Senior-Title Deferral Rule
Use descriptive lead roles early and reserve VP or director titles for proven scale
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 98%
The Senior-Title Deferral Rule keeps early startup roles descriptive while preserving organizational options. Give people enough of a title to explain what they do, such as software engineer, product lead, or head of legal. Delay director, senior director, VP, and singular executive titles until the company has enough scale to know what those roles require. The person who can lead a function at 25 employees may not be the leader needed at 250, and downgrading a prematurely titled executive is painful. A culture built around scope, impact, and compensation can reward people without using status labels as retention devices. More specific titles can also clarify narrower ownership while leaving room for broader leaders later.
Origin
Rajaram saw Square avoid title conflict by using lead roles, including his own Caviar lead title and functional leads beneath it. He contrasted that with a 25-person legal-heavy startup considering a general counsel title too early.
Core principles
- 01Scope and impact should carry more status than title
- 02Some senior titles can be granted only once without creating conflict
- 03The leader needed at 25 people may differ from the leader needed at 250
- 04Descriptive titles preserve room for both the person and organization to evolve
How to run it
- 1
Name the actual function
Use a plain title that tells colleagues and outsiders what the person does. Prefer clarity over implied rank.
Pro tip Lead and head of can describe ownership without fixing a permanent executive level.
- 2
Reserve scarce titles
Delay director, VP, and one-seat executive titles until the company understands the role at meaningful scale. Treat each as an organizational commitment, not a recruiting sweetener.
Watch out A title granted once may be impossible to reassign without demotion or termination.
- 3
Reward scope and impact
Hold explicit conversations about responsibility, impact, and compensation. Do not make title the only visible signal of progress.
Pro tip Write goals around outcomes and scope rather than promotion labels.
- 4
Upgrade when scale proves the need
Revisit titles after the organization and function have grown enough to define the enduring leadership job. Match the title to demonstrated scope and future requirements.
Watch out Do not delay clarity about decision authority merely to avoid titles.
In the wild
A 25-person company in a legally intensive market needed its first senior lawyer. Rajaram advised hiring a lead lawyer or head of legal without granting the general counsel title, because the company could need a materially different leader at 250 people.
→ The company could meet the immediate legal need while preserving room to upgrade the role later.
Rajaram was Caviar lead, with product, engineering, strategy and operations, and sales leads reporting to him. The titles described ownership without building a hierarchy around director and VP labels.
→ Conversations centered on scope, impact, and compensation rather than title progression.
Common mistakes
Using titles to close candidates
A senior label can solve a short-term recruiting negotiation while creating a long-term organizational constraint.
Confusing no inflation with no clarity
People still need titles that explain their function and decision scope; avoiding every title creates ambiguity rather than flexibility.
Is it for you?
Best for
Young companies designing titles before management layers and executive roles have stabilized.
Not ideal for
Organizations whose regulated or external counterparties require a specific formal officer title immediately.
From the episode
Gokul Rajaram on designing your product development process, when and how to hire your first PM, a playbook for hiring leaders, getting ahead in you career, how to get started angel investing, more