In the US, it is common for a small startup company to have no employees. Your role and title with a company is separate from your official employment status. This is where concepts like "sweat equity" come from. You can be an owner and work on a company without being an employee or receiving any compensation. Creating a company in the US comes with no real obligations to do something with it.

This is beneficial. It allows small companies to bootstrap without incurring the complexity and cost of having employees until they have enough revenue or capital to justify that expense.