
Ask News.YC: What titles are you using in your startup? - mattculbreth

======
prakster
(Sorry about the weird characters..trying again)

Suggest you remove "CEO" from your title.

Having that word in your title has one, and only one, positive effect  your
co founders are agreeing that you are the leader - and that increases your
teams efficiency in the race to develop your prototype.

But the negatives are far too many.

When investors think of the word CEO, what typically comes to their mind is
a person experienced in taking companies from the startup stage to the exit
stage. Furthermore, a having a CEO position filled indicates to them that a
significant funding round is in place.

If you are thinking that by giving yourself that title today you are
positioning yourself for being the CEO post-funding, that is a false
assumption. What is more likely is that at some stage in the companys
evolution, an outsider will be better suited to take the company to the next
level.

Of course, there are many, many exceptions such as Dell, Bezos, etc. But
rather than claim the CEO title at the onset, and subject yourself and future
CEO candidates to unnecessary discomfort, (we are seeking a CEO versus we
are seeking to replace our CEO), let your funding stockholders make that
decision.

Whats most important is that your baby gets funded avoid all barriers to that
critical event.

~~~
mattculbreth
Yeah this was on my mind as well. Obviously thinking pretty far down the road
but I guess that's the fun of it.

So in that case what do you think of "President" or "Supreme Allied
Commander"? Pros and cons I guess.

~~~
prakster
"President" is technically correct if you have a corporation, since every
corporation must have a President and a Secretary (one person can be both).
Your other choice may seem nice, but it will lead to more questions. Your best
bet is to keep it simple for now and go with "Co-founder". As of right now,
it's all noise anyway...what matters is the title given to your product by
your users :-)

------
prakster
Suggest you remove "CEO" from your title.

Having that word in your title has one, and only one, positive effect  your
co founders are agreeing that you are the leader - and that increases your
teams efficiency in the race to develop your prototype.

But the negatives are far too many.

When investors think of the word CEO, what typically comes to their mind is
a person experienced in taking companies from the startup stage to the exit
stage. Furthermore, a having a CEO position filled indicates to them that a
significant funding round is in place.

If you are thinking that by giving yourself that title today you are
positioning yourself for being the CEO post-funding, that is a false
assumption. What is more likely is that at some stage in the companys
evolution, an outsider will be better suited to take the company to the next
level.

Of course, there are many, many exceptions such as Dell, Bezos, etc. But
rather than claim the CEO title at the onset, and subject yourself and future
CEO candidates to unnecessary discomfort (we are seeking a CEO versus we
are seeking to replace our CEO), let your funding stockholders make that
decision.

Whats most important is that your baby gets funded avoid all barriers to that
critical event.

------
goodgoblin
I've given myself the title Executive Coffee Drinker, and my partner is the
CIO - Chief Idea Officer.

As for co-founder - I think it sounds a bit weak. Even if there are more than
one founder, they can all be called Founder. Vice President's of other
companies aren't called Co-Vice Presidents.

~~~
zaidf
You're taking rules too literally:)

Co-founder is a well accepted and used title. And like you say, co-vice
presidents isn't and thus one is used and the other isn't.

------
mattculbreth
What are most people calling themselves? We have three co-founders, one of
whom runs the place.

Right now we're going with:

CEO, Co-Founder

Co-Founder

Co-Founder

I can't decide if I like this or not, but I've seen it in quite a few places.

~~~
jwecker
I think it works great. Everyone should always be prepared to wear multiple
hats of course. It give you all a lot of flexibility when meeting and talking
to other people / potential partners & affiliates / investors, etc.

------
gustaf
We usually just use Co-founder, sometimes but rarely "CEO" and "Tech lead".

What do you write on your business cards?

------
zaidf
My biz cards to come will read: ceo / co-founder

My partner: chief technology officer / co-founder

-Zaid 

------
richcollins
Co-Founder

