“Small can be an advantage” I heard recently in Butte, Montana.

No kidding. Where else—who else—in the world gets to hear four of the top CEOs in the world all before lunch?!

But that’s what we got in little old Butte, Montana on Monday morning when Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, Jeff Immelt of GE and Barry Diller of Expedia took the stage. Okay, Buffett was via satellite, but let’s not nitpick. Because Tuesday morning we were treated to Bob Iger of Disney, Sam Gilliland of Travelocity and the U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.

Size—or lack thereof—makes this happen. A rural state like Montana with a small population can attract such people because in the United States Senate, small rural states often hold out-of-proportion power. And our senior senator just happens to be the Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance. We’ll take it.

Over and over again, the CEOs repeatedly talked about the importance of playing to your strengths. Travel, scenic beauty were mentioned by nearly everyone. “Small” helps maintain these attributes as advantages for Montana. It’s something to think about as we grow. Because at some point “small” isn’t so small anymore. And then it’s not an advantage anymore.