I am always fascinated by why people get so caught up in titles or no-titles. The reality is if it is a good team titles are not going to go to their head, they know it is just a title. Further titles help when dealing with third parties that are concerned with titles. I can't tell you how many times I have seen a consultant or a third party provider talk past the "tech guy" to the CEO because the "tech guy" does not have a title. Worse yet I have seen them undermine their authority, because they perceive them as having no power. I swear we do it to ourselves in this industry, when everybody has no title then the cool guys will all be giving themselves titles and titles will be all the rage. If you are the guy that calls the shots you are the CEO plain and simple, having that title simplifies things and brings clarity. If you run the technology you are the CTO again this is simple and brings clarity. It does not matter if you are two guys starting out or a 5000 person company, titles help simplify understanding. If someone is so pretentious that a title changes how they work, then you don't want them around, it does not matter if there title is CEO or secretary.
