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Ask HN: Founders, what title do you use in email?

15 points by ericb ↗ HN
I'm wondering what title people use when emailing customers? For my load testing consultancy, I have to periodically send introductory emails to sales prospects, and I'm struggling with what I should call myself. So I'm wondering, what do you list as your title in emails?

38 comments

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idlewords
Just use your name and explain in human language what you do.
alexsolo
What about in the signature?

I usually don't put any titles in the actual email itself. In the signature, I sometimes go with Co-founder, other times, just put the company name.

ErrantX
It depends entirely on what your selling and what your client is like.

For example when I am prospecting work for my day job I always use "VP <company>" or "Senior Analyst"

On the other hand for my own company I usually choose something light heartened related to the rest of the mail: "the man" or "the tech guy" etc. it goes down quite well.

Frocer
Depends on how you want to be perceived. One of the most interesting article I read talked about how this founder carries 2 business cards. When he meets prospective clients, his title on the card says "VP of Sales" so his organization seems much bigger than a 1 man shop. But if he is meeting investors, he uses his CEO title card so he seems to be the one in control.

I think this scenario would apply to you pretty well :)

charlesju
I also like the VP of Sales pitch if you want an out in any negotiation, "well I have to talk to higher management, but what if I could do xyz for you..."
lucumo
Just my name and my company's name. We're dealing mostly with consumer's though.
erlanger
Casual: First name

Introduction: Full name

Sales email: Full name + "\nOwner, {{ company }}"

p01nd3xt3r
I use the title of "Product Manager" because that is what role I play.
sho
Vice President for Special Projects
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
zach
All my business cards I've chosen when working for other companies say only "Programmer." I like that.

But when you're a founder or such, you have to cop to it. You don't want it to look like you're evading responsibility or jerking people's chain.

So it's "CTO and Co-Founder" on my business cards and (when appropriate) on email.

andrewljohnson
It depends... when speaking with people I want to make deals with, I use my title. If I'm dealing with users/customers, I just ID myself as co-founder.
brk
You should use whatever you think your actual title is at this point in time. "President" or "Founder" would probably work well. For a small shop "CEO" and "VP" titles can be a little over the top. 90% of the time, this isn't an issue, but in some cases people will honestly have more of an impression of "Oh, isn't that cute!" instead of "Oh, he is is the CEO". I guess what I'm saying is that in general you will do well with no over or understating your reality in the company.

Do what you say, say what you do.

effektz
Make something up, make yourself the "Senior Sale Maker"
zandorg
I put my degree BSc (Hons) even though a friend says it's irrelevant.

I earned those letters dammit!

sho
Sorry to say this but .. I agree with your friend. Your qualifications are pretty much irrelevant in an email; mentioning them anyway may well be taken negatively by some people.

Still, at least it's a respectable degree. I once had to converse regularly with a guy who signed his emails "(full name), M.C.S.E.", flaunting those letters like they were equivalent to Medical Doctor or Order of the British Empire or something. Needless to say, merciless ridicule ensued.

zandorg
I'd rather have THAT than my stupid degree!
sho
Ha! Believe me .. no you wouldn't. In many circles an MCSE is like an anti-qualification in that unless the person has a good excuse, it is often viewed as a negative. At best it's neutral. And any employer wanting one - steer clear.

In my humble opinion, of course.

bdmac97
I've just been using Founder... especially since it's jut me here.
hwijaya
Optimist Prime at Blindoptimists
rokhayakebe
Depends on who I am emailing.

Creative Director, Business Development manager, Creatively Directing Product Development.

yef
Call yourself what you are, don't be too cute, keep yourself out of Valleywag.
warwick
Generally I sign emails to customers with my title as "Developer". When you're responding to a support email or a pre-sale email, a lot of customers think it's very cool that they can contact the guy who built the product, not some random support person.