VP of Fiance vs. CFO

[Matic]

Anyone know the difference when it comes to online startups?

[akula]

there is no difference

they are both, largely redundant, pompous titles

[jasaunders]

Any title with VP in it will not be nearly as prestigious as CFO. A lot of companies have dozens or hundreds of VP's, always only one CFO.

[Matic]

Right, I now know that there is a difference. CFO is on the board. VP is just the head of a particular department. I think I am all of the Officers and I will have VP's under me.

[Your Brand]

When it comes to an online start-up. Don't get top heavy. What discipline do you need to supplement your skills? Consider outsourcing. If you need a pro - look groups like Tatum Partners

[B.Sheehan]

You've got 150x other things to deal with before picking a title! Have you read Good to Great? (If not read it - like right now, this week). Seems silly to worry about Culture at this point but the earlier you start the easier it will be to maintain whats differentiating you from your competitors - your enthusiasm and entrepreneurial creativity.

For the non-philosophical answer the O in the CFO is the important part. In an ascending hierarchal order of "power" it would be Director, Officer, everything else. Directors sit on the board of directors and endure Director's Liability (can be nasty stuff in some rare cases). Every corporation must have at minimum one Director (in a start-ups case the founder), he/she would be the Chairman of the Board. The Board is responsible for directing the overall company and appointing the Officers. Officers do have a legal distinction from everyone else but do not incur director's liability. They are allowed to enter the corporation into legally binding contracts, handle banking, etc. Everything else holds little legal distinction.

As usual this stuff is only clearly cut in gigantic companies with many many employees. If you have a three man operation, assuming there is a founder at the top of the pyramid and it is not an equitable partnership, he/she would hold that Director seat and incur the D/L. You, by the sounds of it, would be listed in the Minute Books as a Signing Officer and granted the authority to enter the corporation into binding contracts, open bank accounts etc. What you put on your card is arbitrary - its just the legal distinction that matters.