6 Honest Takeaways from Mads Bjarrum, COO of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)
At the ABC Summit in Bucharest, June 2025, we had the privilege of hosting Mads Bjarrum, Chief Operating Officer at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) – one of the world’s most renowned architectural firms.
While BIG’s buildings are iconic, their internal operations are just as impressive. In a refreshingly honest and witty keynote (definitely not the “usual” polished corporate pitch), Mads pulled back the curtain on what it really takes to scale a creative business: from a Copenhagen apartment and two kids to 750+ people across four continents.
Even more impressively, he joined us during his paternity leave (thank you again, Mads!) to talk about how BIG grew from a local studio to a global operator, with offices in Copenhagen, New York, London, Barcelona, and beyond.
Whether you’re a team of two or twenty, his insights apply to anyone who wants to grow with clarity, courage, and creativity. Here are 6 honest takeaways worth saving and reflecting on, especially if you’re thinking about working on your business, not just in it.
- Momentum, Visibility, and Network Matter More Than You Think
BIG’s growth didn’t start with public tenders; it began at a party. Bjarke Ingels met a developer at a social gathering, pitched an idea mid-conversation, and landed the first few projects that would put BIG on the map.
“The projects that made BIG famous didn’t come through tenders. They came through people.” – Mads Bjarrum
Today, two out of three of BIG’s projects are direct commissions rather than competitions, a radical shift from industry norms.
“Networking is architecture’s underrated skill.” – Mads Bjarrum
A casual garden conversation once turned into BIG’s first trio of residential buildings, a reminder that relationships, not just portfolios, drive business growth.
From unsolicited exhibitions in New York to 1,100+ lectures and 20+ publications, BIG has consistently used visibility as a business tool, not just a branding exercise.
Lesson: If you’re only applying to open calls, you’re competing with everyone. Show up, speak up, and build real connections: people give you projects, not spreadsheets.
- Cash Flow Before Icons: Understand Your Business First and Know Your Numbers
At BIG, payroll comes before prestige. BIG tracks the financial health of each office and project. Why? Because you can’t design well if you’re worried about paying salaries. One of their biggest fears? Not being able to pay staff. One of their best moves? Building a more even fee structure that allows them to get paid earlier in the process, in order to increase liquidity.
“We monitor our finances every week. Projects are important. Payroll is sacred.” – Mads Bjarrum
With €150M in annual revenue and projects in 26 countries, BIG treats financial oversight as creative infrastructure. They even watermark submissions and hold deliveries when payments are overdue, because good work deserves to be paid.
Lesson: Creativity needs cash flow. Know your costs, price accordingly, protect your team and never be afraid to put your pencils down if the client hasn’t paid.
- If You Want Big Projects, Don’t Wait for Permission
BIG didn’t have experience designing airports, stadiums, or philharmonics until they decided they wanted to. They teamed up with collaborators who had the right references and built new business cases.
“In 2020, Bjarke wrote down 8 dream projects. We had done none of them. Today, we’ve done almost all.” – Mads Bjarrum
BIG didn’t wait to be ready, they got strategic and found ways to get in. Bold projects aren’t reserved for those with the most experience. They go to those who ask for them with clarity and conviction.
Lesson: Set bold goals, build the case, and go after them strategically. Your lack of experience doesn’t disqualify you, it just means you’ll need partners.
- Contracts Are a Bigger Commitment Than Marriage
The glamour of a project can blind you to its risks. BIG learned the hard way: several of their most high-profile projects lost money due to unclear scopes or payment structures – in two words: bad contracts.
“Some contracts last 30 years and have financial risks of €150M. If you mess them up, you’re stuck.” – Mads Bjarrum
It’s paramount to know what you’re signing, when you’ll get paid, and what your exit options are. If it goes wrong, you’ll need more than love and good intentions to get out.
Lesson: Understand your contract before you sign: read the fine print. Know what triggers payments, avoid “performance bonds,” and never hand over work if invoices are unpaid.
- Scale When There’s Opportunity, Not Just Ambition
BIG’s scaling model is reactionary: they open project offices after winning work, not before. It’s lean and strategic. From a project in London, they built an office that now counts over 200 staff. From a commission in Tirana, they developed four more. They follow the work: win a project, then build the office. It’s simple and grounded in real demand.
“We don’t open offices based on dreams. We open them based on projects.” – Mads Bjarrum
Currently, BIG is expanding into the Middle East via Dubai, relocating its office in China from Shenzhen to Shanghai, and growing in markets like Albania, where political and financial conditions have opened new opportunities for development.
Lesson: Grow with purpose, not ego. Don’t burn money chasing vague markets. Grow where the work already is, where clients already need you, not where you hope they might someday. Build smart, then build big.
- Culture is Strategy. People Stay for People.
At BIG, culture isn’t just nice-to-have, it’s part of the business model. From open-plan studios and communal lunches in Copenhagen to no-work-from-home policies post-pandemic, the team believes in physical presence and cross-departmental connection.
Company culture is not about ping-pong tables or perks, it’s about building systems, standards, rituals, shared values and relationships that make people want to stay. Even non-architects (like Mads) are hired for their passion for design and their ability to contribute proactively.
“We hire finance staff who care about architecture, not just numbers.” – Mads Bjarrum
BIG’s culture is deliberately crafted to support high performance in a highly creative and demanding industry.
Lesson: Build a culture that matches your business model. A hybrid doesn’t work for everyone. Invest in your team and make people feel they’re part of something meaningful.
Final Thoughts
Mads described BIG’s approach as a mix of guts and spreadsheets, storytelling, and scenario planning.
You don’t need 750 people to apply these lessons. You need clarity, courage, and the willingness to look at your studio as both a creative hub and a business.
His keynote at the aBC Summit offered a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the business discipline behind BIG’s iconic projects. It was both inspiring and pragmatic: scale requires systems, cash flow needs foresight, and culture must be intentional.
In an industry often fueled by idealism, BIG shows us that bold design and financial sustainability aren’t opposites; they’re inseparable.
Which of these takeaways speaks most to where you are now?
Listen to the full keynote here. Your engagement and contribution help us grow the ABC community.
The aBC Summit is part of the educational component of ABC • Agency. Business. Community, a flagship event dedicated to networking and know-how transfer.