Nicole Landis Ferragonio and Joe Lux first met through mutual friends in New York City more than a decade ago. A few years later, while working together at Amazon, they started talking seriously about leaving the company and starting their own startup.
Last year, Ferragonio worked as a senior manager on a 55-person product and engineering team focused on data and measurement for Amazon’s advertising division. At the same time, Luchs also served as global head of advertising partnerships with Amazon Web Services. When they were collaborating on a data project, they both observed the same pattern. Companies want to use their internal data to make decisions, but they often cannot because their data is fragmented and inconsistent.
So Ferragonio and Lux began talking and discussing business ideas that might help solve the problems they witnessed. Last March, Luchs left Amazon to focus full-time on researching and building the company. Ferragonio followed in September, when she, Lux and two other co-founders officially launched Datalinx AI. Datalinx AI is an “AI data refiner” that helps companies turn their data into trusted, actionable intelligence.
In January, the company raised $4.2 million in seed funding led by High Alpha with participation from Databricks Ventures, Aperiam, and a group of operators and founders. The company plans to continue testing the product with a second group of customers in the second quarter of 2026 and expects to generate revenue from its first paying customers this month.
Ferragonio and Lux shared why they left Amazon, how they decided the time was right, and their advice for others considering a big career change.
Below are some of their responses, lightly edited for length and clarity.
Why did you decide to leave Amazon?
nicole landis ferragonio (35 years old, New York City resident): I think the tipping point for me to explore something other than Amazon was some of the policy changes that went into effect last year, specifically the five-day return-to-office mandate. It raised some questions about how much agency Big Tech companies actually have, and what’s possible for those of us who are establishing our own standards.
Additionally, my biggest motivation is to build something from scratch on my own rather than within a large company, but the pace of AI adoption makes this a rare opportunity to do something new. It felt like the perfect moment to jump.
Joe Lux (38 years old, living in New York City): I think the combination of experience and energy gives life meaning. It’s a very good time to start a business. This is the fifth startup I’ve worked for, and I’m still young enough to work 80 hours a week, so I think this combination is good for starting a company. (Editor’s note: He said he had two successful exits: BlueKai and Beeswax)
And as we looked at these amazing AI technologies and their capabilities, it started to become very clear that this technology is game-changing. The FOMO of not being able to participate in this AI opportunity despite having a great opportunity at Amazon was another driving force behind me wanting to act quickly here.
How did you decide when to quit?
Feragonio: Before making the decision to leave in September, I really focused on getting customer input through interviews to make sure I had a clear product vision.
lux: I quit in March because I felt like I wasn’t fast enough. The world of AI is evolving rapidly, so I wanted to fully immerse myself in it and understand it. Amazon is a rewarding work environment, and it became clear to me that maintaining a full-time job while building my business vision was not something I could easily do.
How did you feel comfortable leaving from a financial perspective?
Feragonio: I think I’m in a good position financially because I had the opportunity to make this leap both with Amazon and before. But this is my first startup, so it was definitely something I thought about a bit. That’s why before I left Amazon, I focused on getting feedback from potential customers and making sure we were creating a product with a clear vision. As of 2026, we both have a small salary.
lux: I think if you want to get the benefits that startups can get, you often have to make some sacrifices, including short-term rewards. However, you will never learn faster than in a startup environment. I think this is well worth it.
Additionally, while many people may have believed that big tech companies were highly secure, recent layoffs suggest that this is not necessarily the case.
Read more about people at corporate crossroads
What has been the most difficult part of starting your company so far?
Feragonio: I think one challenge is getting your business up and running, including things like health insurance, accounting, taxes, and incorporation. We are currently a team of four co-founders and two founding engineers, and are actively hiring additional engineers.
Add to that the challenge of balancing customer feedback in the early stages. We’ve talked to hundreds of potential customers, and even though we start receiving very clear signals about what they want, we don’t really know what will work until they actually use the product. Feedback changes from “There are so many things we can build” to what we should build to truly solve the problem.
So it’s a delicate balance between providing enough features to excite customers without overbuilding.
What advice would you give to people who are thinking of quitting their jobs to start something new?
ferragonio: There’s no need to wait for the perfect timing. There’s rarely a perfect time to quit a job, but there’s always a reason to stay at a job, especially in Big Tech.
We also recommend talking to as many people as possible, including friends, associates, and potential customers, to strengthen your confidence in your business idea.
lux: I think one of the biggest barriers for a lot of potential entrepreneurs is not knowing how to start a company or get people’s health insurance. But all of the great entrepreneurs that are keynote there had no idea what they were doing at some point.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to, “Did this person have the faith and belief that they could actually push through and solve the problem?” And if you’re willing to listen to your customers and work hard, that’s half the battle. So I think as long as people are willing to do those things, we should give them confidence that they’ll figure it out over time.
Editor’s note: Business Insider contacted Amazon for comment on this article. It didn’t respond.
