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Ask HN: I have the opportunity to pick my own title, any ideas?
I'm being offered a position for a startup. I'll be the programming lead in a team of three or so. The CEO is giving me the opportunity to pick my own job title.
My responsibilities are going to be the actual programming of the app, providing good estimates and suggestions on different user stories—IE helping him prioritize features—and designing the architecture of the app as a whole. To some extent I'll also be founding the programming culture there too—the CEO is non-technical, I would be the one actually driving the development process. "CTO" seems to have the connotation that I won't actually be coding, which is a negative. I'm thinking maybe "lead developer," but that doesn't seem to cover the extent of what I'll be doing, either. I've googled around but haven't found any great alternatives.
- dennybritz 11y agoI don't think "CTO" has the connotation that you're not coding. Quite the opposite in the early stages of a company. If the team is only a handful of people then everyone will expect the CTO to be coding. This may be an interesting read: http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/want-to-know-difference-between-a-cto-and-a-vp-of-engineering/ http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/want-to-know-difference-b...
- matterio 11y agoThat looks like it's going to be incredibly useful, thank you.
- smt88 11y agoI wouldn't worry about whether people will believe you can code. Just use CTO.
- jeo1234 11y agoChief Engineer. Or maybe Chief Engineering Officer.
- a3n 11y agoLead Software Developer.
- eip 11y agoHis Holiness Via Lactea Maximus, Grand Emperor of the Galactic Cluster, Potentate of the Southern Quadrant, Imperator of Countless Worlds
- mikeegg1 11y agoWhen asked for my title I used to reply, "head geek".