Next Step, New Lesson
When I graduated with a degree in chemical engineering, I thought I knew what my next step would be. Engineering was the family business. My mom was an engineer. My sister was an engineer. My aunt was an engineer. Almost everyone in my family went that route. One of the biggest things engineering taught me, though, was that I definitely did not want to be an engineer.
That’s not to say my education wasn’t valuable. It was. It was a great introduction to an industry and to understanding how the world works. I spent those early years in chemicals and oil and gas, and I began to see all the different levers you can pull, all the different people involved and all the different pieces that have to come together to make an industry work.
I knew I wanted to transition into finance, but I didn’t really know what that meant. I wasn’t thinking about investment banking when I applied. I just knew I wanted to build on the analytical way of thinking that engineering had given me while moving into a different kind of career.
At first, I thought finance appealed to me because of the numbers. But once I got into banking, I realized it was much more strategic than I expected. It’s psychological. You have to be a critical thinker. And as your career progresses, it becomes much more about communication. Every conversation with a client is really a presentation. That combination of strategy, judgment and communication is what has kept me interested in the work all these years.
I started in chemicals and eventually moved into agriculture. It wasn’t something I planned, but eventually I realized I had the opportunity to become a real sector expert. During my years at Goldman Sachs, I learned more than I ever imagined I would. I worked on many of the largest transactions in the industry and built relationships that I still rely on today.
Not every opportunity worked out the way I hoped. I left banking to become CFO of an AgTech startup. On paper, it looked like exactly the right move. I had worked with the CEO before. The title sounded great. The momentum behind the industry seemed real.
Within a few months, I knew it wasn’t the right fit.
Looking back, I don’t think of those experiences as failures. They’re just steps. Every new step teaches you something. I also learned not to chase titles — a CFO title or a partner title only matters if the role itself is the right fit. Those experiences gave me much better perspective about what I actually wanted in my career.
Eventually, everything came together.
When Nomura began downsizing its U.S. investment banking business, I had already been thinking about whether I should start my own firm. What could have looked like a setback became the catalyst I needed.
I was able to negotiate my departure, bring active clients with me and launch Verbitsky Capital with three signed engagements on day one.
Sometimes things line up. The key is recognizing opportunity when it presents itself and being willing to act. Today, as I build my own firm, I find myself relying on lessons that go well beyond finance. You’re thinking about management, hiring, culture, operations and every other function that goes into building a business. Before, I was advising clients. Now I’m my own client, and everything sits on my shoulders.
It’s challenging, but it’s also incredibly rewarding.
Some opportunities will turn out to be exactly right. Others won’t. But if you’re paying attention, you’ll learn something from every one of them.
When I look back at my career, I don’t really see mistakes anymore. I see one opportunity leading to another. Some became defining moments. Others became lessons. Together, they’ve led me exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Over the past 15 years, David Verbitsky has worked as the global head of agriculture and nutrition investment banking at Goldman Sachs, as the global head of AgTech and sustainable food investment banking at Nomura Greentech, and as a member of the global chemicals and agriculture investment banking team at Barclays. Today Verbitsky is applying all of his industry expertise to his own investment banking firm, Verbitsky Capital.