Titles matter in a lot of companies because if you want to find a new job, the title is used to 'level' you. Do you want to be a VP at <well-known-tech-company>

Titles matter in a lot of companies because if you want to find a new job, the title is used to 'level' you. Do you want to be a VP at <well-known-tech-company>? You probably need to have a strong title at your previous role too. On a tangential topic, somebody once pointed out to me that reading the exec bio pages at tech companies makes for interesting reading. If you skip past the famous founders, you'd find a very large number of people from a background which goes something like this - Go to B-school (preferably Harvard) - Join one of the consulting firms. McKinsey is great on your resume - Leave McKinsey and join into a management role at a some large company - Switch jobs every 2 years - each title being larger than the previous one, wind up as SVP at famous startup/large tech company. If you're someone who wants such a career trajectory, a title 'deflation' is going to hurt you. Having said all that, if I do a startup, I wouldn't want to hire someone who cares so much about their title. It just doesn't...feel right.