The Engineer to Executive Translation Layer

CTO Anna Shipman drops a practical guide for turning tech ideas into executive yeses—think: understand what the CEO cares about, fit your pitch to the company’s goals, and keep it tight. But the comments? Pure fireworks. First, a hero move: one user drops a non‑paywalled link and instantly becomes the thread’s MVP. Then the pushback hits. One hot take sizzles: if a CTO needs “translation,” they’re the wrong person for the job. Another commenter goes nuclear: don’t work for non‑technical bosses at all, saying they’re less successful—cue the eye-rolls and applause in equal measure. Meanwhile, jokesters show up expecting AI magic—“where’s the transformer that speaks ‘exec’?”—turning a business‑skills article into a meme factory. The core drama: pragmatists vs. purists. Pragmatists like Shipman say translating your work is part of the job if you want funding and traction. Purists argue leaders should understand tech without hand-holding, or engineers should walk. Beneath the snark, a real anxiety hums: if you can’t bridge this gap, your best ideas die in the boardroom. And that, folks, is why this thread is spicier than a sprint retrospective after a failed launch.