Debt is not necessarily a bad thing. Consider what Elon Musk did with his Convertible bonds. He sold the issue to get cheap (low interest rate dollars) to build a Li battery factory in Nevada (which was heavily subsidized by the state) when the share price was ~$250. The conversion maturity is for years later when the share price is expected to be $350. So, while he appears to be going in debt he really gets to use cheap (really low interest) dollars to build a factory that will produce huge revenues and pay off the same $250 current value (debt) shares with the later $350 value. Is his debt bad? Is it really a debt? Sounds like a cool move to make to me.
A startup does not have the opportunities for money that Tesla does BUT increased production, sales and revenue will open doors that presently do not exist.