Start big and you'll end big

Start big and you'll end big is a piece of advice Willy Loman gives to his son Biff on the night before Biff is to ask Bill Oliver for a loan to start a sporting-goods business. The maxim encapsulates Willy's core philosophy that success in business depends not on substance but on the impression one creates from the very first moment. It is a rule of performance, not of arithmetic, and it reveals the depth of Willy's faith in the power of personality over reality.

Origin and Context of the Rule

The instruction arises during a tense family scene in the Loman kitchen late in Act One. Biff has just announced his plan to approach Bill Oliver, a former employer who once told Biff, "if you ever need anything, come to me." Willy, energized by the prospect, immediately takes charge of Biff's strategy. He tells Biff to wear a business suit, to talk as little as possible, and not to crack any jokes. Then he delivers the core directive: "But remember, start big and you'll end big. Ask for fifteen. How much you gonna ask for?" When Biff hesitates and says "Gee, I don't know," Willy corrects him sharply: "And don't say 'Gee.' 'Gee' is a boy's word. A man walking in for fifteen thousand dollars does not say 'Gee'!" Biff suggests ten thousand would be the top, but Willy insists, "Don't be so modest. You always started too low."

The Rule as a Contradiction

Willy's advice is internally contradictory, and the contradiction is the point. He first tells Biff to "walk in very serious. You are not applying for a boy's job. Money is to pass. Be quiet, fine, and serious." Then, almost in the same breath, he reverses himself: "Walk in with a big laugh. Don't look worried. Start off with a couple of your good stories to lighten things up. It's not what you say, it's how you say it—because personality always wins the day." The rule "start big and you'll end big" is thus not a coherent strategy but a desperate attempt to impose a formula on a situation Willy cannot control. It is a salesman's incantation, not a businessman's plan.

The Rule's Failure in Practice

The next day, Biff's meeting with Oliver is a catastrophe. He waits six hours, Oliver does not remember him, and Biff, in a state of confusion and humiliation, steals Oliver's fountain pen. The rule "start big and you'll end big" proves useless because it assumes a world where personality and boldness are rewarded, but the actual world of commerce operates on facts, records, and relationships Biff never built. When Biff later confesses the truth to his father at Frank's Chop House, Willy refuses to accept the failure. He clings to the rule, insisting that Oliver must have put his arm around Biff, that the deal is still alive. The rule becomes a shield against reality.

Thematic Significance

"Start big and you'll end big" is a microcosm of Willy Loman's entire worldview. It is the same logic that led him to believe that being "well liked" is the only qualification for success, that a smile and a shoeshine can substitute for skill and hard work. The rule is a verbal expression of the American Dream as Willy understands it: a promise that audacity and charm will be rewarded with wealth and recognition. Its failure in Biff's life mirrors the failure of Willy's own career. The rule is not just bad advice; it is a symptom of a deeper delusion. Biff's final realization—"He had the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong"—is a direct repudiation of the rule his father lived by. The maxim "start big and you'll end big" is, in the end, a formula for starting with nothing and ending with less.