[dkarl]

That's a great point, that VC-funded startups aren't the only sources of title inflation. Salary bands at bigger companies also fuel inflation. I worked for a startup that got acquired by a large bureaucratic company, and I ended up as a principle engineer -- along with two other engineers on my team. It was the only way to keep paying us what we had been making as senior engineers at the startup. It was a director-level title, so my boss technically had a lower title than me. When I decided to leave that company, I was looking at senior-level positions at startups, because that was the equivalent to the job I was doing as a director-level IC at BigCorp.

[rsynnott]

Large multinational banks are particular offenders here. IIRC, the rough equivalent grade for a Big Tech(TM) senior in JP Morgan (or maybe Goldman? one of those) is VP. Staff is MD or something!

[ChrisPakiavelli]

This is based off of how leveling in finance. They just reused the same levels for their SWEs

[user_named]

You really squandered that opportunity to get a VP role at a startup?

[dkarl]

I don't have VP-level handsomeness or social skills, nor the desire to put in those hours.