Episode 87: Tomorrow, Inc.: Dr. Alec Lorenzo on bootstrapping SynBio, the "Functional Assay" of sales, and First Principles valuation

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Alec Lourenco, CEO and co-founder of Tomorrow, Inc., a biotech platform engineering proteins that bind to taste receptors to replicate—and evolve—the experience of sugar and salt. Alec shares the scrappy origin story of how they bootstrapped a hand-canned soda company just to demo their initial FDA-approved sweet protein blend, a hustle that ultimately landed them a $1M round led by Carbon Silicon Ventures. We dive deep into why early-stage founders must rely on "first principles" rather than pattern matching for their valuations, the danger of investors mistaking a biotech platform for a CPG brand, and how to survive the SynBio winter through extreme capital efficiency.

🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear how Alec navigated asking a former boss for an angel check and why he believes the ultimate laboratory test is a paying customer.

Key Facts Tomorrow, Inc.:

CEO & co-founder: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alec-lourenco-353610a5/
Goal: To engineer novel flavor proteins that replace unhealthy ingredients like sugar and salt, creating healthy and "whimsical" taste experiences using a proprietary "tongue-in-the-loop" discovery system.
Milestone: Raised a $1M round led by Carbon Silicon Ventures, generated early revenue through a prototype D2C soda to prove market demand, and is currently seeking challenger brands for co-development partnerships.

Blurb:

Weekend is making anything taste like anything using engineered protein binders that activate your sweet, fat, and salt receptors to replace unhealthy ingredients like sugar, salt, and fat.