Should I use the same cadence as for CTOs?

Similar but with VP-Eng-specific framing. CTOs reward strategy; VPs Eng reward operational outcomes.

Does Slack/Discord community presence matter?

Yes for warm-up. VPs Eng spend time in engineering communities. Substantive participation lifts later cold reply rates.

Rarely cold; sometimes warm. VPs Eng prefer asynchronous evaluation.

Yes. Tools that work at 30 engineers may not at 300. Reference the VP's actual team size when known.

VPs of Engineering balance team productivity, reliability, and hiring.

Operational vs strategic focus, team retention agenda, mid-tier buying authority.

DORA outcome anchor, peer VP reference, technical artifact, working session.

DORA metrics, on-call load, engineering hiring.

Generic developer productivity language, ignoring authority gradient.

DORA-anchored reply rate, artifact engagement, working-session acceptance.