{"id":361628,"date":"2026-10-01T07:04:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T07:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/361628\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T07:04:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T07:04:24","slug":"ceo-of-hot-girl-insurance-startup-corgi-threatened-to-shut-nyc-office-over-corgi-puppy-pee-pads-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/361628\/","title":{"rendered":"CEO of \u2018hot girl\u2019 insurance startup Corgi threatened to shut NYC office over corgi puppy, pee pads: report"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 26-year-old CEO of Corgi \u2014 a buzzy insurance startup that has become known online for its so-called \u201chot girl\u201d marketing<\/a> \u2014 reportedly threatened to shut down the company\u2019s New York office during a bizarre dispute over whether employees were properly caring for a puppy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can\u2019t raise a dog, you cannot run an office,\u201d co-founder and CEO Nico Laqua told staff in a July 19 message obtained by Business Insider.<\/a><\/p>\n

The blowup centered on Hamilton, a young corgi stationed at the company\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Nico Laqua, right, and Emily Yuan are pictured. Corgi is coming out of stealth with a total of $108M raised to give startups better insurance. Linkedin<\/p>\n

\u201cBuying pee pads of any sort for Hamilton is a fireable office [sic], on the spot,\u201d Laqua raged, according to Business Insider.<\/p>\n

Workers who refused to take Hamilton outside should schedule a one-on-one with him, the boss added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best case scenario for this meeting will be a PIP,\u201d he wrote, referring to a performance improvement plan.<\/p>\n

The doggy drama unfolded as Corgi \u2014 the fast-growing insurance startup that has gained online notice for its so-called \u201cCorgi girls,\u201d social-media antics and hard-charging workplace culture \u2014 ballooned to roughly 400 employees and a reported $5 billion valuation.<\/p>\n

Earlier in July, Laqua ordered the New York staff to send Hamilton to San Francisco, according to internal Telegram messages reviewed by Business Insider.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Corgi co-founder Emily Yuan poses with one of the insurance startup\u2019s namesake pups as the company faces scrutiny over CEO Nico Laqua\u2019s handling of another office corgi. Linkedin<\/p>\n

Another staffer urged that the message be deleted, warning: \u201cNico gona tweak if he hearrs pee pad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Days later, one worker told colleagues that Laqua had threatened the entire outpost over the puppy\u2019s travel plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just heard Nico say that there will be no NY office if Hamilton isn\u2019t out here by Wednesday morning,\u201d the employee wrote, according to Business Insider.<\/p>\n

Another staffer reported that Laqua said he was \u201cshutting down nyc\u201d if the dog did not make the trip.<\/p>\n

Employees also pushed back on Laqua\u2019s insistence that Hamilton, one of several office dogs the company had, be taken outdoors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vet specifically told me he shouldn\u2019t be going outside until his last round of shots,\u201d one worker wrote.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Hamilton ultimately made the flight to San Francisco in a carrier.<\/p>\n

Brooke LeBlanc, Corgi\u2019s 29-year-old head of community, went viral after posting a list of dating \u201cnon-negotiables\u201d for her future husband. Instagram\/mbrookeleblanc<\/p>\n

Corgi told Business Insider that it \u201ctakes the care and wellbeing of its office dogs very seriously\u201d and expects employees around the animals to look after them.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cCorgi girls.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Corgi\u2019s online notoriety surged earlier this month after head of community Brooke LeBlanc, 29, posted a viral list of dating \u201cnon-negotiables\u201d for her future husband \u2014 including that he be \u201chealthy masculine,\u201d have a \u201cprovider\/protector mentality\u201d and be \u201cpost economic (still hardworking).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry, I don\u2019t want to date a loser!\u201d LeBlanc shot back at critics, as the post became another flashpoint around the startup\u2019s online persona and the company\u2019s unconventional approach to marketing.<\/p>\n

Female Corgi staffers dubbed the \u201cCorgi girls\u201d have become a prominent part of the insurance startup\u2019s highly online image, though the company denies hiring attractive women as a marketing tactic. X\/@siennacolee<\/p>\n

Corgi previously told The Post that claims it hires attractive women as a marketing tactic are \u201cfalse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hire people for their ability to contribute to our business,\u201d attorney Jeremy Eisemann said on the company\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharacterizing our colleagues as a marketing tactic is disrespectful to them and misrepresents our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laqua\u2019s fixation on the company\u2019s canine mascots reportedly continued even after Hamilton arrived in California.<\/p>\n

\u201cFound Hamilton chewing on a zyn during last call,\u201d one employee later wrote in a Telegram message cited by Business Insider.<\/p>\n

\u201cPls make sure floors are clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Post has sought comment from Corgi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 26-year-old CEO of Corgi \u2014 a buzzy insurance startup that has become known online for its so-called…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[288,1958,6530,9,56,63,65,64,27254],"class_list":["post-361628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-business","tag-dog","tag-dogs","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-vaccines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}