> stagnation resulting from bigness is a self-inflicted dysfunction that is independent of size (that is, it doesn't only happen when companies get big)
How could stagnation resulting from bigness happen to a company that hadn't gotten big?
"Big" is relative. If a company starts falling apart as soon as the founder can't personally manage everyone, it has a disease of bigness, even though it's still small on some absolute scale.
How could stagnation resulting from bigness happen to a company that hadn't gotten big?