In November 2025, Amy left Taya, the startup she co-founded with Elena Wagenmans. She had been CTO for approximately two years, building the entire product across hardware, software, and go-to-market.
Why She Left
Amy cited Elena's lack of care for her as a person. The workload was unsustainable: Amy was doing the jobs of five people, using drugs to stay awake for days. She realized "money wasn't going to fix a bad co-founder relationship."
She had turned down a ~$150k full-time offer from Apple to co-found Taya. She had walked away from the safety net, and now the thing she walked toward was consuming her.
The Deal
Amy negotiated a separation agreement: - 2,874,742 shares repurchased for $180,000 (approximately 10% of the company) - 125,258 shares retained (approximately 3%, certificate CS-7) - $20,000 severance (November 2025) - $90,000 Part I repurchase (December 2025) - $90,000 Part II repurchase (January 2026) - $2,000 legal reimbursement - $127.10 expense reimbursement - Total received: approximately $202,000
Cap Table Issues
The Carta cap table was not updated correctly. It shows Amy owning 1,125,000 shares (CS-7) when the separation agreement says 125,258. Elena only recorded the unvested share repurchase, not the vested share repurchase. Amy has the separation agreement as legal proof. The messy cap table is Elena's problem for future due diligence.
The Financial Context
The Taya payout arrived in installments across three months: $20,000 in November, $90,000 in December, $90,000 in January. Six days after the final payment, Amy opened a Fidelity brokerage account. See Financial Timeline.
What She Did Next
On November 9, 2025, while still negotiating her exit, Amy applied to Y Combinator's Winter 2026 batch with her brother George Zhou for a startup called Pretzel. She has never mentioned this. The same month she left one startup, she tried to start another, this time with family instead of Elena.
The Aftermath
Amy posted on LinkedIn on January 5, 2026: "Update: I've left Taya and am exploring what's next." She started at Vizcom on January 28.
The decision to leave was correct by every measure Amy can articulate. It was also the beginning of The Aftermath, a period defined by the gap between knowing she made the right choice and feeling like she lost something.
March 8: "The truth is I let Elena use me for two years."