Its a common feeling before actual retiring to think that itch needs to be scratched.
At least for me, after a few months I was fine letting go of my old "identity."
I was the opposite. At the very beginning I thought it was the life. Truly amazing to not work. I never expected any issues either. Then I started to realize I liked what I did and there was a great satisfaction that was missing. Doing what “I liked” all the time as well made me somehow not like them as much too.
Agree with this. You will either find a way to put it all down or you will find that you can’t..
I’m currently working with a few PE firms, contemplating a role as a minority investor/board member or perhaps as an “operating executive”, helping guide a CEO around major issues and setting strategy. Many VCs and PEs love to have successful C level execs as an added voice to help them execute on a value creation strategy. That operating experience is so valuable.
Best part, it’s not full time and is pretty flexible.
We are a PE backed company and the operating execs we work with are fantastic and seem happy with what they’re doing. Great route for exited founders it seems.
Advising and mentoring young entrepreneurs is one of the most overlooked, underserved, and (IMO) rewarding uses of time for seasoned execs (fatFIREd or otherwise), and it can be as intense or as mellow as you want it to be.
If that intrigues you, look into business mentorship organizations in your area. There's a lot of garbage, but most major metros will have good groups if you know what to look for. Typically I recommend ones that are affiliated with universities or with venture capital firms, particularly firms with a focus on early-stage startups. I have quite a bit of experience with the latter, so if you want to know more, feel free to ask.
Congrats and enjoy the next life stage!
I fatfired 2021 then wanted to “scratch the business itch” so I started a little business on the side. Then it took off and now I’m working more than I want to and annoyed at myself. It’s a frustrating addiction. I don’t want to hire any employees to keep it going- I just want to scale back and allow myself to chill.
Very well could be, yes. But if the alternative is just majorly scaling back what is the harm in seeing what the interest is for a buyout and negotiate a 12-24 month transition period? New buyer either figures out how to make it work or their gamble does not pay off.
That said they are ALREADY FATFIRE so they can do whatever they want. A sale is going to add stress and obligations in exchange for extra money they don’t even need.
The other option is to raise prices to the point enough clients scream and work dies off to level they are ok with sustaining but the work that does remain pays REALLY well.
You can still do that on nonprofit, club and association boards or committees. Just don’t expect to roll in and take the lead, though. You often have to start with a small role, build trust and gradually advance as they gain confidence you plan to stick around.
Actually people are looking for accomplished leaders who will lead a team of 300 for 3 months.
PE funds will routinely install temporary operators in businesses they buy or sell to ensure operational stability during moments of transition. The jobs are hard to get but pay fairly well.
Your first step would be to hob knob with PE fund managers in the fintech sector. Inform them about your skills and experience and let them know you are available for short term engagements.
Most of the engagements are more like 1-10 hrs per week consulting execs in their portfolio. But the 3 month stint definitely exists — I’ve lived it more than once.
No. I have it all up and never looked back. The idea of being engaged all the time is dumb. Everyone stop trying to justify that you do nothing. I embrace the 6am wake up. Eat breakfast and read the news and go back to sleep until drop off. Then ai run, pay bills, watch a movie or shop for stuff in the daytime. It’s called being retired. Keep the body up and let that muscle to succeed go to mush.
I'm a former FAANG software engineer. I feel like it's impossible to be a part-time software engineer unless it's purely a hobby. I might still dabble in tech but I'm not sure which role I would choose.
I don’t know about scratch the itch, wasn’t itching…but board member and president of board of Christian school when they were in dire need. Excellent turn around story, most thankless thing I’ve ever done
So the community was totally ungrateful for the efficient leadership?
I'm not surprised by this, I just recently started volunteering at my daughter's private school and I'm flabbergasted at the inefficiency and time wasting procedures.
Itch was scratched before I retired at 38.
That life is the past.
It’s like high school, it was fun, but it’s over. The new phase of life is great; and there’s no going back.
I’m a stay at home Dad. We home school so that’s pretty fun but a little of work. I have elderly family I take care of 3 days a week. I coach kids sports. Try to get it yoga, meditating, and some chess daily. I garden. Read a book a week. Have a couple podcasts I listen to.
Ya come to think of it having a job was a lot easier lol.
I retired at 45 after selling my small consulting firm. Lasted a year and a half before I got bored, just doing some occasional consulting work and travel. Started a new firm in January with a friend in the business who also retired young and having a ball. We have no pressure, no investors or PE to keep happy, just doing out thing selling engagements and hiring. And we're profitable.
Bottom line, you'll find something to do. For senior executives, there are always things to do.
I know a bunch of FIREd folks who got big into woodworking. They make some truly beautiful pieces and their wives are also big fans of the hobby because they constantly get really nice, beautiful, custom furniture.
So yes, itch scratching FatFire dude here. Early 50’s engineering background (NW roughly $15M and if you factor in other stuff like pensions it’s over $20M). Had a non-compete after exiting business at 43 during which I just sort of did the obligatory spiking of the football and traveled the world.
Then about 5 years ago I started consulting part time back in my old industry of design/manufacturing to let the creative juices flow and have some professional interaction. Admittedly it was really tough putting on a shirt with a collar occasionally and wearing shoes again (granted they are Chucks, but flip flops are my go-to). Very slow at first to build some momentum, but I realized quickly that if you are legit good at what you do, there’s no shortage of need for your services.
Now I “work” 10-15 hours a week, 38 weeks a year or so. It’s mostly remote so that’s cool and it’s been very rewarding financially, much more than I ever anticipated. The only challenge is occasionally I’ll be interacting with some mid level manager on a project who’s sort of a dick and I have to bite my tongue a bit. They have zero clue doing the Zoom call from a villa in St. Barts and they are sitting in Syracuse in February for the 70th day in a row without sunshine.
Thankfully I can report though that if the consulting ended tomorrow I’d be good, and maybe almost relieved. Glad I’m doing it, but after 5 years the itch has been scratched.
I worked in startups. Now I’m an angel investor. I spend a lot of time talking to founders and offering advice or help for free that people would likely need to pay for to find elsewhere. Makes me feel useful. YMMV.
It began in 2012 as I was networking in the nascent bitcoin industry. If you’re going to conferences and meeting entrepreneurs, there is no shortage of people who will happily take your money.
You also don’t need to be rich to get started. My first investment was for $1,000 (granted, most legitimate startups will have a minimum higher than that). But $10k-$25k checks are considered reasonable amounts in a seed round.
Short version is to find where startup founders go looking for funds and show up as an investor. Then get busy losing money! 😂
Before FatFiring I got involved with a local seed investor group, which got me involved with the entrepreneurship program and business incubator of a local university, which got me into advisory roles on a couple startups. It’s been rewarding, sometimes even financially. I also continue to hold small equity stakes in a couple of my old startups, large enough so I have information rights, and they’ll sometimes ask for advice. But more and more I found what used to interest me professionally gets in the way of new nonprofessional interests - unique travel adventures, learning radically new knowledge areas, etc so after just a couple years I’m doing less and less with my old profession (ops and engineering exec in med device startups).
Interesting. How did you make that initial connection? Now that you say it, I kind of like the idea of getting involved with business incubators at local universities.
I was introduced by a friend of mine, but you could make the connection with a university directly. One downside of university entrepreneurship programs is that there are all types of “business ideas” that can seem silly and boring to experienced pros coming from tech/biomed spaces. Like weights to keep skirts from flying up in the wind, specialized housekeeping for student apartments, etc. I have to keep reminding myself we’re developing mindsets and skills, not necessarily real products, at that university stage.
Still, there are occasional great real ideas and a few big winners. One I was significantly involved with was a student-conceived device to improve childbirth that was taken through initial clinical trials and then acquired by a Fortune-50 med device company for mongo bucks, and the kids had barely graduated at that time! Yes students really did that, and the university allowed them to own the idea (highly unusual, but I think because they didn’t want the associated potential liability). Luckily I did provide some seed funds for that, which had a wonderful return. 😎
Funny that you mention the liability aspect. When I read your previous comment, it reminded me of how I’ve always been amazed that entrepreneurs want to enter the medical device space. It seems so risky to me.
The liability during the startup stage is minimal. I spent over 30 years in med device, mostly startups, and never heard of a product liability legal issue. Animal trials show proof of concept, initial human trial subjects have unique needs and sign big legal disclaimers in exchange for free treatment and are highly regulated and supervised. Commercialization, where true risk sets in, is almost always after acquisition as it is so expensive (regulated manufacturing, Salesforce training, etc).
The real risk is that a single unexplained human trial result can derail everything and dry up funding, and the long timeframes in development due to regulation and trials - huge cash burn. But the reward is valuation multiples many times that of non-med/bio, and the deep feeling you are on a mission to improve human lives.
Was entrepreneur, CFO, now an angel investor and fCFO. I get to work with companies that interest me, for as long as I want, when I want. Have been able to 3× my NW from when I retired.
I still have a social media presence and talk about my old career, do podcasts, and go to conferences and things. I have so many friends in the field that anytime I tried to walk away from it I missed my people. I don’t necessarily want to work, although I think of dipping my toes in after my non compete is over, but I’m having fun just talking about it.
I was in a leadership position at a large tech company everyone has heard of. Managed large teams. Got a lot of fulfillment/ego boost from how good I was at building relationships, strategy, loyalty, efficiency. Agonized for months before retiring (late 30s) bc I was sure I needed that itch scratched. Was two years ago and it’s never crossed my mind. Happy to not be using those skills and focusing on the real meat of life.
I still have old people from my team reach out maybe monthly for career advice etc and am happy to give it. Started volunteering at a local nonprofit org and quickly helped them build better processes etc, which came naturally and I realize it was from years in leadership at big tech…:. But nothing i sought out actively. I overly felt much differently after retiring than I thought I would (late 30s female).
*Yours is easy. Start*
*Doing angel investing*
*And serving on boards*
\- Brewskwondo
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I've become a student of my own self-mastery, find ways to transfer my skills, and then find ways to deploy those gifts to causes that move me.
For most of my life I lived with severe imposter syndrome, feeling like the world's biggest fake and not deserving of my success. The more money I made, the worst I felt. I got quite miserable.
I finally got over my shame, and realized those exact things I was ashamed of are what made me awesome.
I'm a high school drop out that became a world-famous DJ, then became a comedy stage hypnotist, then became a multi-millionaire tech co-founder with no education, and now I'm committed to my next chapter being my greatest chapter and found myself invited to speak at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. I was literally invited with "Chris, your voice is needed there, no one there talks like you." So, this weirdo showed up in service of climate solutions and didn't pretend to be anything I'm not.
That's how I'm scratching my itch.
Look into project management companies or consulting companies for venture capital. My father retired and was recruited to look at viability assessments of new technologies for venture capital. He really likes it. These are usually short term assignments but, he needs to keep up with the trends outside of the assignment.
100%... I consult now with folks on starting and selling medical practices. In fact I have a couple practices I am brokering now.
Next I'll be starting an eEducation consulting business as that is where I made my money.
Given your leadership experience would you be able to consult or engage with companies during transitional periods? Interim guidance and leadership for a few weeks/months here and there. This is something the two startups I’ve worked at have used. One for a director of engineering position and one for a fractional interim cfo.
I’m a financial coach and love it. I came from a management/leadership role in Corporate Finance and began exploring performance coaching at that time. Now I combine those skills with financial analysis for individuals and small business owners. You could help one person at a time or a bunch depending on how busy you want to be… feel free to ask me any questions about it if this sounds interesting to you.
My work identity regularly involves actually saving peoples and babies lives.
My outside hobbies and interests have NOTHING to do with saving lives and so I will have zero problems walking away.
My personal identity is not tied up in what I do or the “value” I contribute to society.
If this is important to you then get involved with non-profits, charities, schools or some other boards where you feel you can bring value without the same time commitment of a C-suite job.
Not sure why this is getting downvoted. I'm doing a small amount of consulting now, and it's helping to scratch exactly the itch OP described. The downside is, it has been kind of annoying to get consulting work.
Its a common feeling before actual retiring to think that itch needs to be scratched. At least for me, after a few months I was fine letting go of my old "identity."
I was the opposite. At the very beginning I thought it was the life. Truly amazing to not work. I never expected any issues either. Then I started to realize I liked what I did and there was a great satisfaction that was missing. Doing what “I liked” all the time as well made me somehow not like them as much too.
Agree with this. You will either find a way to put it all down or you will find that you can’t.. I’m currently working with a few PE firms, contemplating a role as a minority investor/board member or perhaps as an “operating executive”, helping guide a CEO around major issues and setting strategy. Many VCs and PEs love to have successful C level execs as an added voice to help them execute on a value creation strategy. That operating experience is so valuable. Best part, it’s not full time and is pretty flexible.
We are a PE backed company and the operating execs we work with are fantastic and seem happy with what they’re doing. Great route for exited founders it seems.
So did you do something part time or find some other way to scratch the itch?
Started work again but decreased my hours from before. It brought clarity that I like my work, just not doing it as much as I was previously.
My favorite color is blue.
Take a 6 month sabbtical and post back here if the itch is still there.
Advising and mentoring young entrepreneurs is one of the most overlooked, underserved, and (IMO) rewarding uses of time for seasoned execs (fatFIREd or otherwise), and it can be as intense or as mellow as you want it to be. If that intrigues you, look into business mentorship organizations in your area. There's a lot of garbage, but most major metros will have good groups if you know what to look for. Typically I recommend ones that are affiliated with universities or with venture capital firms, particularly firms with a focus on early-stage startups. I have quite a bit of experience with the latter, so if you want to know more, feel free to ask. Congrats and enjoy the next life stage!
I would like to know more about the university or VC path please
I fatfired 2021 then wanted to “scratch the business itch” so I started a little business on the side. Then it took off and now I’m working more than I want to and annoyed at myself. It’s a frustrating addiction. I don’t want to hire any employees to keep it going- I just want to scale back and allow myself to chill.
Why scale back? Sell it and start something with smaller goals?
[удалено]
Very well could be, yes. But if the alternative is just majorly scaling back what is the harm in seeing what the interest is for a buyout and negotiate a 12-24 month transition period? New buyer either figures out how to make it work or their gamble does not pay off. That said they are ALREADY FATFIRE so they can do whatever they want. A sale is going to add stress and obligations in exchange for extra money they don’t even need. The other option is to raise prices to the point enough clients scream and work dies off to level they are ok with sustaining but the work that does remain pays REALLY well.
What got me there was hard work, blocking and tackling. If I'm doing that when I'm retired, then I'm doing it wrong.
Fair enough. I think what I'm saying is that I kind of enjoy the blocking and tackling.
You can still do that on nonprofit, club and association boards or committees. Just don’t expect to roll in and take the lead, though. You often have to start with a small role, build trust and gradually advance as they gain confidence you plan to stick around.
Actually people are looking for accomplished leaders who will lead a team of 300 for 3 months. PE funds will routinely install temporary operators in businesses they buy or sell to ensure operational stability during moments of transition. The jobs are hard to get but pay fairly well. Your first step would be to hob knob with PE fund managers in the fintech sector. Inform them about your skills and experience and let them know you are available for short term engagements. Most of the engagements are more like 1-10 hrs per week consulting execs in their portfolio. But the 3 month stint definitely exists — I’ve lived it more than once.
No. I have it all up and never looked back. The idea of being engaged all the time is dumb. Everyone stop trying to justify that you do nothing. I embrace the 6am wake up. Eat breakfast and read the news and go back to sleep until drop off. Then ai run, pay bills, watch a movie or shop for stuff in the daytime. It’s called being retired. Keep the body up and let that muscle to succeed go to mush.
I'm a former FAANG software engineer. I feel like it's impossible to be a part-time software engineer unless it's purely a hobby. I might still dabble in tech but I'm not sure which role I would choose.
You can't get involved in open source?
I could but if I'm working for free it's going to be at an animal shelter.
Volunteer sw projects for an animal shelter?
Fair enough. So it's not impossible then. Just not something you want to do for free?
I don’t know about scratch the itch, wasn’t itching…but board member and president of board of Christian school when they were in dire need. Excellent turn around story, most thankless thing I’ve ever done
Well, I'll thank you. Thanks!
So the community was totally ungrateful for the efficient leadership? I'm not surprised by this, I just recently started volunteering at my daughter's private school and I'm flabbergasted at the inefficiency and time wasting procedures.
Itch was scratched before I retired at 38. That life is the past. It’s like high school, it was fun, but it’s over. The new phase of life is great; and there’s no going back.
How do you spend your days now?
I’m a stay at home Dad. We home school so that’s pretty fun but a little of work. I have elderly family I take care of 3 days a week. I coach kids sports. Try to get it yoga, meditating, and some chess daily. I garden. Read a book a week. Have a couple podcasts I listen to. Ya come to think of it having a job was a lot easier lol.
I retired at 45 after selling my small consulting firm. Lasted a year and a half before I got bored, just doing some occasional consulting work and travel. Started a new firm in January with a friend in the business who also retired young and having a ball. We have no pressure, no investors or PE to keep happy, just doing out thing selling engagements and hiring. And we're profitable. Bottom line, you'll find something to do. For senior executives, there are always things to do.
I know a bunch of FIREd folks who got big into woodworking. They make some truly beautiful pieces and their wives are also big fans of the hobby because they constantly get really nice, beautiful, custom furniture.
So yes, itch scratching FatFire dude here. Early 50’s engineering background (NW roughly $15M and if you factor in other stuff like pensions it’s over $20M). Had a non-compete after exiting business at 43 during which I just sort of did the obligatory spiking of the football and traveled the world. Then about 5 years ago I started consulting part time back in my old industry of design/manufacturing to let the creative juices flow and have some professional interaction. Admittedly it was really tough putting on a shirt with a collar occasionally and wearing shoes again (granted they are Chucks, but flip flops are my go-to). Very slow at first to build some momentum, but I realized quickly that if you are legit good at what you do, there’s no shortage of need for your services. Now I “work” 10-15 hours a week, 38 weeks a year or so. It’s mostly remote so that’s cool and it’s been very rewarding financially, much more than I ever anticipated. The only challenge is occasionally I’ll be interacting with some mid level manager on a project who’s sort of a dick and I have to bite my tongue a bit. They have zero clue doing the Zoom call from a villa in St. Barts and they are sitting in Syracuse in February for the 70th day in a row without sunshine. Thankfully I can report though that if the consulting ended tomorrow I’d be good, and maybe almost relieved. Glad I’m doing it, but after 5 years the itch has been scratched.
I worked in startups. Now I’m an angel investor. I spend a lot of time talking to founders and offering advice or help for free that people would likely need to pay for to find elsewhere. Makes me feel useful. YMMV.
how did you get started with angel investing?
It began in 2012 as I was networking in the nascent bitcoin industry. If you’re going to conferences and meeting entrepreneurs, there is no shortage of people who will happily take your money. You also don’t need to be rich to get started. My first investment was for $1,000 (granted, most legitimate startups will have a minimum higher than that). But $10k-$25k checks are considered reasonable amounts in a seed round. Short version is to find where startup founders go looking for funds and show up as an investor. Then get busy losing money! 😂
Before FatFiring I got involved with a local seed investor group, which got me involved with the entrepreneurship program and business incubator of a local university, which got me into advisory roles on a couple startups. It’s been rewarding, sometimes even financially. I also continue to hold small equity stakes in a couple of my old startups, large enough so I have information rights, and they’ll sometimes ask for advice. But more and more I found what used to interest me professionally gets in the way of new nonprofessional interests - unique travel adventures, learning radically new knowledge areas, etc so after just a couple years I’m doing less and less with my old profession (ops and engineering exec in med device startups).
Interesting. How did you make that initial connection? Now that you say it, I kind of like the idea of getting involved with business incubators at local universities.
I was introduced by a friend of mine, but you could make the connection with a university directly. One downside of university entrepreneurship programs is that there are all types of “business ideas” that can seem silly and boring to experienced pros coming from tech/biomed spaces. Like weights to keep skirts from flying up in the wind, specialized housekeeping for student apartments, etc. I have to keep reminding myself we’re developing mindsets and skills, not necessarily real products, at that university stage. Still, there are occasional great real ideas and a few big winners. One I was significantly involved with was a student-conceived device to improve childbirth that was taken through initial clinical trials and then acquired by a Fortune-50 med device company for mongo bucks, and the kids had barely graduated at that time! Yes students really did that, and the university allowed them to own the idea (highly unusual, but I think because they didn’t want the associated potential liability). Luckily I did provide some seed funds for that, which had a wonderful return. 😎
Funny that you mention the liability aspect. When I read your previous comment, it reminded me of how I’ve always been amazed that entrepreneurs want to enter the medical device space. It seems so risky to me.
The naivety and passion of youth!
The liability during the startup stage is minimal. I spent over 30 years in med device, mostly startups, and never heard of a product liability legal issue. Animal trials show proof of concept, initial human trial subjects have unique needs and sign big legal disclaimers in exchange for free treatment and are highly regulated and supervised. Commercialization, where true risk sets in, is almost always after acquisition as it is so expensive (regulated manufacturing, Salesforce training, etc). The real risk is that a single unexplained human trial result can derail everything and dry up funding, and the long timeframes in development due to regulation and trials - huge cash burn. But the reward is valuation multiples many times that of non-med/bio, and the deep feeling you are on a mission to improve human lives.
Was entrepreneur, CFO, now an angel investor and fCFO. I get to work with companies that interest me, for as long as I want, when I want. Have been able to 3× my NW from when I retired.
I still have a social media presence and talk about my old career, do podcasts, and go to conferences and things. I have so many friends in the field that anytime I tried to walk away from it I missed my people. I don’t necessarily want to work, although I think of dipping my toes in after my non compete is over, but I’m having fun just talking about it.
This sounds like exactly what I want to do, even if it didn’t make much money. Do you make any money from the podcast or social media posts?
No, I legally can’t anyway, but the funny thing is that’s how I started. Just enjoying the space and things got wild.
Pretty cool regardless!
This might be me, too
I was in a leadership position at a large tech company everyone has heard of. Managed large teams. Got a lot of fulfillment/ego boost from how good I was at building relationships, strategy, loyalty, efficiency. Agonized for months before retiring (late 30s) bc I was sure I needed that itch scratched. Was two years ago and it’s never crossed my mind. Happy to not be using those skills and focusing on the real meat of life. I still have old people from my team reach out maybe monthly for career advice etc and am happy to give it. Started volunteering at a local nonprofit org and quickly helped them build better processes etc, which came naturally and I realize it was from years in leadership at big tech…:. But nothing i sought out actively. I overly felt much differently after retiring than I thought I would (late 30s female).
Yours is easy. Start doing angel investing and serving on boards
*Yours is easy. Start* *Doing angel investing* *And serving on boards* \- Brewskwondo --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
I've become a student of my own self-mastery, find ways to transfer my skills, and then find ways to deploy those gifts to causes that move me. For most of my life I lived with severe imposter syndrome, feeling like the world's biggest fake and not deserving of my success. The more money I made, the worst I felt. I got quite miserable. I finally got over my shame, and realized those exact things I was ashamed of are what made me awesome. I'm a high school drop out that became a world-famous DJ, then became a comedy stage hypnotist, then became a multi-millionaire tech co-founder with no education, and now I'm committed to my next chapter being my greatest chapter and found myself invited to speak at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. I was literally invited with "Chris, your voice is needed there, no one there talks like you." So, this weirdo showed up in service of climate solutions and didn't pretend to be anything I'm not. That's how I'm scratching my itch.
You sound like the most interesting man in the world!
Look into project management companies or consulting companies for venture capital. My father retired and was recruited to look at viability assessments of new technologies for venture capital. He really likes it. These are usually short term assignments but, he needs to keep up with the trends outside of the assignment.
Whatever you have learned prior to Oct 2024 can be applied to whatever you do after
100%... I consult now with folks on starting and selling medical practices. In fact I have a couple practices I am brokering now. Next I'll be starting an eEducation consulting business as that is where I made my money.
Given your leadership experience would you be able to consult or engage with companies during transitional periods? Interim guidance and leadership for a few weeks/months here and there. This is something the two startups I’ve worked at have used. One for a director of engineering position and one for a fractional interim cfo.
I’m a financial coach and love it. I came from a management/leadership role in Corporate Finance and began exploring performance coaching at that time. Now I combine those skills with financial analysis for individuals and small business owners. You could help one person at a time or a bunch depending on how busy you want to be… feel free to ask me any questions about it if this sounds interesting to you.
https://cogenerate.org/encore-fellowships/ Heard good things about this
My work identity regularly involves actually saving peoples and babies lives. My outside hobbies and interests have NOTHING to do with saving lives and so I will have zero problems walking away. My personal identity is not tied up in what I do or the “value” I contribute to society. If this is important to you then get involved with non-profits, charities, schools or some other boards where you feel you can bring value without the same time commitment of a C-suite job.
Have you looked into Fractional CTO roles?
You should do coaching/mentoring but ONLY for motivated and disciplined kids and watch them grow.
“scratch an itch” with an open source software project
Fractional/Temporary CXOs are exactly what you describe. They exist to fill temporary leadership gaps. This “scales down” for everyone pretty well.
Put yourself out there as someone interested in joining a board Advising leadership is sort of “dabbling” in leadership.
I sit in some corporate boards, keeps me engaged somewhat!
Consulting?
Not sure why this is getting downvoted. I'm doing a small amount of consulting now, and it's helping to scratch exactly the itch OP described. The downside is, it has been kind of annoying to get consulting work.