As someone who has owned several companies there is one conversation that comes to mind with me. When I went to take out my first ever business line of credit I sat down with a banker, our company was small (6 total employees at the time) and I was young (19)<p>And when the banker asked me what my title was he continued with "CEO, President, etc." and I remember thinking at that point I had a decision to make, I could be the kind of pretentious owner that has "employees" or the kind of hard working example setting owner that has "co-workers" and makes them want to strive and be better so I opted for the latter.<p>I looked back at the Banker and said well you know Ross when everyone leaves at night and I'm sweeping the floor I usually consider myself the Janitor, so why don't we just go with that.<p>He chose not to use that title for paperwork purposes but my point in telling that story is that if you're a young and growing company and you're worried about whether or not your title should be "CEO" or "President" the title you are likely to end up having is "Unemployed".<p>Work your ass off and work with your employees don't let them work for you. If nothing else is to be done pick up a broom, help a co-worker or just find a way to be productive and lead by example. If you do that there's a chance lots of people will be knocking down your door to interview the "CEO" of "X" the next successful company with humble beginnings.<p>My point here is basically that if and when the time comes to be labeled a CEO chances are someone else will do it for you. Thats what happened to me a few years later when i sold that same company. and until they do you're probably better off just being the janitor :)
I prefer "founder" and/or "co-founder" until the company gets to the point that a distinction is really necessary.<p>I suppose that is not entirely helpful as that still does not answer where that distinction is.
Personally, unless the conversation warrants (i.e. where it matters) to mention I'm a founder or CEO or anything of so-called C-level / executive rank, I try my best to leave it out. Instead, I usually say "I work for...".<p>Don't really think its silly but I find that most people don't call themselves a CEO unless you specifically ask for a title in those situations. It's more common for me to hear people say they're working on a new startup (as opposed to really saying they're exploring an idea).<p>Titles are meaningless in most cases in startups. We made it a point not to even include titles in our business cards on my last startup. It just doesn't matter.
Titles are like clothes, and context is important.<p>The sole proprietor of a one-person company should call himself CEO without hesitation if it helps him get what he wants. The person in charge of a thousand-person company should reject the CEO title when it gets in the way of his goals.<p>At the last small (~5 employee) startup I ran, I used the CEO title when dealing with media companies and large organizations and the co-founder title when doing marketing to developers. Worked out fine.<p>If someone's used the CEO title in front of you and you've thought they were foolish, they've either misunderstood the context or you've come across something you're just not the primary audience for.
If there is even one other person at the company, calling yourself the CEO is helpful, rather than foolish. In particular, it signals to potential investors and business partners that you are the one to contact regarding investments or other business deals. Don't get hung up on it, just go ahead and be the CEO.
'Chief' is sort of redundant if there are no other 'executive officers'. 'Officer' too if it's just you.<p>I prefer 'Director'.<p>edit: as per <a href="https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Executive_Director" rel="nofollow">https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Executive_Dir...</a>
I always say "co-founder". It's accurate and unpretentious, but still conveys the important fact that I speak for the company.<p>Sometimes I use "co-owner" for non-startup people, since "founder" is a somewhat startupy term.
I've seen loads of two person companies with a CEO title. And even single person startups with 0 employees sometimes have a CEO. If I were you, I'd get less hung up on titles and just get to work :P