"Being a startup" is not a binary condition. Startups possess many admirable traits and many big companies manage to capture some or many of these. And many startups have problems like politics or bureaucracy that you find in big companies. Saying that a startup is somehow conditioned on the number of employees you have is a naive definition of startup.
Clearly there are many big companies that have some of the burdens that come with that. And at the same time many big companies have managed to dominate industries for decades, make huge pivots, and innovate in new areas far better than startup competitors. IBM did a huge pivot in the 90s. Apple made a huge pivot in the late 90s. Xbox Kinect is actually some pretty amazing technology. Google building self driving cars is an amazing innovation.
To say that big companies can't be lead through big changes, can't be entrepreneurial, can't make pivots, can't bet their brand on one big vision/product/push, or any other trait we admire in startups is ignoring history and reality.
Clearly there are many big companies that have some of the burdens that come with that. And at the same time many big companies have managed to dominate industries for decades, make huge pivots, and innovate in new areas far better than startup competitors. IBM did a huge pivot in the 90s. Apple made a huge pivot in the late 90s. Xbox Kinect is actually some pretty amazing technology. Google building self driving cars is an amazing innovation.
To say that big companies can't be lead through big changes, can't be entrepreneurial, can't make pivots, can't bet their brand on one big vision/product/push, or any other trait we admire in startups is ignoring history and reality.