The 26-year-old CEO of Corgi — a buzzy insurance startup that has become known online for its so-called “hot girl” marketing — reportedly threatened to shut down the company’s New York office during a bizarre dispute over whether employees were properly caring for a puppy.
“If you can’t raise a dog, you cannot run an office,” co-founder and CEO Nico Laqua told staff in a July 19 message obtained by Business Insider.
The blowup centered on Hamilton, a young corgi stationed at the company’s New York office, where workers had been using pee pads because a vet said the pooch was not fully vaccinated and should stay indoors, according to the report.
“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 performance improvement plan.
The doggy drama unfolded as Corgi — the fast-growing insurance startup that has gained online notice for its so-called “Corgi girls,” social-media antics and hard-charging workplace culture — ballooned to roughly 400 employees and a reported $5 billion valuation.
Earlier in July, Laqua ordered the New York staff to send Hamilton to San Francisco, according to internal Telegram messages reviewed by Business Insider.
One employee asked whether the roughly 8-week-old pup could be taken to a vet first to determine whether he was healthy enough to fly.
Another staffer urged that the message be deleted, warning: “Nico gona tweak if he hearrs pee pad.”
Days later, one worker told colleagues that Laqua had threatened the entire outpost over the puppy’s travel plans.
“I just heard Nico say that there will be no NY office if Hamilton isn’t out here by Wednesday morning,” the employee wrote, according to Business Insider.
Another staffer reported that Laqua said he was “shutting down nyc” if the dog did not make the trip.
Employees also pushed back on Laqua’s insistence that Hamilton, one of several office dogs the company had, be taken outdoors.
“The vet specifically told me he shouldn’t be going outside until his last round of shots,” one worker wrote.
Another employee suggested staffers tell airport personnel that Hamilton was four months old and vaccinated, despite messages and social-media posts indicating that he was about eight weeks old and had not completed his vaccinations, Business Insider reported.
Hamilton ultimately made the flight to San Francisco in a carrier.
Corgi told Business Insider that it “takes the care and wellbeing of its office dogs very seriously” and expects employees around the animals to look after them.
Laqua separately told the outlet that Hamilton was about eight to nine weeks old at the time of the trip and noted that vaccines are not required for domestic flights on major airlines.
Corgi was founded by Laqua and Emily Yuan in 2024 and has raised more than $431 million, according to Business Insider. It provides insurance to other startups.
The company has cultivated a deliberately unconventional image, with employees posting aggressively on social media and a group of young female staffers becoming known online as “Corgi girls.”
Corgi’s online notoriety surged earlier this month after head of community Brooke LeBlanc, 29, posted a viral list of dating “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 became another flashpoint around the startup’s online persona and the company’s unconventional approach to marketing.
Corgi previously told The Post that claims it hires attractive women as a 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 employee later wrote in a Telegram message cited by Business Insider.
“Pls make sure floors are clear.”
The Post has sought comment from Corgi.