I am leaving my role after 15 years. The company has changed significantly over that time, and so have I. I was part of a team that led it through a sales process and an acquisition. Post-acquisition, things have stabilized, and it’s time. I’m not being forced out. I met with the CEO, discussed my feelings, and requested to be let out of my contract at the end of this year.

My problem is...I have no idea what I should be next.

I wouldn’t call what I’ve done over the past 15 years typical for a CIO. Many CIOs I know are paper pushers, figureheads, or governance junkies. I’m a technologist at heart. I still write code on a regular basis. I know open-source inside and out. I run Linux as my primary desktop and have since 1998. I’m more CTO than CIO. I’m passionate about building smart teams and smart products. I absolutely love building and creating innovative solutions.

I’m a mid-40s guy who has a lot to offer, but I don’t know where or who to offer it to.

I’m not hung up on my title. I don’t care if I’m called CIO, CTO, or even C-anything. I’m more interested in finding something I enjoy doing which can leverage my experience. I’ve even considered applying for technical sales roles. I’d like to maintain a similar compensation level ($200-250K annually).

Have any other HN’ers found themselves in a similar position? What did you do? What would you recommend I pursue?

Note, my original post was longer, but HN limits things to 2K characters. Here's the full post: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zawasbwgnal9ZzAQTLB1__MeV_FuNhUR0-p2tolkKSM/edit?usp=sharing