Yes, it is totally your choice. Personally I have no problem with Software Architect. It's a term of respect. What it says to me is this person is the smartest software person in the company or among a small handful of them.

When I worked for Geneer there were only three of four people in the whole company with that title and they were universally respected from the newest hire on up -- and everyone there was an ace. The only higher title was Doug Grimsted, CEO. And he was a techie, too, just more business oriented than the rest of us.

I wish there was a rewind button on my career and I could start there again. When I started it was called RDI Software. It was consciously modeled after the west coast software companies and was an impossibly cool place to work. You worked with the best of the best, which stimulated you to do your part. We worked in small teams, typically three devs and two QAs, and at crunch time we all had each other's backs. We promised clients unmakeable target dates and made them. All the latest tools and hardware. Everyone had an office, good sized, with a door, and a T3 connection when that was still new. A fully stocked kitchen 24 hours a day. Beer and wine every Friday afternoon, an annual company getaway to a resort in western Illinois. It was an insanely great place to work. Every software developer should work for a company like that at least once.

>Not really a change of jobs, just getting a side company setup for some side things I'm doing. But thanks.
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>I dislike the title Software Architect and don't like Software Craftsman. I didn't want to put President on my business card. In the book Pragmatic Programmer, software development was compared to gardening. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the comparison and will be speaking on "Software Gardening" at several events this fall. Since it's my company, I can choose my own title.
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>>Unrelated to this thread, I see in my weekly update from LinkedIn that you changed jobs last month. Congrats! (Although I have never seen the title of Chief Software Gardener before ;-) ) Best wishes in your new position. So far so good?