I imagine a lot of actions you would have to take to make a small company profitable would make it be unappealing to a company with more money. Better to burn the cash and lay a giant foundation rather than just build a tiny house.
Then you can sell the foundation by saying "Look how big of a house could be here!"
Having done a few aquisitions (on both sides of the transaction) over the years it's really easy to dictate terms when the company being bought lacks room to maneuver.
Then you can sell the foundation by saying "Look how big of a house could be here!"