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.
Who would not want to hire people who don't care about money, titles, stock options and works 24/7? There are very few people like that.
Even people who are joining Facebook at a step down are not doing this because they are above materialistic desires. Having Facebook on your resume today is like having Google on your resume 5 years back.
We should stop kidding ourselves about trying to find the truly selfless smart person.
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.