I got a nice email from Chris Nguyen who started up jobloft.com in Canada. It was a polite/to the point note about what he was doing with some others, a little 3 minute elevator pitch, etc, etc. I know, yet another job board, nothing much left in the space, etc, etc. Well, could be, but that isn’t the point of telling you about Jobloft.
Actually, I’m more interested in Chris.
Chris opened his email with:
“My name is Chris Nguyen and I recently launched a new web 2.0 job board with 3 other Ryerson University students”
His signature block?
“Chris Nguyen
Corporate Account Manager, JobLoft.com”
No ego. Co-Founder, doing sales, you gotta love that. I know nothing about Jobloft.com but I already like Chris and I’m sure I’ll enjoy meeting him because entrepreneurs like Chris deserve at least a meeting.
The title might not get him funded from me or anybody else, but it does send a good opening message.
So when you are cranking up the Chairman, President, CEO and ruler for life business card, remember; it is not about the title.
When we first print business cards for any venture I never put titles on the cards. Typically our ventures are so small (2-10 people) everyone has to do everything. No one really cares who the CEO is and if it is important they will ask, "who is the CEO?" and someone will fess up.
Run away when you see: Founder, President, CEO, and Chairman title blocks...
Posted by: Alexander Muse | June 05, 2006 at 13:08
Maybe there is more then just hype to Web 2.0 and we're now starting to see a 'new' breed Canadian technology leadership.
Posted by: Dave Forde | June 05, 2006 at 20:40
I think Chris needs to have a corporate sounding title (like 'Corporate Account Manager' in this case) to 'sound big', as their primary target would be companies/HR folks. Also, this venture is not a tech startup, it is/would probably like to be a 'profitable small business'. And in my opinion, it is not a good idea at all. It is not game changing...just an incremental improvement over existing job boards. It is a feature, not a business ! But the effort is nevertheless appreciable.
The tech ventures aiming to be a 'mass-market phenomenon' are more interesting to me, and founders of such ventures do need to have ego, pride, passion, etc. That's what will drive them..and fire them up. And a 'founder' title signifies that, and reminds the founder and the rest of the world about who is ultimately responsible if the venture fails or succeeds spectacularly. It's about accountability - 'The Buck Stops Here'.
Varun Mathur
Founder and Chief Geek, Zytran
Posted by: Varun Mathur | June 05, 2006 at 21:13
In my (admittedly somewhat limited) experience, it's a good idea to have President or CEO on the business card, if only because there are still a lot of people who won't give you the time of day otherwise. Obviously when you're a startup everyone is doing everything, but typically there's a leader, and calling him or her a CEO probably is going to do more good than harm.
Posted by: Mack D. Male | June 07, 2006 at 22:47
I have a different title for every day of the week :)
Markus.
Posted by: Markus | June 08, 2006 at 15:46
Having started a few companies, I think I can safely assert that everyone that has commented so far is correct. There are at least four different circumstances where title, or lack thereof, matters:
1) Within the company and with committed investors: These are the folks that know that everyone has to be willing to do anything, and for whom title is far less important than role. It can help comradery and morale to assert a title-less culture in the early days of the company. However, that is not an excuse to abdicate leadership and organizational responsibility - *everyone* needs to know who has what roles, and the individuals with the leadership roles *must* lead.
2) With potential investors, financial services, vendors, potential dates, etc.: These are folks with whom it may be important to present a business card with the appropriate executive title. You'll get more traction setting up a corporate account at the bank using the title "CEO" than if you introduce yourself as the "Chief Cheerleader and Bottle-washer"... however similar those titles seem to you at times.
3) With potential customers and business partners: Yes, sometimes it is more appropriate to put on the mantle of a less impressive title to convey the impression of being a larger organization. Titles are part of your individual brand to the prospect, but they also convey a lot about the company. So, approach them as you would approach any marketing message opportunity.
4) With future employers on your resume, etc.: In the heat of battle we (appropriately) tend not to think ahead to the day we find ourselves looking for a new job or starting a new company. It can be very tempting when that time comes to put the fanciest title on the resume you can honestly claim. However, as I have learned during my current job search, that can be counter productive. Internal recuiters, hiring managers and even resume filtering software look for candidates with "consistently increasing levels of responsibility and titles". Being able to claim a jump from Technical Director to CEO on your resume might sound impressive, but can also appear dodgy if the company did not survive the dot com crash. Worse, once you have the fancy titles, it is bad for your resume to then return to an Engineering Director position.
So, watch for these little details. On each of your marketing collateral, whether business cards, bios, or resumes, choose the title (or lack thereof) that honestly conveys the most appropriate message.
Posted by: BD Handspicker | June 16, 2006 at 13:17