The CEO Doesn't Care About Your Story Points: Becoming a Bilingual Product Leader

The January Planning Trap

January is a peculiar month. It’s the international month for returning to the gym for the "Summer Project" (summer of next year, of course, because it’s too late for this one), and it’s when most strategic planning sessions happen.

When we walk into these board meetings to ask for budget or approve a roadmap, I often see passionate Product Managers presenting slides full of technical enthusiasm: "We are going to refactor the legacy code into microservices!" "We need to migrate to Framework X to increase our team's velocity!" "We delivered 300 Story Points last sprint!"

But do you know what the CFO hears? "Blah, blah, blah, this will cost a fortune. Blah, blah, blah, high risk. Blah, blah, blah, no ROI until next year."

The Universal Translator

In over 2 decades on the road, I’ve learned that a Senior PM’s primary function isn't to manage the backlog or write tickets. It is to act as a Translator.

We operate in the gap between technology and business. Our job is to translate "Tech-Speak" into "Finance-Speak." If you cannot connect your team's work to a line on the company's P&L (Profit and Loss) statement—whether it's Revenue, Cost, or Risk—you are in danger of being viewed as a cost center rather than an investment.

The Dictionary: How to Sell Tech to Business

Here is a quick translation guide I’ve used to survive (and thrive) in board meetings:

1. Don't Say: "We need to refactor the code." Do Say: "We need to reduce operational risk and future maintenance costs (OPEX impact) by 15%." (This shifts the conversation from "devs wanting to play with new code" to "protecting the company's margins").

2. Don't Say: "We are improving the usability of the checkout screen." Do Say: "We are targeting an increase in conversion rate to lower our Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)."

3. Don't Say: "We are launching Feature X." Do Say: "We are opening a new revenue stream estimated at $50k MRR."

Prioritization is an Economic Exercise

This mindset shift doesn't just change how you talk; it changes how you prioritize.

When you stop looking at features as "cool things to build" and start seeing them as "financial bets," your roadmap changes. You stop prioritizing based on who shouted the loudest and start prioritizing based on ROI.

(I built Decisor.ai precisely to solve this. It forces you to input variables like 'Business Value' and 'Reach' alongside 'Effort,' turning subjective prioritization into an objective economic score that a CFO can respect).

Conclusion: Expand Your Syllabus

For 2026, my advice is counter-intuitive: Study fewer agile frameworks and learn how to read a balance sheet.

Understanding CAC, LTV, EBITDA, and Churn will do more for your career than any Scrum certification ever could.

(If you don't know where to start, this is the kind of cross-disciplinary curriculum we are building at SkillFlux—helping tech professionals become business literate).

Remember: The CEO isn't "mean" for asking about the money. They are just doing their job. Make sure you are doing yours by speaking their language.

So, tell me: Where does your product impact the business the most today? Is it driving Revenue, cutting Costs, or mitigating Risk?