My career started with 8 years at a 🏠small security company (<100 people), followed by 13 years at a 🏦global bank (200k+ people).

A question I get a lot now: Which is better — small or large companies?

I worked with outstanding professionals and learned a lot in both. My answer is simple: neither is better, they are just different, and both have their own charm.

• 🏠 At the small company, we had to build everything ourselves — I could also influence anything I wanted to.
• 🏦 At the large company, I could leverage the global infrastructure — I also had to spend time understanding this infrastructure and aligning with it.

When facing a new problem:

• 🏠 small company — I had to figure out how we shall be doing this from now on.
• 🏦 large company — A detailed process already existed for everything; finding the right process was the real challenge.

When I became a manager:

• 🏠 small company — I had to define my role from scratch as my level did not even exist before. I had to define how I operate, how I evaluate and support people, what authority I have, etc.
• 🏦 large company — I could rely on the rules, processes and culture of the org; there were people to ask, and patterns to copy, with courses and mentorship programs teaching you how to manage.

When hiring:

• 🏠 small company — We were growing and thus looking for smart people to build on; sometimes we lost great talent because we could not fully utilize their skills.
• 🏦 large company — We were looking to find the right person for the given job opening; sometimes I had to pass on very talented people (or refer them to peer teams) as they did not fit a precise need.

For decisions/approvals:

• 🏠 small company — Walk next door, make the decision.
• 🏦 large company — Some approvals had to go 3-4 levels up, articulating the problem in such a vast ecosystem was a challenge itself.

On my role itself:

• 🏠 small company — My job was security.
• 🏦 large company — Security was a huge org, and we all played our small parts in it. Each line in my previous job description now had a separate organization with hundreds of people.

While building security:

• 🏠 small company — We were struggling to consistently secure everything we have.
• 🏦 large company — We were struggling to know what we have and to make sure they all go to the right processes; once the correct process was followed, consistency came naturally. Visibility, reporting and finding the right owner was key.

Getting things done:

• 🏠 small company — It all depended on if you knew the right people. We called it chaos.
• 🏦 large company — It all depended on if you knew the right people. We embraced it as 'networking'. 😄

➡️ Both experiences shaped how I think about leadership, scale, and impact.

What differences have you experienced between small and large organizations?

This post was first published on Linkedin here on 2026-04-16.