I gave myself a deadline: take a new role by the end of the first quarter.
I had moved back to New York after several years split across Los Angeles and Atlanta. The ride across the country was finished. The holidays were over. I was ready to look seriously at what came next.
The role mattered more than finding one perfect sector. Consumer was still the ideal because I like products people actually touch, argue about, and use. I was also open to a strong B2B or marketplace business. The common thread was the work: building and running product and technology teams, usually inside companies with five to 300 people.
I described the target as a chief product and technology role, or something with a heavier product bend. The exact title could move. The team, company stage, and actual problem had to be right.
That first week became an outreach week. I reconnected with recruiters, people at venture firms, founders, and old colleagues. I asked about product and technology leadership work inside their companies and portfolios. I followed a connection into Rippling. I picked up a conversation with Ad Hoc Labs about a consumer product role and started learning where the business had low acquisition costs, heavy churn, and room to find a new path for growth.
The inbox was active. It was not a job yet.
At the same time, a new Quintana Roo bike arrived at the apartment with the wrong cockpit. I had expected the one-piece carbon bar and stem. The box had a separate stem and bar instead. I sent photos to the company and asked whether I had somehow misunderstood what I bought.
That bothered me more than the missing part. I had done the diligence and still thought I might have missed something major. Support confirmed the mistake the next morning and arranged to send the correct cockpit. I wrote back, “So glad I didn’t get it wrong!”
The bike stayed spread across the apartment while the search moved forward.
By the following week, Ad Hoc Labs had introduced me to another founder for a deeper product conversation. A recruiter also reached out about a Head of Digital role with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, covering product, technology, fan engagement, and athlete experience. I said yes to a call.
The sports connection made that one especially interesting after the Boston performance test a week earlier. It was still only a conversation, just like everything else in the search.
There was no announcement to make. There were people to meet, companies to understand, and a quarter on the clock.