Perhaps what separates the good companies from the Great companies is that the latter always tries to make it works, doesn't rest on it's laurels, and takes any bet which is +ev.
I think the main trick is balancing the two. Companies that take any +ev bet, no matter how big, will tend to explode spectacularly eventually (SBF famously had this philosophy, for example).
Skunkworks is a decent example of how this can work: you set up a subset of your larger company to operate more like a startup. But importantly this isolation both limits the risk to the company as a whole as well as isolating the subset from the bureaucracy of the larger organization.
Skunkworks is a decent example of how this can work: you set up a subset of your larger company to operate more like a startup. But importantly this isolation both limits the risk to the company as a whole as well as isolating the subset from the bureaucracy of the larger organization.