OM DENNE EPISODE
Most companies that hire someone in another state have no idea they've just taken on a compliance obligation in that state.
Nellie Akalp has been forming businesses since 1997. She founded MyCorporation.com, sold it to Intuit in 2005, and started CorpNet in 2009 — where she now runs a 100+ person company that keeps businesses compliant across all 50 states.
In this episode of the Command Your Brand Show, Jeremy Ryan Slate talks with Nellie about what actually happens when you expand across state lines — and about building the same kind of company twice. (Full disclosure: Command Your Brand is a CorpNet customer. We found them through Gusto and used them to register in Georgia. This isn't a sponsored episode.)
In this conversation:
- What foreign qualification actually means, and why hiring in a state triggers it
- Payroll tax registration, workers' comp, and the obligations most remote companies miss
- Why she left law school money on the table to start an internet company in 1997
- Selling MyCorporation to Intuit — and starting over from zero
- Eight hard years at CorpNet before anything worked
- How COVID told them which product to build the company around
- Scaling 12 people to 100+ — what actually had to change
- Why they promote from within and refuse to hire leadership from outside
- The one non-negotiable: they don't sell customer data
- Where AI helps, and where they keep a human in the loop on purpose
If you're hiring remotely, expanding into a new state, or just not sure whether you're actually compliant where you operate — start here.
This conversation is for general educational purposes and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and change often. Consult a qualified professional about your specific situation.
👇 COMMENT BELOW: How many states are you operating in right now — and are you registered in all of them?
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
00:50 How she got into entrepreneurship
03:00 Launching MyCorporation.com in 1997
05:06 Our own multi-state hiring problem
07:09 Selling to Intuit, then starting CorpNet from zero
08:15 The product that turned 12 people into 100+
09:11 What multi-state compliance actually requires
13:38 Why AI won't replace the human in the loop
16:24 Scaling from 12 to 100
19:52 "We're all alpha dogs": the culture
21:21 The one non-negotiable
28:16 Where to find CorpNet
CONNECT WITH NELLIE AKALP & CORPNET:
Website: https://www.corpnet.com
Leadership team: https://www.corpnet.com/about/leadership-team/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nellieakalp/
