your title doesn't matter

open role: enterprise account executive

• series b with $75m in funding, $10m in ARR

• 2 years old, pacing for $25m+ in 2026

• headless browser/ai infra

• $300k OTE onsite in SF

interested? apply here

active candidate: founding sdr

• harvard grad - so sharp

• 1 year of founding bdr exp

• $5m in pipeline gen in fintech

• looking for remote or NYC based roles

want to chat with them? email me

my 2 cents: your title doesn’t matter

a title is simply context for who you are or what you do within the space you’re engaging. nothing else.

the title itself doesn’t give or remove the authority. it doesn’t give the function or take it away. the title simply reflects it. and while for some roles that reflection can be especially valuable for internal politics or external engagement with clients, the vast majority of time what you’re focusing on with the title, is the wrong thing.

hiring managers:

at the end of the day, you should know better than anyone that a candidate’s title only tells a small portion of the story. your focus needs to be “what do they do and how well do they do it?” NOT “what’s their title and is it sufficient for me”

what this looks like:

a mid market rep that closes bigger deals than your enterprise team could only dream of

a product marketer that’s actually a killer growth marketer

an sdr that closes more deals than your average ae

a sales manager that manages more reps, revenue and functions than your open “head of sales” position for your existing team of 2.

it’s not that title is irrelevant but it’s not the foundation. it’s the outward facing verification of what’s being done in the day to day.

we also know titles are bullshit when we talk to enterprise reps with $500k in closed-won revenue and an ACV smaller than your SDRs commission check.

if you’re indexing on title, you’re asking for a bad hire

candidates:

repeat after me.

“i am not all that and a bag of chips”

one more time.

“i am not all that and a bag of chips”

good. glad we have that taken care of it.

when it comes to your search your title should be the last thing you focus on. while it’s definitely indicative of your day to day scope/function, it’s not an exact science. every company uses different language, title structures, segments differently etc. so when you’re considering a new role, here’s what you should be analyzing.

assuming you've checked the product and people box

1) what will I be doing day to day?
- does it play to my strengths
- does it challenge me where I want to grow
- is it pointing in the direction of my ideal career

2) how do I engage with a customers and peers?
- do I enjoy this type of customer engagement
- do I like working with these internal teams
- will I have the support I need in this role

3) how are my KPIs measured?
- are the KPIs/expectations aligned with the scope
- are they clear and attainable with my skillset
- are they something I’m willing to work for

4) title - last and least
this is the least important piece of nearly all career puzzles. while I know titles can carry value, weight, meaning etc. the truth is they’re 90% vanity, 10% function and 0.1% substance.

if the last 3 sections are all clear and THIS is where you get hung up, you’re focusing on the wrong thing.

“but I’m a SENIOR product marketer!” lol, ok? and I’m a SENIOR dad? That word is essentially meant for internal hierarchy and sometimes comp bands at a FAANG or some other mega-corp.

but at a start-up? its about as useless as it gets.

if you're worried for the sake of your resume or LinkedIn, put down whatever title reflects the work and move on. any hiring manager worth their salt won’t think or care about the title beyond an initial scan of a resume. once they know what you do and if/how you've been successful, it's onto the next step.

if you’re a mid market rep wanting to go enterprise, focus first on going up-product, not up-market. worry more about better products and better teams way before you worry about better title or bigger customers. if you’re selling a bag of hot trash to the enterprise you know your title is? hot trash.

if you’re selling liquid gold to mid market teams, you know what you’re worth? liquid gold.

lots more i can say about this so check the video I’ll add to this where I break down what this looks like in more detail.

TLDR:

worry about what matters most, the substance of the role, not the title on top. for a great example of what this looks like, here’s a clip from my all time favorite movie

for a few more thoughts on the concept of going “up product” check out this video

music for your friday