was 4 months previous and vaccinated, despite messages and social-media posts indicating that he was about eight weeks previous and had not accomplished his vaccinations, Business Insider reported.
Hamilton finally made the flight to San Francisco in a service.
Brooke LeBlanc, Corgi’s 29-year-old head of neighborhood, went viral after posting a listing of courting “non-negotiables” for her future husband. Instagram/mbrookeleblanc
Corgi advised Business Insider that it “takes the care and wellbeing of its office dogs very seriously” and expects workers around the animals to look after them.
Laqua individually advised the outlet that Hamilton was about eight to 9 weeks previous at the time of the journey and famous that vaccines are not required for home flights on main airways.
Corgi was based by Laqua and Emily Yuan in 2024 and has raised more than $431 million, according to Business Insider. It supplies insurance coverage to other startups.
The company has cultivated a intentionally unconventional image, with workers posting aggressively on social media and a group of younger feminine staffers turning into identified online as “Corgi girls.”
Corgi’s online notoriety surged earlier this month after head of neighborhood Brooke LeBlanc, 29, posted a viral listing of courting “non-negotiables” for her future husband — including that he be “healthy masculine,” have a “provider/protector mentality” and be “post economic (still hardworking).”
“Sorry, I don’t want to date a loser!” LeBlanc shot back at critics, as the post turned another flashpoint around the startup’s online persona and the company’s unconventional method to advertising and marketing.
Female Corgi staffers dubbed the “Corgi girls” have become a distinguished half of the insurance coverage startup’s extremely online image, though the company denies hiring engaging girls as a advertising and marketing tactic. X/@siennacolee
Corgi beforehand advised The Post that claims it hires engaging girls as a advertising and marketing tactic are “false.”
“We hire people for their ability to contribute to our business,” attorney Jeremy Eisemann said on the company’s behalf.
“Characterizing our colleagues as a marketing tactic is disrespectful to them and misrepresents our culture.”
Laqua’s fixation on the company’s canine mascots reportedly continued even after Hamilton arrived in California.
“Found Hamilton chewing on a zyn during last call,” one worker later wrote in a Telegram message cited by Business Insider.
“Pls make sure floors are clear.”
The Post has sought remark from Corgi.
