I had this problem for a long time too, and part of it was that as an entrepreneur it might come up that you run your own company, but saying "I'm a CTO" transl

I had this problem for a long time too, and part of it was that as an entrepreneur it might come up that you run your own company, but saying "I'm a CTO" translates from geek to human as "I'm a self-important and probably delusional douchebag." So my solution is saying "I work with technology startups." I let them tailor the interaction by leaving it open. They are free to say "Oh... cool," or to ask variously detailed questions, which I'm happy to answer. Takes the guess work out of the whole interaction.