More than one way to slice a pie

Once upon a time, not so long ago, raising funds for new alt-meat technologies was easy — arguably too easy — and founders could literally afford to be enthusiastic about their companies’ prospects without putting too much effort into careful budgeting.

In 2024, then, many founders are learning on the fly how to do more with less. And lesson No. 1 often is: You have to choose between using those investment dollars for capital expenditures or for operations…