Four years after stepping away from investment banking, a former Bank of America global head of equity capital markets now at Seda Experts fills his days with meetings, coffee catch-ups and the occasional suit. Without a deal mandate to execute, conversations lose momentum. An hour-long video call to join an advisory board somehow turned into a pitch to invest in a pre-revenue startup — polite but pointless.

Inside banking, titles, compensation and deal flow served as constant feedback loops. Without those external reference points, ambition becomes self-constructed. The author likens the post-banking experience to a Soviet tractor factory — activity rolls on, but productivity remains anyone's guess. Money stops organizing ambition too, since extra wealth barely shifts senior lifestyles anymore.

Former colleagues have scattered into opaque roles — "principal" at newly raised funds, "partner" at family offices with no website. Comparing outcomes gets fuzzier outside institutions. Those who thrive rebuild structure deliberately: advisory boards, operational roles or writing, creating milestones where effort produces measurable results. The real work isn't keeping score — it's figuring out what game to play.