The Hardest Working Startup in America | Nico Laqua, Co-founder & CEO @ Corgi

Laqua states that if someone’s default days off are Saturday/Sunday every week, they “won’t have a place,” because the policy attracts highly committed candidates and repels mismatches early.

Candidates do mock work for 1–several days (often over a weekend) to see the office full and experience the real pace; Laqua values soft signals of commitment more than polished hard-skill demos.

Living in the office and visibly sharing hardship is framed as “leading from the front,” reinforcing norms more powerfully than policies or slogans.

He compares startups to non-hereditary regimes with fragile loyalty, arguing credentials and “tier-one investor” labels are often used to borrow trust rather than earn it through performance.

He says rounds should take “a couple days at most,” avoids the highest price (Brian Chesky advice), and believes long processes distort founder focus toward selling equity instead of selling product.